Trzcinica near Jasło The Carpathian Troy Open-Air Museum is located in Trzcinica, in south-eastern Poland, in Podkarpackie Voivodeship, a few kilometres north-west of Jasło, on the Valley of the Ropa River. 160, 000 artefacts The site where the open-air museum has been built is one of the most important archaeological sites in Poland with major importance for discovering the prehistory of Central-Eastern Europe. In the course of archaeological works, particularly the ones carried out since 1991 by Jan Gancarski, over 160 000 artefacts have been unearthed here. The collection comprises pottery vessels, items made of clay, flint and stone, bone and horn as well as bronze and iron. Many of them are unique, considered to be fabulous pieces of prehistoric art and craft. Carpathian Troy One of the earliest strongly fortified settlements known in Poland, dated to the beginnings of the Bronze Age, has been discovered in Trzcinica. It was built as early as over 4000 years ago! Furthermore, it was here where the first settlement of the Otomani-Füzesabony culture has been dicovered in Poland. The culture was found to have been under strong Mediterranean influences and is dated to 1650-1350 BC. Taking into consideration the importance of the discovery, chronology and obvious south European influences, the site was called ‘the Carpathian Troy’. Royal Earthworks Over 2000 years after the fall of the Carpathian Troy the site was inhabited by the Slavs. They erected a large settlement of 3 hectares of land, surrounded with monumental earthworks which nowadays, in some parts, are still as high as 10 meters. This is exactly the site which is often called ‘Royal Earthworks’. The hillfort is dated to 770-1020 AD. There have been a few tens of thousands of Slavic artefacts discovered on the site including a hoard of silver items which contained a famous trimming from a sword-scabbard - a masterpiece of early medieval craft. Unique fusion The Carpathian Troy Open-Air Museum - a branch of Subcarpathian Museum in Krosno - has been built in Trzcinica in order to protect the hillfort and make it available for tourists. The originator of the idea of building of an open-air museum in Trzcinica is Jan Gancarski – the director of the Subcarpathian Museum. The Carpathian Troy is an original fusion of a traditional form of an open-air museum with a modern museum institution. The whole complex consists of the hillfort and an archaeological park located at the foot of it. There are over 150 meters of reconstructed earthworks, 2 gateways (the first one dated to the beginnings of the Bronze Age, the other to the early medieval times) and 6 cottages. In the archaeological park there are 2 reconstructed villages - the village of the Otomani culture and an early medieval village. A modern exhibition pavilion is situated here as well. It comprises spacious exhibition hall, functional conference room, multimedia lecture room for students, cosy ‘Room of a Small Discoverer’ for the youngest guests, and eating area where the cuisine based on the ‘art of cooking’ performed by our ancestors will be offered. All that, enriched with an attractive cultural programme and unique atmosphere, guarantees that a good time will be had by all visitors.