Description of the attraction
On Mariatskaya Street, near the gate of the same name, created in the 15th century and decorated with coats of arms, there is an old Renaissance house, which at that time was considered one of the highest in the city. This mansion housed the so-called `` community of growers '', that is, the society of naturalists. Since 1845, when this group of people acquired this Renaissance building with one façade overlooking the Old Motława embankment, it has been called the House of the People's Goods. The most significant architectural element of this building is the observation tower, where you can climb even now. The large covered balcony also attracts attention.
After World War II, the building needed a thorough renovation. After the restoration, the house was given to the Archaeological Museum, the entrance to which is now decorated with stone women - large sculptures in the primitivism style, created from solid stones. They depict the deities that people worshiped during the Middle Ages.
The local Archaeological Museum was founded in 1953. At first, it was considered a branch of the Gdansk Pomeranian Museum, but in 1962 it became an independent museum institution.
The museum's collections have grown so much that they no longer fit in the exhibition halls of the House of Grocers' Goods, so some of them were transported to branches located in different parts of the city and even in neighboring Sopot.
For example, an exhibition dedicated to the life of the medieval city of Gdansk was opened in a former lighthouse called the Vistula Fortress. Since 1993, the two wings of the local castle, built by the Teutonic Knights, have also been used by the Archaeological Museum. In Sopot, there is a skansen, which presents carefully restored historical buildings: peasant houses, workshops, barns, mills, characteristic of the Gdansk Pomerania.
