Ksiezy Mlyn

Ksiezy Mlyn was built from the 1870s by Karol Scheibler, the largest of the Lodz cotton manufacturers, as a self-contained industrial settlement: a spinning mill of red brick several hundred metres long, straight rows of two-storey workers' houses with gardens between them, a school, a hospital, a fire station, shops and a gasworks, all on one estate under one owner. It is the most complete surviving example of the type in Poland and it is still lived in. At the edge stands the Herbst villa, built for Scheibler's daughter and son-in-law, restored with its interiors and a picture gallery as a branch of the Lodz museum, and Scheibler's own palace nearby now holds the film museum. The mill buildings have been converted into lofts and offices. The whole thing shows how a textile fortune organised the lives of the people who made it, at a scale that is hard to grasp from the street alone.

What you actually see

• A red-brick spinning mill - several hundred metres long, now lofts and offices.
• Workers' rows - two-storey brick houses with gardens, still occupied.
• The Herbst villa - restored interiors and a picture gallery.
• Scheibler's palace - now the film museum, at the edge of the estate.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The workers' houses are private homes. Museums close on Mondays and have separate tickets. Parts of the estate remain unrestored. Interpretation on the street is limited.

Nearby

Piotrkowska is a walk north-west; Manufaktura is across the centre.