From Toruń to the Stars. The story of Nicolaus Copernicus

Answers to these questions are provided by an interactive, multimedia exhibition from the District Museum in Toruń, which presents the life of Nicolaus Copernicus and his epoch-making discovery in a modern and attractive way. Interiors arranged with relics – ceramics, stave dishes, coins, costumes – show the daily life of Torun burghers of the second half of the 15th and first half of the 16th centuries.

Visitors will be able to try the trade of a medieval scribe – a goose quill and ink await them there. And if they want to find themselves in the simulator of a lunar rover – such an attraction will also be at the exhibition.

Visiting the exhibition we learn about the successive stages of the life of the great Polish astronomer, we observe medieval Torun and the then equipment of the tenement house, now called Nicolaus Copernicus House. Each visitor has a chance to learn what might have been on the young astronomer’s table and what clothes and shoes were worn in his time. There will even be a chance to try on a bourgeois dress or touch fabrics in an arranged merchant’s cantina.

The exhibition also recalls Copernicus’ achievements in economics, and geometry. How? By presenting a gallery of 16th-century coins and giving visitors the opportunity to stamp their own money. And since Copernicus was also a clergyman and physician, the exhibition space includes a sacred corner and an apothecary’s stand, where, using old recipes, you will be able to prepare a mixture of medicinal herbs on your own.

The most important thing should not be forgotten here – observations of the sky. The exhibition provides a unique opportunity to see measuring instruments and a copy of Copernicus’ revolutionary work “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres.”

The highlight of the exhibition is the “transfer” of the visitor into the created space, which gives the opportunity to look at the moving heliocentric system from a unique perspective.

The exhibition From Toruń to the Stars. The Story of Nicolaus Copernicus is a great option for schools, as it is accompanied by a broad educational casing. Participation in a museum lesson at this exhibition will certainly be an interesting supplement to school classes, while for children it will be an opportunity to “touch” life in the 15th century, so different from our times.