Galician Town Square in the open-air museum in Sanok

The Museum of Rural Architecture in Sanok was initiated in 1958 and during the following years it acquired an impressive collection. Finally in 1966 the outdoor exposition opened to tourists. At present over 150 buildings are on display in an area of 38 hectares. The most recent major acquisition of the museum is the Galician Town Square. The attraction is open to tourists all year round.

Plans for the reconstruction of a typical old small town were drawn up in the early 1980s. The project was completed when the Galician Town Square opened to tourists in 2011 within the open-air museum.

The stone-paved rectangular square with a well in the middle and the statue of St. Florian in front of the fire station is surrounded by houses, workshops, stores and other facilities which typically constituted the landscape of the small towns in this multicultural area in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The Galician Town Square, however, does not reproduce a specific location; it simply represents the idea of an urban layout which was typical in those times. Therefore, we can say that, owing to many years of research prior to its construction, the Galician Town Square is a faithful replica of a place that never really existed.

The buildings around the Town Square and along the adjoining streets  (the exposition is constantly expanding) are either exact replicas of houses from specific locations or original buildings brought from various places in the region. For example, the Jewish house from the late 1800s is original and comes from Ustrzyki Dolne. The fire station from 1920 is also an authentic structure, brought here from Golcowa. However, majority of the exhibits are faithful replicas of buildings from Galician towns: these include a hairdresser's shop from the late 1800s from Stara Wieś, a tailor's shop from around 1880 from Jaćmierz, a colonial goods store from the early 1900s from Jaśliska, a post office from the late 1800s from Brzozów, as well as 19th century inn and bowling alley both  from Sanok. There is also a replica of the 18th century synagogue from Połaniec.

You can see how faithfully the atmosphere of an old small town is recreated when you look at pictures taken in the Galician Town Square. If they are black and white  you can put them side by side with old photographs from that time. When the new pictures are taken during some cultural events held at the open-air museum there are hardly any differences between them and the old photographs, if you disregard any obvious technical shortcomings of the latter. The Galician Town Square often fills with people dressed in period costumes. Beside a Jewish man playing barrel organ, you can see here for example, Imperial and Royal police, shopkeepers praising their goods, or drivers looking after their carts. Craftsmen’s shops and retail outlets are crowded with people, so everything looks as it used to. A visit to the Galician Town Square is a kind of time travel.