Tarnów attractions. The best places to see in Tarnów

Hailed as the Pearl of the Renaissance, Tarnów is a beautiful, historic city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, located 80 km east of Krakow. It was located between Bochnia and Dębica, on the Biała and Dunajec rivers. It is easily accessible because it lies between the A4 motorway and the 94 road. Tarnów is a Polish heat pole, so it is worth coming here to experience beautiful weather and look at wonderful, well-kept architectural buildings! 

It is outside Krakow that the most monuments in all of southern Poland are located here. Not only Renaissance, but they are mainly the undeniable charm of Tarnów's Old Town, which simply cannot be resisted! This charming city also has a very long and rich history, interspersed with threads and minorities of many European nations.

Attractions in Tarnów

One very active day is enough to get to know the most beautiful attractions of Tarnów. And what a wonderful day it will be, after all, the local monuments captivate with their beauty. However, it is best to plan a weekend in Tarnów, or even a few days, and calmly look into each charming alley, visit several museums and get, apart from the friendly atmosphere, some knowledge about the past of this resort. Read our guide, see the photos and get to know the best attractions in Tarnów.

You will learn first-hand what is worth visiting in this city! You'll also find a map with the exact locationof each experience below.

Town Hall with the Old Art Gallery

The Renaissance Town Hall standing on the Market Square is a pearl among Polish buildings of this type. The beginnings of the Tarnów town hall date back to the mid-15th century, when it was probably a wooden building, like the entire development of the city. It was consumed by a fire in 1494. The existence of the current, brick Town Hall is confirmed by a document from 1526, inside there is a Museum - Gallery of Early Art, which is a branch of the District Museum in Tarnów. The impressivetown hall is decorated with a Renaissance attic, a unique portal and one of the oldest clock mechanisms in Poland, hand-wound.
Address: Town Hall - Old Art Gallery, Rynek 1

Market Square from the Museum of the History of Tarnów

The market square and adjacent streets hide beautiful, historic tenement houses with colorful facades. Wonderfully revitalized, they are a considerable decoration of the main square of the city. Once, almost all tenement houses in the Market Square were arcaded, intended for trade, today only a few remain. One of them houses the Museum of the History of Tarnów and the Region - another branch of the District Museum with an interesting exhibition combining tradition and modernity. Of course, the greatest decoration of the Market Square is the Renaissance Town Hall.
Address: Rynek

Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

I can't imagine being in Tarnów and not going inside the cathedral. Its architecture impresses! The cathedral standing at Kapitulna Street is a monumental building towering over the Old Town, this Minor Basilica is now the Sanctuary of MB Bolesna. 

Not only the interior of the temple is wonderful, but also extremely valuable, because it hides the Renaissance, huge, several-meter tombstones of the Tarnowski and Ostrogski family. These are the largest European works of sculptural art, the Tarnowski monument is Gothic-Renaissance, and the Ostrogski monument - Baroque. 
Address: Cathedral, ul. Kapitulna 2

If you like venerable cathedrals, see our text about Chester in England with a wonderful cathedral

Mikołajowski House in Tarnów

Standing at the Cathedral Square, the house is the oldest tenement house in the city, from 1524, standing opposite the cathedral, in an extremely charming Diocesan Alley, but the house itself is also quite impressive, the stone decorations are unique and resemble the decor of castles, you can feel the breath of history here. 

The Mikołajowski House, together with the neighboring, beautiful tenement houses from the 16th century, constitute the seatof the Diocesan Museum in Tarnów. It is the oldest museum of this type in Poland, presenting valuable exhibits from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The interiors of the museum are exceptionally beautiful.
Address: Mikołajowski House, Cathedral Square 5

Bima in Tarnów

Bima at Żydowska Street is the only trace of the Old Synagogue, which was the main Jewish temple in the city since the 16th century, destroyed by the Nazis during World War II. The Old Synagogue Square is one of the memorial sites of Jews in Tarnów, nicely revitalized, with information boards, it is the setting for numerous concerts and meetings of cultures.
Address: Bima, Żydowska street

Jewish cemetery in Tarnów

Kirkut standing at SzpitalnaStreet is one of the oldest and best preserved Jewish cemeteries in all of Poland, probably founded in the middle of the 16th century, today hides about 6,000 matzevot! Thus, it is also one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Poland. Kirkut in Tarnów is fenced, and the key to it can be obtained after paying a refundable deposit at the Tarnów Information Center on the Market Square (Rynek 7). 

It is worth visiting the Jewish cemetery in Tarnów, because it is a very atmospheric place, and at the same time a witness to tragic events. Suffice it to say that in 1940, on the orders of the Germans, a Jewish district was established in Tarnów. To 25,000 people living in this city Jewswere also brought from the area. Eventually, more than 30,000 people crowded into the Jewish quarter. In June 1942, the Nazis began the liquidation of this district and in a week they murdered half of this population!
Address: Kirkut, ul. Szpitalna

Old Cemetery in Tarnów

The cemetery at Narutowicza Street was built around 1787, so it is one of the oldest preserved and used cemeteries in Poland, over 200 years old and older than the Powązek cemetery in Warsaw and the Rakowicki Cemetery in Krakow. The oldest preserved tombstones come from the end of the 18th century, you will also find the Sanguszko tomb chapel here, we even had the opportunity to enter its basement, with the graves of the former owners of Tarnów. 

It is also worth seeing at the Old Cemetery a monument to the famous plunder - the so-called Galician slaughter, which took place in February 1846 and claimed over 1,000 victims, mainly landowners. Why did this happen? The mayor of Tarnów, Joseph Breinl, stirred up the surrounding peasants against the nobility who were preparing the uprising. The plunder was headed by the peasant Jakub Szela and under his command the peasants murdered the inhabitants of the surrounding manors and brought them to Tarnów. The wounded were killed on the spot, because the price for the murdered was higher than for the living.
Address: Old Cemetery, Narutowicza Street

Craftsman

What do you think about the fact that in Tarnów you will find the only playing statue of a dressmaker in Poland? It is worth seeing, the dressmaker is as high as 2.3 meters, it is beautiful, golden in color and stands in the place where the dressmaker actually played before World War II. I like such modern references to authentic history. The Tarnów dressmaker is a very nice monument, which everyone is happy to photograph, it is enough to descend the Great Stairs towards it, among the flower stalls. 

The thread of the dressmaker also appears in the new exhibition at the Museum of History on the Market Square, where after cancelling tickets in all the ticket changers, you will listen to the hymn of the dressmaker.
Address: Statue of the craftsman, Targowa Street

Stara Łaźnia

The unique building at KL Auschwitz Prisoners' Square is a former mikvah, i.e. a ritual bath in Tarnów, represents an interesting Moorish style, dates back to 1904 and today houses a restaurant of the same name - Stara Łaźnia, given by Magda Gessler during the Kitchen Revolutions, is worth tasting in the interesting interiors of good Jewish, but also Galician and Gypsy cuisine
Address: Stara Łaźnia, Pl. Prisoners of KL Auschwitz 1

Ethnographic Museum

The Ethnographic Museum at Krakowska Street is an interesting place, facing the famous Sekler Gate in Tarnów. An interesting fact is that every summer a symbolic Gypsy fleet leaves from under this museum, and an exhibition about the local Roma can be seen in the interior of this museum
Address: Ethnographic Museum, ul. Krakowska 10

Railway station

Standing at Dworcowa Street, the magnificent, large and magnificent historic railway station  is sometimes called the "pearl of Art Nouveau". It is over 100 years old, as its construction was completed in 1910. At that time, the building seemed huge against the background of a still small city, today it still makes a colossal impression. Both residents and tourists really like this building and appreciate its beauty
Address: Railway Station, ul. Dworcowa 1

Seklerska Gate and Bema Mausoleum

The gate standing at Krakowska Street, opposite the Ethnographic Museum, reminds of the connections between Tarnów and Hungary, the gate is named after General Bem and Sandor Petöfi - Hungarian heroes. In the Strzelecki Park at Piłsudskiego Street, it is worth seeing the impressive mausoleum of Bem
Seklerska Gate, Krakowska Street
Address: Mausoleum of General Józef Bem, ul. Piłsudskiego

Ruins of the Tarnowski Castle

The castle from the fourteenth century was erectedfrom the Middle Ages on St. Martin's Hill, this building stood at the very top of the hill, from which there is a magnificent panorama of the whole city, the ruins of the upper and lower castles remained small, but they are very extensive and give testimony to the enormity of the former castle. It is a picturesque area, although it could be better used for tourists and residents, you can reach it on Wypoczynkowa Street.
Address: Zamek, ul. Zamkowa

Sanguszko Palace in Tarnów

The historic Sanguszko Palace, the last owners of Tarnów, stands in the Sanguszko Park, in Gumniska - the current district of the city. It is a former magnate residence, and today the seat of the school complex
Address: Sanguszków Palace, 28 Sanguszków Street

Cafe Tram

Cafe Tram is not only a place where you can enjoy delicious coffee, but also an interesting tourist attraction. It is impossible not to find it, because it stands almost at the Market Square, at Sobieski Square and adorns the Tarnów "promenade". The café tram is a faithful copy of the original Tarnów trams that began running around the city in 1911. Because of the red color, they were called ladybugs. The tram, which can be admired today in Tarnów, took 3 years to build and contains authentic elements from Tarnów ladybugs.

Prince's Tower and City Walls

The city tower, also called a bastion or half-bastion, is one of the many elements of the city's Renaissance architecture. It was built in the 16th century and formerly served defensive functions, then it became a residential building. Over time, it was built with tenement houses, but today it is unveiled and is an interesting monument of Tarnów. 

The city walls in Tarnów were built during the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, their fragments were reconstructed in the twentieth century within Wałowa, Targowa, Bernardyńska and Szeroka streets. The fortifications were built of brick on stone foundations, they have been preserved over a length of about 400 meters and today they are a trace of the former defensive architecture
Address: Prince's Tower, ul. Basztowa
City walls, Wałowa, Szeroka streets and others

Medieval urban layout

The city preserved the former spatial layout with the Market Square in the central place, from the time of the founding of the city, i.e. from 1330. 2 streets leave from each corner of the main square
Address: Historic layout, market and surrounding streets

Bench of Poets in Tarnów

The Poets' Bench has been standing at Wałowa Street since 2004. It is near the Old Town Square. On the bench there are carved figures of three poets - Agnieszka Osiecka, Zbigniew Herbert and Jan Brzechwa. The characters are cast in bronze and have natural sizes. This interesting monument attracts locals and tourists.
Address: Poet's Bench, Wałowa Street, Tarnów

Monument to the Polish Pope

Next to the monumental cathedral, there is a large statue of St. John Paul II. Interestingly, it is one of the first monuments of this Pope around the world, and he stood here in 1981
Address: Monument to the Pope, Cathedral Square

Former Bernardine Monastery

Unfortunately, the Bernardine monastery from the 15th century has not been preserved in its former form, today a large building with a classicist façade is erected on Bernardyńska Street, but from the eastern side the church chancel with massive slopes and soaring windows is still visible. 

It was the gothic temple of MB Śnieżna. Opposite is a two-storey building with the date: 1823. Behind it there is a brick defensive wall several meters high with outlines of walled shooting ranges. These buildings, together with the walls, were a gothic Bernardine monastery from the second half of the fifteenth century.
Address: Former monastery, Bernardyńska street

Map of Tarnów with attractions

To make it easier for you to get around the city and find the city's attractions, we have marked the best sights and places on the map.

History of Tarnów

The city boasts a centuries-old history dating back to the beginning of the Piast era. In the ninth century, a Slavic stronghold was built on St. Martin's Mountain, surrounded by high ramparts, which functioned until the beginning of the eleventh century. Later, in the fourteenth century, a magnificent brick castle was built on the same mountain, constituting the ancestral residence of the Leliwites' estate in Tarnów. It consisted of an upper and lower castle, and its traces are visible here to this day.

A little earlier, the history of Tarnów as a city began, when in 1330King Władysław the Elbow-high granted Spycimir Leliwita a city location act based on Magdeburg law. He was the voivode of Kraków, considered the progenitor of the Tarnowski family.For a long time the city was ruled by this family and even then it was a place open to visitors from other countries, which translated into the multiculturalism of Tarnów. In addition to Poles, Jews, Roma, Germans, Ukrainians, Austrians and even Scots lived here for centuries. 

Traces of other religions and cultures can be found here at every step, symbolic is the Sekler Gate named after Józef Bem and Sandor Petöfi, under which Hungarians come every year. But even more souvenirs have been preserved from the Jews.

For centuries, Tarnów was a private city, owned not only by the Tarnowski family, but also by the Ostrogski, Zasławski and Sanguszko families. Their traces can also be found in many places of the city to this day, in parks, museums or cemeteries.

Where did the name Tarnów come from?

You may not know it, but the name of the city comes from sloe bushes. The famous chronicler Jan Długosz wrote in his chronicles that such shrubs once densely overgrown St. Martin's Mountain, where the city begins. To this day, these shrubs with pomegranate fruits grow here, not so densely. 

Interestingly, as souvenirs, you can bring home a tincture called sloe, tea of the same name and beautiful navy blue corals referring to the fruits of this plant! I also have my blackthorn beads 😉

Polish Edison in Tarnów

Do you know who we're talking about? This is Jan Szczepanik, who was born in 1872 in Rudniki near Mościsko (today's Ukraine), and died in 1926 in Tarnów. "Polski Edison" is the author of 50 inventions. It was the bulletproof armor invented by him that made the Spanish king Alfonso XIII recover from the assassination in 1902. The carriage was stamped with a fabric designed by Szczepanik, thanks to which the bomb did not cause any damage to the ruler.

Jan Szczepanik - a Galician inventor, patented several hundred ideas in the field of colour photography, television and colour weaving. In the 1920s, he developed a colour film system, valued for real colour rendering. He also worked on a sound film. He invented bulletproof armour a little while perfecting the weaving workshop. Szczepanik invented a new type of fabric and used it as a protective armor against revolver bullets and daggers. 

The prototype of Szczepanik's bulletproof vest was tested in 1901, it protected against shots from a 7-millimeter revolver from a distance of three steps. Szczepanik even received a prize from Tsar Nicholas II of Russia for his bulletproof armour.

Where to eat in Tarnów?

Tarnów is not a small city, so it offers a lot of restaurants. We had the pleasure of tasting three and I can safely recommend them all. The most atmospheric and intimate place where we ate is the Różana Restaurant at 19 Batorego Street. 

It is located in a historic manor house from the 19th century and offers delicious dishes of complex old Polish cuisine, and among them there are fish - catfish, paternal trout, trout and, of course, herring. My attention was drawn to the delicious borscht with goose dumplings. If you like, the dishes can be accompanied by wine, e.g. from the famous Steć Family Vineyard. 

It is also worth visiting the Old Bathhouse (Prisoners' Square KL Auschwitz 1) with a restaurant of the same name, given by Magda Gessler during the Kitchen Revolutions, in Tarnów, near the Market Square. You will taste interesting dishes of Jewish, Galician and Gypsy cuisine. We know the Jewish sensuous from Jurassic Lelow, here it was prepared slightly differently, with tasty goose chicks, i.e. stomachs, Jewish carp and gypsy stew. We were surprised by the Jewish Passover, or cold cheesecake. On top of that, cinnamon Jewish coffee. I do not regret cinnamon here in various dishes, which I liked very much.

Even closer to the Market Square, at Krakowska 1, I recommend you to visit the elegant Tatra Restaurant, which by the very interior design encourages you to stop. It is one of the oldest restaurants in Tarnów, which invites you to Old Polish cuisine, but often in a new version.

See also Olomouc - a Czech gem, not very popular, but extremely attractive

Accommodation in Tarnów

I may not be too original, but we slept at theHotel Tarnovia. Do you like sleeping in hotels? I admit that I do, because although sometimes there are really nice climatic accommodation outside the hotel offer, it is also easy to ride, and hotels with their standard are predictable and rarely disappoint. This was also the case with the Tarnovia Hotel at Kościuszki Street. 

A private bathroom, a clean room and a delicious, hearty breakfast are the things I care about the most in my accommodation. In addition, Hotel Tarnovia is located in the city center, actually a few minutes walk from the wonderful Market Square in Tarnów, so you can drink wine at dinner in the restaurant😉 

Walking tour of the city

The car can be left in a fairly large, paid car park on Kościuszko Square. From here, we walk along Krakowska Street towards the market square. On the way, we pass the Seklerska Gate and then the Ethnographic Museum (the tour takes about 45 minutes) and the famous Cafe Tram, where we can stop for an energetic coffee. We reach the market square along the Cathedral Street, passing the bust of Adam Mickiewicz. We see a beautiful Renaissance town hall on the market. Inside, there is the Museum of Early Art. The tour will take about 30 minutes. In the arcaded tenement houses, there is another interesting Museum of the History of Tarnów on the market. It's more modern, but equally interesting. The tour takes about 40 minutes. After leaving the museum, we turn left into Żydowska Street. On the way, be sure to take a picture of yourself with umbrellas on Piekarska Street. On Jewish Street, we reach Bima - the remains of the destroyed Old Synagogue. Behind Bima, on Wałowa Street, you can find a monument to General Bem. On Wałowa or Narrow Street, we return to Rybna Square and continue to Kapitulna Street towards the cathedral. On the way, on the right, we pass the entrance gate (opposite the wall). You can enter there because the Tarnów tower is pressed at the end of this street. We go back down the street and continue to the cathedral. I encourage you to go inside, because there are beautiful, gothic-renaissance tombstones. Next to the cathedral, there is also the atmospheric Alley with Renaissance tenement houses and the Diocesan Museum. This is how we visited the very center of the city.

We can now take a longer walk around other, more distant attractions. Returning from under the cathedral along the Cathedral Street, we turn into Targowa Street and come to the square, where you can see the outlined foundations of the now defunct St. Anne's Church. We pass them on the right and walk down the Holy Spirit Street towards the market square, where in the northern part there is a famous monument of a dressmaker. His catharine wins the melody. Next, we go down the street of the Blessed Virgin Mary, because it leads to a wooden church. Opposite it, across the street, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Poland - Zabłocki Cemetery. By the way, also very interesting, the oldest tombstones are from the 18th century. From the cemetery, we can return along the same street and go right to Bernardyńska Street. On the way, opposite the church, we pass a charming square of Fr. Wajda with a multimedia fountain. Further to the left along Szeroka Street and to the right along Lwowska Street, we reach the square, where we turn left and go along Dębowa Street to the old Jewish Mykwa (Old Bath). There is a restaurant with delicious Jewish cuisine - you can regenerate here. From here you can return to the car, but we recommend seeing two more places where you can drive (or walk). The first is the Jewish cemetery at Szpitalna Street - also one of the oldest monuments of this type in Poland, and the Strzelecki Park (parking lot at Romanowicza Street) where the famous mausoleum of General Bem stands. The full route is about 8 kilometers (including back to the parking lot), so you have to spend almost a whole day on it (with museum tours and meals), but it can of course be shortened at any time.

Tarnow Information Center

If you want to plan your visit in this city well, direct your first steps in the city to the Tarnów Information Center, located on the Market Square, at number 7. Here you will get all the materials, maps and information you need to explore the city. TCI operates very dynamically, it is an open and tourist-friendly facility.

Check out our ranking of the most beautiful cities in Poland with Tarnów

Our video about Tarnów

We also invite you to watch our film about this beautiful Renaissance city.

What's worth seeing in the area?

If you have already visited this attraction, it is also worth visiting several other interesting ones places nearby. Within a radius of 100 kilometers you will find many interesting places places that can diversify your stay in this part of Poland.

• Observation tower in Krynica Zdrój, distance: 64.9  km
• Wieliczka Salt Mine, distance: 66.8  km
• Kazimierz in Kraków, distance: 74.5  km
• Wawel Castle in Kraków, distance: 75.3  km
• Three Crowns, distance: 78.3  km
• Krzyżtopór Castle, distance: 81.3  km
• Ojców National Park, distance: 85.2  km
• Pieskowa Skała Castle, distance: 90  km
• Krakowskie valleys, distance: 90.8  km
• Paradise Cave, distance: 96.8  km