Krosno Glass Heritage Centre

Krosno has made glass industrially since 1923 and the name is attached to Polish glassware the way Murano is to Italian, so the Centrum Dziedzictwa Szkla, opened in 2012 in the cellars and buildings of the old works in the centre of town, is a factory museum rather than an invented attraction. It covers the history and the technology - furnaces, moulds, tools, the chemistry of colour - with a large collection of Krosno production from the 1920s to the present, and it holds pieces going back much further, including archaeological glass. The part people book for is the demonstration: a working furnace where glassblowers make pieces in front of the visitors and, on the paid sessions, guide them in blowing one themselves, which takes a few minutes and comes with the object. There is also a design collection and temporary exhibitions of studio glass. The town has a Renaissance market square and a subcarpathian museum with oil-lamp collections.

What you actually see

• A factory museum - in the buildings and cellars of the old Krosno works.
• A working furnace - glassblowers making pieces in front of visitors.
• Blow your own - guided sessions that end with the object you made.
• A century of Krosno glass - production from the 1920s to now.

When to go

All year. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Glassblowing sessions must be booked ahead and cost extra. The furnace area is hot and has age limits. Closed Mondays. The museum is underground in parts and can feel cramped when busy.

Nearby

Bobrka oil heritage park is about ten kilometres south.