Archaeological Museum of Middle Odra (Swidnica)

Initially, the museum was the archaeological department of the Museum of Lubusz Zielona Góra . This department was founded in 1958. For the first time, the activities of the archaeological department of the Museum of Lubusz Land were focused on preparing the upcoming celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Poland. At that time, the department’s employees studied castles of the early Middle Ages in Pschevo, Ryboyad, Nesulitsa, Grodzische, Krosno-Odzhansky, Polupin and Gostkhod.

Since 1960, the department began to engage in Ludza culture . The burial places of the Luga culture were studied in the settlements of Stary Keselin, Trzebul and Kotle.

From 1966 to 1996, employees of the archaeological department were engaged in excavations of the fortress of Vitsin and its environs. During these expeditions numerous archaeological artifacts were discovered, which became museum exhibits of the Museum of Lubusz land. Discovered archaeological artifacts amounted to a significant number, so it was decided to place the artifacts in a separate building in Swidnica. On January 1, 1982, the archaeological department of the Museum of the Lubusz land became an independent museum institution. The first director of the new museum was the former head of the archaeological department of the Museum of the Lubusz land, Doctor of Historical Sciences Adam Kolodzetskiy. After gaining independence, the museum focused on archaeological excavations, among which the settlements of Pomor culture in the towns of Domanevice near Glogov and Marcinov near Zagan were of particular importance.

The museum is located in a building that was built in 1602 according to the project of the Italian architect Alberto Antonio from Urbino. The building was built in the Renaissance style and until 1702 belonged to the German aristocratic family von Kittlitz (von Kittlitz).

The museum presents museum materials proving the continuity of the Slavic presence on the lands of the middle course of the Odra of a temporary period from the prehistory to our time. Most of the archaeological artifacts presented in the museum were collected during their own museum archaeological expeditions. A small part of the collection consists of former exhibits of German museums. The museum houses a numismatic collection, numbering about 3,000 coins. In addition to ceramics and jewelry of various periods, the museum contains military items from Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages. There is also a small collection of items from pre-Columbian America.

Currently, the museum exhibits the following permanent exhibitions:

• "The defense of the western lands of Poland during the reign of Piast."
• "Economic activity in the Middle Ages on the Middle Oder."
• "Hunters and tillers of the Stone Age on the Middle Odra."
• “Vitsina is a city of metallurgists 2500 years ago.”

• Museum official page (Polish)