From Kraków, Vilnius and Warsaw – to Białowieża: Travels and Hunts of the Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania

This summer, the Grand Courtyard of the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania will host the open-air panel exhibition From Kraków, Vilnius and Warsaw – to Białowieża: Travels and Hunts of the Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania. Organised by the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University Development Foundation (Poland), the exhibition explores the remarkable role of hunting in royal life and presents the latest research on the Białowieża hunting estate.

 

For the kings and grand dukes of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as the nobility, hunting was far more than a leisure pursuit. It combined practical purposes with deep symbolic meaning. A successful hunt was both a demonstration of power and a sign of anticipated military success. From the great centres of power – Kraków, Vilnius, and Warsaw – monarchs regularly travelled to their hunting grounds. To serve these expeditions, notable estates were established, with the Białowieża Forest among the most cherished.

 

From the 14th century until the end of the 18th century, the Białowieża Forest lay within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, near the border with the Kingdom of Poland. Its survival to the present day owes much to the protection of Lithuanian grand dukes and Polish kings. Between 1386 and 1795 – a span of 410 years – eleven rulers visited Białowieża more than a hundred times to hunt bison, elk, deer, and bears.

 

The first royal hunting estate was established here in the late 14th century, in what became known as Old Białowieża. In the late 16th century, King Sigismund Vasa (1587/1588–1632) moved it to New Białowieża, its present-day location. Additional estates were constructed during the reigns of Augustus III (1733–1763) and Stanisław August Poniatowski (1764–1795). The last royal estate was destroyed by the Tsarist Russian army during the 1831 Uprising.

 

The exhibition is part of the project The Vasa Heritage in Białowieża (The Secret of the Palace Oaks), under the Science for Society II programme of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

 

In 2025, it will be presented in Polish, Lithuanian, and English in both Poland and Lithuania: at the Niepołomice Museum, the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania (Vilnius), the Białowieża National Park Directorate and Museum (Białowieża), and the Wilanów Palace Museum of King Jan III Sobieski (Warsaw).

 

Organiser:
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University Development Foundation (Poland)

 

Partner:
National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania

 

Prof. habil. Dr Bogumiła Jędrzejewska (Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Białowieża)
Dr Joanna Wawrzeniuk (Institute of Archaeology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Warsaw)

 

Coordinators:
Dr Joanna Wawrzeniuk (Institute of Archaeology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Warsaw)
Dr Toma Zarankaitė-Margienė (National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, Vilnius)

Vytautas Gailevičius, Andrius Kerulis, Eglė Nemeikaitė

 

Augustė Gočelkytė, Monika Petrulienė, Mindaugas Egidijus Puidokas

 

Kęstutis Karla, Bartosz Mariankowski

 

Editor:
Liuda Skripkienė