Podbabiogórze, located on the south-western edge of the Małopolska province, is a region that coincides with the administrative boundaries of the Suski distric and includes 9 municipalities, including 2 cities – Jordanów and Suchą Beskidzka, urban-rural municipal – Maków Podhalański and 6 rural municipalities: Budzów, Bystra-Sidzina, Jordanów, Stryszawa, Zawoja, Zembrzyce. It is a typical mountain area, and its natural richness is forests, water resources, various forms of nature conservation and a rich cultural heritage. The name of the region comes from Babia Góra called the Queen of the Beskids (1725 m above sea level), which is the highest post-Tatra summit in Poland. From its peak, there is a beautiful panorama of most of the Beskids range: Śląski, Żywiecki, Makowski, Mały, Wyspowy, as well as Gorce, Tatra and the Orawsko-Nowotarska basin.
Podbabiogórze is an area closely culturally mountainous, because the intercession of the highlanders is intersecting here: the north inhabits the highlanders from Babia Góra; the south – highlanders Orawscy, the west – Żywczaki, the east – Kliszczacy. Each of these groups has developed a specific type of construction, dress, ornamentation, sculpture, painting, music and rituals. Inhabitants of the region are heirs of the rich and diverse cultural heritage of previous generations, which consists of monuments of material and spiritual culture. Among them are architectural monuments, ethnographic collections, paintings, sculptures, handicrafts, objects of culture and religious worship, as well as environmental and natural resources and beliefs, language, verbal and musical folklore, customs and rituals.
The cultural heritage of the inhabitants of Podbabiogórze consists mainly of: dialect, rich annual and family rituals, traditions associated with harvest festival, caroling, nativity plays, blessing of palm trees, folk handicrafts, music and dance folklore, traditional cuisine and architecture. The old chants and stories with many very specific rituals, such as smoking a hub, bonfire, and folklore, survived. Wooden and stone traditional architecture has survived - rural and small-town, court and castle-palace, sacred and secular buildings. It survived the so-called "Small architecture" including numerous chapels and roadside crosses, handicrafts and unprofessional folk art. Regional dishes are also derived from tradition. The queen of highlander dishes is sauerkraut with sauerkraut and potatoes, noodles prepared from grated potatoes with whole meal flour, and also traditional smoked and dried cheeses made with traditional methods – a honeydew made of multiflower and honeydew honey.
The tourist attractiveness of Podbabiogórze, its area and the towns located here results from the possession of a set of natural and non-natural features, which constitute the interest of tourists. It is an area free from pollution, clean air, low urbanization and good climate. The region has high scenic values, conditions for active rest (in the summer – the usefulness of areas for hiking, biking, in winter – for winter sports and ski trips).
http://www.lgdpodbabiogorze.pl
BABIOGÓRSKI NATIONAL PARK
Babiogórski National Park was created in 1954, and its area is 3391.55 hectares. It is a place of occurrence of many rare and interesting species of flora, which are difficult to find in other places in Poland. It is also a mainstay for many species of animals that, due to the strong pressure of humans, find it difficult to find a place outside protected areas. There are nearly 650 species of vascular plants, 280 species of bryophytes, over 1,300 different fungi and lichens and almost 4,500 species and subspecies of animals. Babia Góra has been recognized internationally – In 1977 this area was recognized as the Biosphere Reserve of UNESCO.
THE EDUCATIONAL CENTER OF THE BABIOGÓRSKI NATIONAL PARK IN ZAWOJA-BARAŃCOWA
The center presents four thematic exhibitions. Tourists can get acquainted with the flora and fauna and hydrology of Babia Góra, as well as view the interiors of the forest, stylization of a highlander's hut, household appliances and costumes of Babia Góra highlanders. Part of the exhibition presents the construction of plants, the location of Babia Góra's ponds and streams, and the location of tourist routes. The resort, at which the Plant Garden also operates, recommends multimedia classes as well as meetings and educational paths.
http://www.bgpn.pl/edukacja/oferta-edukacyjna
MOUNTAIN TOURISM MUSEUM IN MARKOWE SZCZAWINY HOSTEL
The museum is called the Mountain Tourism Culture Center and is subject to the Committee of Mountain Tourism ZG PTTK. There are, among others, exhibits, historical documents, and souvenirs that show the development of the Beskids Mountains, the history of the hostel, the course of the routes, and tourism development of the region. They also illustrate the activity and role of the Tatra Society and prominent people of Beskid tourism.
http://markoweszczawiny.pttk.pl
OPEN-AIR MUSEUM NAMED AFTER JÓZEF ŻAK IN ZAWOJA – MARKOWYCH RÓWNIENKACH
The center has three chambers of the museum exhibition and the custodian's office as a research station of the PTTK Mountain Tourism Commission. Part of the permanent exhibition is devoted to the history of the PTTK Branch of "Babiogórski Land" in Sucha Beskidzka and its present activity. The remaining area of the center, designated for variable exhibition, includes periodical exhibitions of photographs and documents related to mountain and regional themes.
http://www.podbabiogorze.info/pl/8554/0/Skansen_w_Zawoi.html
ORAWSKI MUSEUM, ETHNOGRAPHIC PARK IN ZUBRZYCA GÓRNA
The museum is the first open-air museum that was opened in Poland after the Second World War. Its origins date back to the 1930s, when the descendants of the noble Moniak family from Zubrzyca Górna gave a piece of land to the Treasury and an old manor house along with the farm buildings and the entire surroundings. The donors were siblings: Joanna Wilczkowa from Łaciak and Sandor Lattyak, who lived permanently in Budapest. In 1955, the museum was officially opened under the name of the Orawa Culture Center PTTK in Zubrzyca Górna. The organizers strive to collect exhibits presenting the entirety of this region's culture in the museum. The open-air museum is located on the Wooden Architecture Trail.
OPEN-AIR MUSEUM – THE MUSEUM OF FOLK CULTURE IN SIDZINA
The open-air museum was founded in the 1950s, and the collection of local monuments of folk culture along with historic cottages from nearby hamlets were moved to its site. The museum has an exhibition of sacred objects, organizes temporary exhibitions, has a House of National Remembrance and an exhibition devoted to the activities of Home Army guerrillas from the region of Policy and Babia Góra.
http://skansen.bystra-sidzina.net
MANSION IN WYSOKA
The Mansion in Wysoka, built on a rectangular plan, is a multi-storey, basement building, made of stone and s, history and natural values presented in a variety of ways. Among them are objects intended for sightseeing or viewing, such as: monuments of sacred and secular architecture, regional museums, open-air museums and exhibitions, art galleries of folk places of historical events, and natural objects.
http://www.slideshare.net/online2008/podbabiogrskie-ekomuzeum-przewodnik-1231362
THE SANCTUARY AND PLACES OF WORSHIP IN PODBABIOGÓRZE
Chapel at Diablak - is located after Mon. Diablak's website, just below the summit and is a votive offering for saving the attack on John Paul II. There is a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Kaplica na Okrąglicy - stands below the summit lying in the Policy band in the Żywiec Beskids, near the hostel on Hala Krupowa. In the interior there is a wooden figurine of the Mother of God with the Baby named Tourist Guardian and wooden plaques commemorate people who have left the mountains for eternity.
Chapel-mausoleum on the Raspberry Glade - is a four-sided, stone, covered with a shingled roof, a chapel below which there is a cave-crypt with the image of the mother of God Akowska, dedicated to the partisans.
Sanctuary of the Mother of God. Family Nursing in Maków Podhalański - the image of the Mother of God, famous for favors, is located in the main altar, and the beginnings of worship date back to the 16th century. In 1979, John Paul II crowned the image of Our Lady of Makowska in papal crowns in Błonie.
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Difficult Entry in Jordanów - it is a pseudo-Gothic brick temple, erected in 1909-1913. The image of the Mother of God, famous for favors, is located in the main altar.
CULTURAL HERITAGE OF PODBABIOGÓRZE
The heritage manifests itself especially in the activities of folk artists of the region. The rich traditions of folk handicrafts include: embroidery, sculpture, wickerwork, tissue paper, wooden accessories, as well as the production of wooden ecological toys. There are over 80 folk artists in the region: embroiderers, sculptors, including people representing disappearing professions, such as: cooperage, blacksmithing, basketry, wicker working, tanning, lace-making, toy-making and others. Folk artists are a living link between the cultural heritage of this land and the present day, and their works enjoy interest at festivals, shows and workshops, winning many awards.
