We invite you to the Royal Castle in Warsaw for the Night of Museums 2025

This Saturday, 17 May 2025, at 7 p.m., the Royal Castle in Warsaw will once again open its doors to after-hours sightseeing enthusiasts as part of the Night of Museums, an international celebration of museums. Such a night happens only once a year. On this occasion, we have prepared a special tour and a surprise.

During the 2025 Night of Museums, visitors to the Castle will be invited to tour the Great Apartment – the royal reception rooms, the Royal Apartment – the king’s living quarters, and the Parliamentary Chambers.

We will start our walk around the Royal Castle in Warsaw from the Oval Gallery, which was once a passage hall leading to the royal lodge in the collegiate church of St John. In the Oval Gallery, which is part of the Great Apartment, you will be the first visitors to see two unique objects that have just arrived from the Wawel Royal Castle as part of the “Royal Exchange”. It will be a bust of King John III sculpted by Giacomo Monaldi, court sculptor to King Stanisław August, and a Wawel tapestry created in a Brussels workshop in the mid-17th century, depicting the battle of Alexander the Great.

We will continue our night tour in the Antechamber of the Great Hall and in the subsequent rooms belonging to the Great Apartment. You will see, for example, the Great Assembly Hall, also known as the Ballroom, which served as a venue for numerous ceremonies during the reign of Stanisław August. You will also pass through the Knights’ Hall, which, according to the intention of King Stanisław August, was supposed to remind visitors of the most important moments in Polish history. That is why the walls of this hall are decorated with large historical paintings by Marcello Bacciarelli, the themes of which were chosen by the king himself. The Marble Room is equally grand, decorated with 22 portraits of Polish kings and a portrait of Stanisław August in his coronation attire. The tour of the Great Apartment will end with an official audience with the king, i.e. a visit to the Throne Room. It was here that the king received his official guests, who were to be impressed not only by his majesty but also by his good taste. Entering the Throne Room, resplendent with a multitude of gilding, was the highlight of a visit to the royal court. A group of artists permanently associated with the royal court was responsible for its decoration, with Dominik Merlini, Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer and Jan Bogumił Plersch playing the most prominent role among them. The centrepiece of the decoration of the Throne Room were the 86 silver-embroidered eagles – symbols of state power. Unfortunately, the original eagles were stolen by the Germans during World War II. The entire set was reconstructed based on the only surviving eagle, miraculously found in 1991.

From the Throne Room, the last room of the Great Apartment, we will move on to the Royal Apartment, which includes the Study, the Dressing Room and the Bedroom, where the daily life of the court was concentrated. It was here that the king received guests for informal audiences, worked and rested. You will also see one of the most beautiful interiors in the Royal Castle in Warsaw – the Canaletto Room with a collection of famous views of Warsaw by Bernardo Bellotto, known as Canaletto.

During the night walk around the royal residence, you will also be able to visit the Castle’s Parliamentary Chambers, including the Senators’ Hall, where the Constitution of May 3rd was adopted, as well as the Princes’ Apartments, where you can admire large-format paintings by Jan Matejko, such as: Rejtan – The Fall of Poland, The Constitution of 3 May 1791, Skarga’s Sermon, and Batory at Pskov. After completing the tour, descend the Central Stairs to the Kubicki Arcades. The design was created by Jakub Kubicki, an architect who was educated under the patronage of King Stanisław August.

During the Night of Museums, visitors will be able to walk straight from the Kubicki Arcades to the Castle Gardens, which also look spectacular at night thanks to appropriate lighting.

The Night of Museums 2025 at the Royal Castle in Warsaw will take place on 17/18 May.
Admission from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. (last admission at 1 a.m.). Entrance through the Clock Tower.