Adam Mickiewicz Museum Audio Guide

Entrance to the Adam Mickiewicz Museum is usually free. This product offers an audio guide that helps you better understand the museum. The audio guide makes your visit more meaningful and enjoyable.

Who is Adam Mickiewicz?

Adam Mickiewicz was born on December 24, 1798, in Belarus and died on November 26, 1855, in Istanbul. He is considered the greatest Romantic poet in Polish literature and is often compared to famous European writers like George Byron and Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Mickiewicz was a poet, playwright, patriot, and the author of the Polish national epic poem.

He worked as a lecturer at the Lausanne Academy, a teacher at the Kovno school, and a professor at the Collège de France in Paris. In 1848, he founded the Polish legion in Italy and became the editor of Polish newspapers published in exile. Between 1852 and 1855, he managed the priceless collection at the Paris Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal.

In September 1855, Mickiewicz left for the East with plans to raise Polish armies to fight against Tsarist Russia in the Crimean War. However, he passed away unexpectedly on November 26, 1855, in Istanbul, in a rented house that is now the Adam Mickiewicz Museum.

From a House into a Museum

In November 1855, Adam Mickiewicz, along with Armand Lévy and Henryk Slualski, rented a house from Mrs. Rudnicka at the intersection of Yeni Sehir and Kalyoncu Kulluk. In March 1870, a large fire destroyed most of the Pera neighborhood, including the house where Mickiewicz spent his last days.

That same year, Jesse Ratyski purchased the land from the Istanbul municipality and built a new house, exactly like the one that had been destroyed. Today, the Adam Mickiewicz Museum is located at the intersection of Tatli Badem Sokak (Sweet Almonds Street) and Serdar Omerpasa Streets.

The house where Mickiewicz stayed was very simple and poor. After his death, a Polish guest described it as having a small entrance vestibule, a table, a few chairs, a bed with a straw mattress, and a Turkish rug. The place was dark, cold, and reminded him of a small inn room. The poet had planned to stay there only temporarily before traveling to Bulgaria and Serbia, but he died there on November 26, 1855.