Popiel Manor House in Ruszcza

The Popiel Manor House stands in Ruszcza, a former village that is now part of Kraków and its Nowa Huta district, at Rusiecka 13. According to the Wikipedia entry, it was built in 1863 by Paweł Popiel in the Neo-Renaissance style. Zabytek.pl dates the building to the mid-19th century, and the manor house has been in the heritage register since 2009.

Owners and guests

At the beginning of the 19th century Ruszcza was inherited by Zofia Popiel from her father, Marcin Baden. Around 1830 the estate passed from his mother to Paweł Popiel (1807-1892). The last owner was his great-granddaughter Róża Kieniewicz, née Popiel, who had to leave the manor house in 1945, when the state took over the estate under the land reform. The manor house hosted Kraków's intellectual elite, and in 1918 Achille Ratti, later Pope Pius XI, dined here.

The building and its surroundings

The manor house is built of brick. At the front it has a porch with stylised metal columns, and its eastern part is one storey taller than the western one. The usable floor area is 374.3 m². An English-style park was laid out around it; the trees include limes, oaks and beeches, some of them older than the manor house. After 1945 the building housed an agricultural cooperative, a shop, a post office and flats, and after the tenants moved out it fell into disrepair. Roof repairs began in June 2011.

Practical information

• Address: Rusiecka 13, Kraków (Nowa Huta). The sources give no visiting rules or current use of the building, so check with the district office or the heritage conservator before your visit.
• Nearby is the Jan Matejko Manor House in Krzesławice, and in Nowa Huta the Museum of Nowa Huta.