The National Museum in Cracow, the oldest and largest institution of its sort in Poland, is located in assorted buildings- Branches. All require constant conservation repair, while the incessantly growing collections demand increased storage space. Apart from the fulfilment of those basic needs, the Museum aims at such a modernisation of its buildings which would enable them to meet the demands of 21st as regards the storage, exposition and conservation of the collections and guaranteeing the visitors an attractive and valuable offer, with due concern for information and relaxation. The article outlines the beginnings of the Museum, its expansion and present-day state from the viewpoint of the aforementioned questions. The authoress then went on to discuss three topics in greater detail. The first concerns obtaining the Gothic-Renaissance palace of Bishop Ciolek, and then repairing and renovating it as well as arranging in it a new Branch that will feature collections of mediaeval, Renaissance, Baroque and Orthodox art - one of the best in the country (storerooms and permanent exhibitions). The second question concerns the 'New Cloth Hall' Project and requests for European Union funds necessary for repairing and modernising the Polish Nineteenth-century Art Galery of the 19th century Polish Art located in the Cloth Hall, i. e. a mediaeval hall redesigned in the Renaissance style and situated in the very centre of Cracow - in the middle of the Market Square. The project foresees turning the Cloth Hall - which was the original seat of the National Museum in Cracow - into a modern institution while preserving the nineteenth-century character of the interior. The authoress described the conservation and logistic problems associated with the project, especially the transference of 1 500 works of art from Cracow to the Rogal Castle in nearby Niepolomice. The final issue entails the reconstruction and new arrangement of the Gallery of the 20th century Polish Art in the Main Building of the Museum, together with work on modern educational, exhibition and scientific programmes (this topic has been merely indicated). The final outcome of the project will assume the form of a presentation of the development of Polish art from the Middle Ages up to this day in a way corresponding to the standards of this century.
