Attraction in Białowieża

Palace Park (Park Pałacowy)

Landscaped grounds around the site of the tsars' burned hunting palace, now the setting for the national park museum.

Reviewed and updated July 2026

Palace Park (Park Palacowy) — Photo: J0ck3j / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The history behind Białowieża's Palace Park

The park was created around the hunting palace of the Russian tsars, built between 1889 and 1894 with about 120 rooms to host imperial guests who came here to hunt. It was one of the grander residences in the region before the wars.

What remains at Palace Park today

German troops burned the palace during their retreat on the night of 16-17 July 1944, and today a red-brick entrance gateway is the main surviving fragment. The grounds now hold the Białowieża National Park directorate, the Nature and Forest Museum, ponds and mature trees.

Visiting Palace Park in Białowieża

The park is the usual starting point for walks into the national park and is free to enter. From the eastern gate near the tourist information centre, the main path climbs past the old red-brick gateway.

Frequently asked questions

No. It was burned in July 1944 and only a red-brick gateway and some outbuildings survive.

The park grounds are open to walk through; the Nature and Forest Museum inside charges admission.

The national park directorate, the Nature and Forest Museum, ponds and landscaped grounds.

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Royal Oaks Trail (Szlak Dębów Królewskich)

A short boardwalk loop in the Stara Białowieża tract that winds past monumental oaks, each named after a Polish king or Lithuanian duke who once hunted in the forest.

Obelisk of 1752

The oldest monument in Białowieża, a sandstone obelisk marking a royal hunt held by King Augustus III in 1752, with inscriptions listing the game taken.

Catholic Church of St Theresa of the Child Jesus

A Roman Catholic parish church in Białowieża village, built in the early 20th century in a neo-Renaissance style and known for its wooden altar furnishings.

Żebra Żubra Educational Boardwalk Trail

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