AirVenture 2000 — A Week Among the Aircraft and the Atmosphere
06 Poland – Zakopane
A Day in Zakopane
During my 2005 visit to Poland, I spent a day in Zakopane, the country’s best-known mountain resort. Lying at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, close to the Slovakian border, the town has a character quite different from Kraków and the lowlands to the north.
Zakopane developed from a small highland settlement into a fashionable health and holiday resort during the nineteenth century. Its popularity also encouraged the creation of the distinctive Zakopane Style of architecture, inspired by the traditional timber houses of the local Góral people. Steeply pitched roofs, carved wooden decoration and broad verandas remain characteristic features of the town.
Krupówki, the busy main street, was crowded with visitors, shops, cafés and stalls selling local crafts and regional food. Away from the centre, traditional wooden buildings and views towards the Tatras provided a stronger sense of the area’s highland identity.
Although only a day visit, Zakopane offered an enjoyable contrast to Kraków: livelier and more tourist-orientated, but still closely associated with the dramatic mountain landscape and the distinctive culture of southern Poland.
The unmistakable silhouette of Giewont seen across Zakopane from Gubałówka in 2005. The mountain’s outline is traditionally likened to a sleeping knight, with the summit cross faintly visible on Wielki Giewont, its highest point at 1,895 metres. This classic view from Gubałówka looks south towards one of the most familiar landmarks of the Polish Tatra Mountains.
A broad view from Gubałówka towards Giewont and the surrounding Polish Tatras in 2005. The massif’s celebrated “sleeping knight” profile dominates the centre, with the summit cross just visible on Wielki Giewont. Forested lower slopes rise towards the darker rocky crest, while sunlight catches the meadows in the valley below.
Looking down across Zakopane from Gubałówka in 2005. Beyond the wooded town, the ski jumps of Średnia Krokiew and the much larger Wielka Krokiew climb the lower slopes of Krokiew mountain. Opened in 1925 and later named after Polish ski-jumping champion Stanisław Marusarz, Wielka Krokiew is Poland’s best-known ski jump and a regular venue for major international competitions.
A telephoto view from Gubałówka towards Świnica in the High Tatras, photographed in 2005. Rising to 2,301 metres, Świnica forms the imposing sunlit backdrop, with the darker and sharply pointed Kościelec standing in front. The rounded ridge extending to the right leads towards Kasprowy Wierch, one of the best-known high-level destinations above Zakopane.
A black-and-white mother cat nurses her two kittens in the shelter of a rough wooden structure on Gubałówka above Zakopane in 2005. The tabby kittens had found a warm resting place among the timber and stones, providing an unexpected domestic scene amid the mountain attractions.
The mother cat rests contentedly beside her two tabby kittens in their makeshift wooden shelter on Gubałówka above Zakopane in 2005. One kitten nestles closely against her while the other lies alongside, its tiny pink paws caught in the sunlight.
The distinctive outline of Giewont rising beyond a dense stand of spruce trees, seen from Gubałówka in 2005. The mountain’s “sleeping knight” profile appears softened by the afternoon haze, while the dark foreground woodland creates a natural frame for one of the most familiar landmarks of the Polish Tatras.
Visitors browse the busy line of wooden market stalls on Gubałówka in 2005. The stands offer souvenirs, leather goods, traditional crafts and regional produce, reflecting the lively commercial side of this popular viewpoint above Zakopane. Rustic timber buildings and substantial wooden bollards add a suitably highland character to the bustling scene.
A telephoto view from Gubałówka towards the 1,987-metre summit of Kasprowy Wierch in 2005. The meteorological observatory crowns the exposed ridge, while the upper station of the cable railway occupies the saddle below. Illuminated by late-afternoon sunshine against rising cloud, Kasprowy Wierch is one of the most accessible and familiar high summits overlooking Zakopane.
Kasprowy Wierch seen from Gubałówka in 2005. The meteorological observatory stands on the 1,987-metre summit, while the upper station of the cable car from Kuźnice occupies the rocky shoulder below and to the left. Afternoon light catches the exposed upper slopes, leaving the nearer face of the mountain in deep shadow.
A substantial timber house on Gubałówka above Zakopane in 2005. Its steeply pitched red metal roof, projecting eaves, wooden walls and decoratively boarded gables reflect the traditional architecture of Poland’s Podhale highlands. Scattered houses and pastureland extend across the rolling countryside beyond.
Looking from Gubałówka towards the heavily wooded lower slopes of the Polish Tatras in 2005. Buildings on the southern edge of Zakopane appear almost engulfed by the forest, which climbs steeply towards the pale limestone crags just visible near the top of the photograph.
The Church of the Holy Cross standing among the trees and houses of Zakopane, photographed from Gubałówka in 2005. Built between 1983 and 1991, its modern design incorporates regional influences through its broad, steeply pitched roof and prominent square bell tower. The surrounding wooded slopes and scattered highland houses show how the town spreads towards the foot of the Tatras.
