It is worth starting your visit to the Royal Castle with the multimedia historical exhibition located in the cellars. By means of an emotionally engaging narrative, preserved archival materials and modern technology, the exhibition brings closer the colourful and turbulent history of the building, which for Poles is a symbol of independence. Without this knowledge, it is impossible to understand the cultural phenomenon of the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The exhibition...

The exhibition is divided into three sections, each presented in a separate room.

Part one briefly outlines the history of the Castle from the founding of the first fortified building on the left bank of the Vistula in the 14th century, through the centuries of its functioning and development until the end of the Second Republic. The building then served as the residence of the rulers (first the Mazovian princes, then the kings of Poland), the first seat of the Sejm and finally the seat of the President of the Republic of Poland.

The second part presents the dramatic turning point represented by the fate of the Castle during the Second World War - from the artillery shelling and first destruction on 17 September 1939, through the heroic evacuation of the works of art, to the blowing up of the Castle walls by the German army in the autumn of 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising.

The third part is devoted to the great project of the reconstruction of the Royal Castle and the reconstruction of its interiors, carried out in the years 1971-1984. This undertaking was - in terms not only of conservation, but also of social and symbolic value - a world-scale phenomenon. It became possible thanks to the will and consistency of specific individuals, but also to the involvement of the entire Polish society in an unprecedented financial collection.