The tsarist palace's history
The tsarist palace at Białowieża was built between 1889 and 1894 at the initiative of Tsar Alexander III, as a hunting residence for the Russian court. Built of wood in a modern Russian classical style, it had more than 120 rooms, a ballroom, an Orthodox chapel and all the infrastructure of a court (stables, kitchens, servants' quarters). The palace was surrounded by a landscape park with pavilions, orangeries and gardens.
The tsars came here to hunt bison — the 19th-century Białowieża hunts were vast (several hundred people and dozens of animals killed). After the First World War the palace passed to the Polish state and was used as a presidential residence (President Mościcki came here to hunt). In 1944, as the German forces withdrew, the palace was deliberately burned — one of the largest wooden buildings in pre-war Poland vanished in a few hours.
What survives today
- The entrance gate of 1894 — of stone, distinctive and double-winged, today the main way into the park
- The tsarist gatekeeper's lodge by the gate — originally a guard's cottage, sometimes used for temporary exhibitions
- The landscape park — avenues, ponds and a largely original tree stand (limes and oaks from the tsarist period)
- The palace foundations — outlines marked in the grass showing the scale of the original building
- An Orthodox church by the park — of wood, from the tsarist period, still in use (an Orthodox parish)
The Nature and Forest Museum
The park's Nature and Forest Museum occupies a modern building deep in the park, opened in its present form in 2007. The display is multimedia: films, dioramas, sound installations imitating the forest and life-size animal models. Three main sections: the origin and history of the forest, flora and fauna, and the ecosystem and its protection.
The highlight: a multimedia journey through a day in the forest — in one room you can watch the sound and light change from dawn to night. For children there are interactive stations for identifying animal tracks, birds and tree species. Tickets are about 12 zł adults, 6 zł children, and it is open all year.
What else is worth it
The Palace Park is also simply the pleasantest walk in Białowieża. Along the avenues, among the tsarist limes, you can reach the church of St Nicholas (wooden, Orthodox, from 1895), the hunting obelisk (in memory of Alexander III) and the bank of the Narewka (the river running through the park).
In the evening the park can be magical — the lamplight reflected in the ponds, the original tsarist metal benches, the scent of lime blossom in summer. Entry to the park is free and it is open all year, day and night. A ticket is needed only for the museum.
How to get there and practical info
- Entry to the park
- Free, at any hour
- Museum ticket
- About 12 zł adults, about 6 zł children
- Address
- Park Pałacowy 11, Białowieża
- Time needed
- The park 1 hour, the museum 1.5 hours
- Parking
- Free by the gate
- Season
- All year
When to go
May — the limes in flower, an avenue of lilacs and fresh green. The ideal time.
Shade under the trees and cool air. Evening walks at sunset.
October — golden avenues and the finest colours in the limes and oaks.
The park under snow, silence and few visitors. Magical.
Other sights in Białowieża
Straight-line distances from „The Palace Park and the museum" — calculated from real coordinates. By road it is often further.
Where to stay nearby
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