Panorama Raclawicka

The Panorama Raclawicka is a 360-degree painting in Wroclaw, measuring 15 by 114 metres, that shows the Battle of Raclawice of 1794. You stand on a central platform while the curved canvas runs all the way around you and blends into a three-dimensional foreground. See the Wroclaw guide for the wider city.

This is one of very few surviving cycloramas of its kind, a form of large-scale immersive painting popular in the late nineteenth century. The scale is the point: the canvas surrounds you, and clever lighting, a sculpted foreground and the curve of the wall make the painted battlefield read as real space. It is a fixed, timed visit with an audio commentary, so it is easy to plan around.

The painting depicts the Battle of Raclawice, fought on 4 April 1794 during the Kosciuszko Uprising against Russian forces, in which peasant scythemen played a famous part. From the central viewing platform the scene wraps a full circle. The join between the painted canvas and the modelled ground in front of it is worked so that the eye cannot easily find where one ends and the other begins.

The panorama was painted in the 1890s for the centenary of the battle, led by Jan Styka and Wojciech Kossak with other artists, and first shown in Lwow. After the Second World War it was moved to Wroclaw with part of the Ossolineum collection. It was reopened to the public in Wroclaw in 1985 in a purpose-built rotunda, and it is run today as a branch of the National Museum.

The viewing session runs around thirty minutes with the commentary. Allow a little longer for the entry hall and any linked exhibition.

Entry is by timed slot, so book ahead, especially in summer and at weekends when sessions sell out. It is an indoor visit, which makes it a reliable choice in poor weather.

The rotunda stands just east of the Old Town, a walk of around ten to fifteen minutes from the Market Square. It sits close to Hydropolis, so the two combine well.

The central platform is reached by stairs, though there is provision for visitors who cannot climb them. Check the museum's access information when you book.

The Old Town and the Market Square are a short walk west, and the water museum Hydropolis is close by on the same side of the centre.

It is 15 metres tall and 114 metres around, forming a full circle that the viewer stands inside.

Yes, it is strongly advised. Entry runs in timed sessions that fill quickly in peak periods.