Attraction

Steelworks Administration Centre in Krakow: tours and prices

The twin buildings Z and S stand at the gate of the steelworks in Nowa Huta and were built as its administrative centre. Building Z and the shelters can be visited with a guide on set dates or by appointment.

The twin buildings Z and S, nicknamed the Palaces of the Doges, form the Steelworks Administration Centre in Krakow (Centrum Administracyjne Huty) and stand symmetrically at the gate of the steelworks in Nowa Huta. The entrance to the steelworks is at the very end of Solidarności Avenue (Aleja Solidarności), which you can follow on foot from Central Square (Plac Centralny). Building Z and the shelters can be visited only on a guided tour, on set dates or by appointment.

Address: Ujastek 1, Krakow (also given as Tadeusza Sendzimira 1, 31-752 Krakow).
Tickets: from 20 zł to 70 zł depending on the tour, with the guide included.
Getting there: tours meet on the entrance steps of the administrative building in front of the steelworks entrance.

Steelworks Administration Centre tickets and guided tours

Every visit is a guided tour, and the cost of the guide is included in the ticket price. The Promotion of Nowa Huta Foundation (Fundacja Promocji Nowej Huty), a tour operator, offers the options below (as listed in October 2026).

Combined tour: building Z and the command shelter, 2 hours, 60 zł.
Building Z, short version: 1 hour, 30 zł, for organised groups.
Command shelter: 45 minutes, 20 zł. The tour is for groups, and individual visitors can join on set dates.
Building Z, extended version: 70 zł, for organised groups. It adds the offices on the top floor, the balcony above room 157 and the staff pay offices with an underground safe.

Children under 7 take part free of charge when they come with adult guardians; check the exact age limit when you book.

Tours run in Polish and English, and with prior booking, organised groups can also have tours in Spanish, French and Russian. German, Italian and Ukrainian are also possible with advance notice, if a guide is available.

A booking is needed before the visit, made through the foundation's form, by email or by phone. The guided visits are also described on the City of Krakow website; check the current dates and prices with the foundation before your visit.

What to see inside building Z and the shelter

The standard route starts at the gate to the courtyard. The group then crosses the entrance hall and visits conference room 157, the spiral staircases, the general director's office with its private section, an engineer's office and the plant's main control room.

The interiors were designed by Marian Sigmund's team and keep their original furnishings: furniture, chandeliers and candelabra. According to Metropolia Krakowska, the interiors survive almost unchanged. Decorative parquet and marble from Chęciny dominate the floors.

In the conference room, a 2-metre crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling. The coffered ceiling of the conference room, divided into sunken panels, imitates the ceilings of Wawel Castle.

A ceremonial entrance gate into the steelworks complex stood between the two buildings. Under building S is a shelter with a preserved command post, built for use in case of war. According to the foundation that runs the tours, the command-post shelter dates from the late 1950s. The shelter is the last stop of the route. An underground tunnel links building Z with building S.

History of the Steelworks Administration Centre

Building Z and building S were erected in 1952-1956 to a design by Marta and Janusz Ingarden and Janusz Ballenstedt. They were built as the administrative centre of the steelworks then named after Lenin (Huta im. Lenina), and building Z was intended for the management. The grounds of Huta im. Lenina, one of the largest industrial plants of the Polish People's Republic, began at the end of the former Aleja Przodowników Pracy (literally Avenue of Leading Workers).

The monumental architecture of the buildings is inspired by the Renaissance. It includes attics (decorative walls rising above the cornice), coffered ceilings and richly decorated façades. This architecture reflects the idea of a "national form" in socialist realism. Nowa Huta was meant to be "socialist in content and national in form".

The City of Krakow describes the buildings as one of the most outstanding examples of socialist realism in Poland and as a key element of the urban composition of Nowa Huta. In 2004 the urban layout of Nowa Huta was entered in the register of monuments.

How to get to the steelworks gate from Central Square

The simplest route on foot starts in the centre of Nowa Huta: from Central Square, follow Solidarności Avenue to its very end, where the entrance to the steelworks is. Two large administrative buildings stand at the steelworks gate. For someone walking along Solidarności Avenue towards the gate, the building on the left is the meeting point and the first stop of the tour.

Tours meet on the entrance steps of that building, facing the steelworks entrance, at Ujastek 1. The sign "Huta im. T. Sendzimira", the present name of the steelworks, shows that you are in the right place.

Near the steelworks gate: Wanda Mound and Mogiła Abbey

The Nowa Huta Reservoir (Zalew Nowohucki) is about 1050 m away, and Wanda Mound is about 1100 m away. Further away are Mogiła Abbey, at about 1950 m, and the Avenue of Roses (Aleja Róż), at about 2100 m. All four distances are measured in a straight line.

Steelworks Administration Centre: questions visitors ask

Can you go inside the Steelworks Administration Centre?

Yes, but only on a guided tour that you book in advance. Tours run on set dates or by appointment.

How much does a tour of the Steelworks Administration Centre cost?

The combined tour of building Z and the command shelter costs 60 zł with the guide included, and the shorter tours cost less (as listed in October 2026).

Why are buildings Z and S called the Palaces of the Doges?

Because of their many ornaments. According to Metropolia Krakowska, local residents mockingly called them the "Palaces of the Doges", and steelworkers called them the "Vatican" (Watykan).