Mieczysław Asłanowicz Regional Museum in Siedlce

The history of the Mieczyslaw Aslanowicz Regional Museum in Siedlce dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. It was then that the need to open such an institution began to be discussed. It succeeded in 1909, when the Siedlce branch of the Polish Land Society established the Podlasie Land Museum. It was located in an 18th-century town hall topped by a statue of Atlas, called "Jack" by Siedlce residents. Attempts to operate were interrupted by World War I. After regaining independence, the need to reactivate the institution was noted. On September 20, 1928, the City Council passed a resolution to establish the Mieczyslaw Aslanowicz Museum of Podlasie Land, with its headquarters in the tower of the town hall "under the Jack." It had a multi-departmental character. It collected objects from four fields: archeology, history, ethnography and art. The slow development of the institution was interrupted by World War II. The town hall, burned down in July 1944, was rebuilt in the 1950s. It was then decided to reconstruct the institution. As early as 1958, an appeal was made to the people of Siedlce to donate monuments. On July 12, 1966, the Presidium of the Municipal National Council in Siedlce passed a resolution to reactivate the Siedlce museum. Its statute was approved by the Ministry of Culture and Arts. On this basis, on January 1, 1967, it began operations and exists to this day.

After reactivation, it functioned successively under three names: Museum of Podlasie Land (1967-1975), District Museum (1975-1999), and since 2000 as the Regional Museum in Siedlce. By a resolution of the Mazovian Regional Assembly on January 17, 2023, the Siedlce institution received a new name: Mieczyslaw Aslanowicz Regional Museum in Siedlce.

Since its inception, it has been housed in the most characteristic building in Siedlce - the town hall, erected in 1763-1773 on the initiative of the then owners - the princely Czartoryski family. The town hall is one of the most beautiful examples of this type of construction in Poland, distinguished by the figure of Atlas adorning the obelisk helmet of the tower. The building is the center of a large representative city square and is an important part of a well-thought-out urban layout realized in its entirety in the second half of the 18th century.The architecture of the building combines styles from late Baroque, through Rococo to Classicism. The Atlas on the tower is called "Jack" by the people of Siedlce, and the whole building is called "under Jack" town hall. According to legend, the statue represents a blacksmith - the favorite servant of the city's owner, Princess Alexandra Oginskaya of the Czartoryski family. Since the building was erected, at least four statues of Atlas have stood on the tower. The current one was made in the 1960s by Wojciech Jarnuszkiewicz.

The Regional Museum's task is to acquire, preserve, protect and present historical monuments related to Siedlce and the region. The cultural activities conducted include the organization of archaeological, ethnographic, historical, art, nature and various sports exhibitions.

Educational activities include museum lessons, art and ethnographic workshops, historical games and competitions. We also organize lectures, multimedia presentations and meetings with famous people associated with culture and the region. Every two years we prepare landowner sessions, during which the topics of culture and history of landowners in the 19th and 20th centuries are discussed.

Within the structure of the Museum there are three divisions: the Fire Museum in Kotuń, the Museum of Landedness in Dąbrowa and the Museum of the November Uprising in Nowe Igania (in organization).

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