Fotoplastikon Warszawski: 3-D photos from 1905 Warsaw, hours and tickets

In a courtyard off Aleje Jerozolimskie sits one of Warsaw's most quietly extraordinary rooms. The Fotoplastikon Warszawski at number 51 was created at the beginning of the 20th century and - with interruptions - worked through the entire century: a meeting place, a window on the world and, as its own site puts it, a silent witness to the history of the capital in an original pre-war interior.

What you see

The Fotoplastikon is a rotating stereoscope: visitors sit around the device and watch three-dimensional photographs slide into view. The collection already holds more than 10,000 stereoscopic images - from exotic journeys at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, through Warsaw in different historical periods, to contemporary works by known authors. Themed exhibitions change at least once a month, and every Sunday and Monday the salon shows its standing display of old Warsaw photographs.

More than a gallery

The venue doubles as a stage for chamber concerts, city games, workshops, museum lessons, lectures and conferences, and serves as a period set for films and reports about old Warsaw. It operates under the care of the Warsaw Uprising Museum, which in 2021 received a state grant under the Infrastruktura Kultury programme to modernize and adapt the Fotoplastikon's rooms and equipment.

Hours and tickets

Open Monday 10:00-18:00, closed Tuesday, and Wednesday to Sunday 10:00-18:00. Tickets: 10 PLN regular, 6 PLN reduced, 8 PLN with the Warszawianka/Warszawiak card, 5 PLN with the young Varsovian card. Thursday admission is free - which earns the Fotoplastikon a place in our guide to free museum days in Warsaw. Address: Al. Jerozolimskie 51; phone +48 22 629 60 78.