The Museum of the Kielce Village - Ethnographic Park in Tokarnia presents historic wooden objects transferred from various places of the Świętokrzyskie region. The museum was established in 1976, and it began to function in 1977. Its purpose was to recreate a typical settlement system of villages from various sub-regions of the Kielce region: the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, the Sandomierz Upland and the Nidzia Peninsula. It’s area is 65 ha where 38 objects were collected, which illustrate the spatial layout of the village: the shape of farms, fences, and small...
The Museum of the Kielce Village - Ethnographic Park in Tokarnia presents historic wooden objects transferred from various places of the Świętokrzyskie region. The museum was established in 1976, and it began to function in 1977. Its purpose was to recreate a typical settlement system of villages from various sub-regions of the Kielce region: the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, the Sandomierz Upland and the Nidzia Peninsula. It’s area is 65 ha where 38 objects were collected, which illustrate the spatial layout of the village: the shape of farms, fences, and small architectures. In almost every cottage, we can see what the traditional craftsman's work had once looked like, for example: a carpenter, a shingle or a wicker. The rural landscape, similar to that of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, is supplemented with objects of rural industry, such as windmills and forge, public buildings (eg school, shop), court and farm buildings, as well as sacred buildings - such as church and chapels. Complementing the wooden architecture is the wonderful nature and traditional forms of greenery - including home gardens, which surround particular groups of objects and separate them from each other. All these elements enhance the impression of authenticity and make visitors feel as if they were in a different era.
The museum is one of the most visited tourist attractions of the Świętokrzyskie Province. There are many valuable objects on its site. One of them is the unique nineteenth-century court well moved from the Pińczów Mountains. Its basic function was to extract water from a depth of about 70-76 meters, but around it there was a place for informal meetings and exchange of information between residents and employees of the farm. This unusual structure consists of a deep well, a treadmill rotated by horses, and covers the entire building structure, consisting of a connected square - a quadrangle housing a well and an octagon covering the treadmill. The whole is covered with a roof covered with shingle. It is also worth taking a look at the exhibition of a nineteenth-century pharmacy from a small town. We will see there, among others: an American cash register from the state of Ohio, a pill - a device for making pills and a device for pouring candles, as well as many other old instruments. The antique pharmacy furniture moved from the pharmacy from Busko-Zdrój was placed containers, bottles and jars for storage of medicines. The color of the labels informed about the strength of the drug. The building itself where the pharmacy exhibition is also interesting is also interesting. It is the house of an organist from Bielin, from the beginning of the 19th century. It was built of wood and then timbered, wide-fronted with a beautiful porch, covered with a gable roof, reminiscent of its lumps from the 19th century with small gentry manors.
The Museum also presents several wooden churches. Visitors can admire, among others a magnificent church dedicated to Our Lady of Consolation from Rogów, erected from wooden logs in 1763. The polychrome ceiling is beautifully breathtaking. Next to it, there is a nineteenth-century wooden belfry from Kazimierza Wielka. There is also a stone figure of Saint. John of Nepomuk. This Czech saint was to protect the fields and villages of Kielce against floods, but also drought.
Interesting objects of almost every Ethnographic Park are windmills. Especially, it is worth looking at the Grzmucin windmill. It is a roller windmill. It can be viewed not only from the outside, but also from the inside. Visitors have the unique opportunity to see what the mechanism of the windmill looks like, allowing the entire building to rotate in the direction of the wind, and how the mill works. In addition the museum has two other windmills, including a Dutch windmill.
The Ethnographic Park in Tokarnia is constantly being expanded. The huge area beautifully located in the Czarna Nida valley favors development plans. In the final shape, the museum has 120 objects. Currently the newest purchase is the presbytery from Goźlic, located in the small-town construction sector. In the near future, it is to be adapted for exhibition and educational purposes. In the near future, it is also planned to: expand the exhibition of the small-town sector, place a "new" inn, hotel, conference room and canoe marina on the river and amphitheater in the museum.
The Ethnographic Park in Tokarnia is worth visiting throughout the year, because each season gives this place a unique aura.