The Seismological Observatory is located in the Ojców National Park. It was founded in 1990. The observatory in Ojców continues the works of the Seismological Observatory of the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, on the Wawel Hill and an even earlier one, which was the first seismic station in Kraków, founded in 1903 by Maurycy Pius Rudzki, an eminent Polish geophysicist and professor at the Jagiellonian University.

The location of the observatory is determined by the lack of interferences from urban areas. The distance of this site from the city centre is about 30 km. Kraków city traffic, disturbing operation of the measuring devices, forced the Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, to move the seismic station from the Wawel Hill to the peaceful valley of the Ojców National Park.