Tokarnia, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Rural village in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland.
Tokarnia is an open-air museum in Gmina Chęciny, in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, displaying rural buildings and crafts from the Polish countryside. The site runs along the Czarna Nida river and brings together a manor house, farm buildings, craft workshops, and a village school.
The museum was founded to save traditional rural buildings from disappearing, gathering them from across the Świętokrzyskie region and rebuilding them on a single site. Among the oldest structures is a granary from the early 18th century, alongside a manor house from the mid-19th century.
Walking through Tokarnia feels like stepping into a working village, with furnished interiors, tools still in place, and rooms arranged as they once were. The schoolhouse exhibit is especially telling, showing how children in rural Świętokrzyskie would have spent their days.
The site is large, so comfortable shoes are a good idea if you want to visit all the buildings and workshops at a relaxed pace. The path along the Czarna Nida guides you through the outdoor area, making it easy to move from one section to the next.
A sculpture garden by artist Jan Bernasiewicz, built around the theme of preserving things for future generations, sits within the grounds and brings contemporary art into a rural setting. The museum also features displays on regional windmills, a type of structure rarely documented in other collections.
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