PAN Muzeum Ziemi w Warszawie
Geological museum in the historic White Palace with exhibitions on minerals, meteorites, amber, dinosaurs from the Gobi Desert and Ice Age mammals.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The PAN Muzeum Ziemi w Warszawie continues the tradition of the Towarzystwo Muzeum Ziemi (Earth Museum Society), founded in 1932 on a civic initiative with the aim of creating a modern geological museum in the capital. The first collections began to be gathered in 1933. In 1948 a state institution called Muzeum Ziemi was established, and in 1959 the Polish Academy of Sciences took it over; today it is an auxiliary scientific unit of Division III – Exact and Earth Sciences. Its first director was Stanisław Małkowski.
The museum is housed in two historic buildings at Aleja Na Skarpie 20/26 and 27, on the Vistula escarpment near Plac Trzech Krzyży, on the grounds of the former Na Górze gardens. The White Palace (Biały Pałacyk), dating from the 1830s, was rebuilt after the war, and in 1951 the first permanent exhibition in its own building opened there. In the neighbouring Willa Pniewskiego, the former summer palace rebuilt in 1936–1937 by Bohdan Pniewski, there are rooms for temporary exhibitions and a memorial place to the Warsaw Uprising, with traces of an insurgent’s blood on the marble stairs.
The permanent exhibitions show, among other things, the amber collection, meteorites, minerals, plant fossils, dinosaur skeletons from the expeditions to the Gobi Desert and the remains of large Ice Age mammals. On the grounds of the museum there is also an outdoor display of Poland’s building rocks and historic erratic boulders.
Highlights
- Exhibition “Amber – Poland and the World” with inclusions and a reconstruction of an amber forest
- “Meteorites – Stones from the Sky”, including the unique collection of the Pułtusk and Łowicz meteorites
- The Tarbosaurus skeleton in its post-mortem position, and fossils from the Gobi Desert
- “The Colourful World of Minerals” with specimens from around the world
- Remains of a mammoth and other large Ice Age mammals
- Outdoor display of building rocks and erratic boulders
Permanent exhibitions
- Bursztyn – Polska i świat – The museum’s ninth permanent exhibition on amber: varieties of the raw material, inclusions, deposits around the world and a reconstruction of an amber forest.
- Meteoryty – kamienie z nieba – A collection of meteorites, including the Polish meteorites from Pułtusk and Łowicz and rare meteorites from the Moon and Mars.
- W poszukiwaniu dinozaurów – Fossils from the Polish-Mongolian expeditions to the Gobi Desert, including the Tarbosaurus skeleton arranged as it was found.
- Founded
- 1948
- Operated by
- Polska Akademia Nauk
Admission & discounts
| Adults | 16 zł |
|---|---|
| Reduced | 12 zł |
| Children & teens | freefree up to age 4 · Children up to the age of 5 enter free of charge; children up to 12 enter free on Children’s Day. |
| Seniors | –On Tuesdays pensioners and disability pensioners enter free of charge upon presenting a document. |
| Visitors with disabilities | 1 złA personal assistant of a person with a disability pays PLN 1. |
| Families | 40 zł |
| Museum lesson (price per lesson, plus an entry ticket for each participant) | 80 złSchool year 2026/27. |
| Workshop (price per workshop, plus an entry ticket for each participant) | 120 złSchool year 2026/27. |
Free admission: On Tuesdays admission is free for pensioners and disability pensioners; children up to 12 enter free on Children’s Day.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
Great for kids & families
| Kids’ admission | free up to age 4 |
|---|---|
| Family ticket | 40 zł |
- Family tours & workshops
The museum organises art workshops for children and museum lessons in which the exhibits can be touched. A family ticket is available.
Getting there & parking
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Amenities & dining
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Plan your visit
| School programs | yes |
|---|---|
| Good to know | Museum lessons and workshops are led by the museum’s academic staff. Registration by phone at +48 22 629 74 79, ext. 203, or +48 530 271 484. The sessions include a tour of the whole museum. |
