If you are visiting Warsaw I want to encourage you to see one place located about 45 minutes away from there, especially if are a fan of Frederick Chopin’s music.

The village of Żelazowa Wola is located 54 km from Warsaw, about 2 km from Sochaczew. It is here that Frederyk Chopin was born and here the composer’s museum is located in The Skarbek family mansion. Frederyk’s parents, Justyna from the Krzyżanowski family, impoverished petty nobility, and French teacher Mikołaj Chopin lived in the left wing of the mansion. Here on the March 1st 1810 (or February 22nd 1810 as some people say) Frederyk Franciszek Chopin was born.

That same year the family moved to Warsaw but Frederyk visited Żelazowa Wola many times, during the summer holidays and other occasions. According to tradition his visits here were often turned into garden concerts with the piano moved outside for the many guests to enjoy his playing. Today there are concerts organized with the pianist inside the house and the audience in the garden can listen to the concerts through speakers placed discreetly around the whole park.

The present day layout of the house does not resemble the one from the past. There are no detailed descriptions of the property. Most likely a large part of the building was burnt down and part of it was reconstructed when it belonged to Adam Towianski. In the twenties of the XX century the property was finally bought from private ownership and was turned into the Chopin museum.

By that time, in 1894, the first statue in the world to Chopin had been placed here. Today it is situated in the park, the statue with the medallion with Chopin’s face, near the new bridge over the Utrata River. Note the date of birth of Chopin on the monument.

Artifacts from the times of Chopin brought together with difficulty were lost during World War II. A few were returned after the war to be placed in the renovated mansion which was opened to the public on the 100^th anniversary of the death of Frederyk Chopin in 1949.

In 2010, on the occasion of Chopin Year, the 200^th anniversary of his birth, the property was changed completely. The house was renovated, the park completely reconstructed, a new audio system put into operation, new plants planted and new pavilions built. Today there are show rooms with films about Chopin’s life and a restaurant and a cafeteria on the premises. Ultramodern and functional pavilions with a professionally arranged park have given the property a brand new image on a world-wide scale we can be proud of. If you were here before the changes, do come back. You will not be disappointed.

The birthplace of Frederyk Chopin. Żelazowa Wola 15, 96-503 Sochaczew, tel.: +48 46 8633300, email: zelazowawola@nifc.pl.

The Museum is open in wintertime from Tuesday till Sunday 09.00-17.00.

The park can be visited everyday.

Adult ticket: park & museum 23 zł, park 7 zł.

Reduced ticket: park & museum 14 zł, park 4 zł.

Family ticket: park & museum 64 zł, park 20 zł (parents and children, groups up to 6 guests).

Tuesday park and museum visit free.

Audio-guide rental on Tuesdays 10 zł, other days it is included in the park and museum ticket price (excluding park entry only).

Chopin music concerts are held every Sunday from May till the end of September at 12.00 and 15.00. There is also a special service for concerts for groups of 30-40 persons (price is 2500 zł).

How to get there?

The best way to get to Żelazowa Wola is by car. Leave Warsaw via Gorczewska Street and keep on this road for 54 kilometers (road number 580 direction Sochaczew). Parking 8 zł (no time limit), private parking behind petrol station 7 zł.

You can also get there by train from the Central Station Warsaw to Sochaczew (TLK train, a trip of about 40 minutes). Then catch bus number 6 from the railway station in Sochaczew to Żelazowa Wola.

Do następnego razu! (Till next time…)