The Ottoman Empire: From Enemy to Ally 10.17 | Tour of the Palace of the Grand Dukes exhibition (MIM)

How are exhibition tours created? How do you make objects speak? How do you select, from an overwhelming wealth of information, what helps create a coherent story? This tour is part of a guide-training course, and some participants will be prospective guides, so we will tell you a little more than usual and give you a glimpse behind the scenes of creating tours.

🟣One of the greatest treasures of Wawel Royal Castle has arrived at the Palace of the Grand Dukes: the legendary 17th-century tent of the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. It stood near Vienna when the Grand Vizier had ambitious but unsuccessful plans to capture the city; after the crushing defeat, the tent became a war trophy of John Sobieski.

🟣Large surviving works of Ottoman textile heritage, radiant with colours and symbols, are very rare. This exceptionally beautiful and unique work has left Wawel for the first time, giving us the opportunity to better understand more than five centuries of relations between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Kingdom of Poland and the Ottoman Empire, from wars to diplomacy, trade and unexpected alliances.

🟣The exhibition presents more than 60 authentic treasures from the collections of Wawel Royal Castle and the Palace of the Grand Dukes, inviting visitors to see the Ottoman Empire not only as an adversary but also as an important political partner.

🌷On the tour, we will talk not only about wars and diplomacy, but also about the Ottoman Empire's everyday legacy in Europe: the spread of coffee culture, the origins of furniture names such as sofa and divan, the journey of tulips and lilacs to Europe, and other unexpected cultural connections.

👑You will also see an additional exhibit: a diptych of Queens Elżbieta and Barbora.

⏰ Tour duration: approximately 1.5 hours.

🎫 Meet by the ticket office.

❗A separate ticket for the museum itself (Route II) is required. We therefore recommend arriving early, as there may be a queue at the ticket office. Please do not be late and have a copy of your ticket saved on your phone. If you arrive late, you can still join the tour, but you will need to find the guide yourself, as guides do not speak on the phone during working hours.

*****This tour, like our other tours, can also be booked privately. You can find all our topics at www.mimokykla.lt, and more dates for group tours - here. *****

We remind you that if your plans change, tickets cannot be exchanged and money will not be refunded. However, you can always give or transfer your ticket to someone else.

📸Please note that photographs or video may be taken during the tour. If you do not wish to appear in them, please inform us in advance by email. If you do not do so, we will assume that you do not object.

📷 📹All tour participants are also entitled to take photos and videos for personal use; however, without the tour organisers' written consent, this material may not be used or distributed for commercial purposes.