Beskid Museum in Wisła

The Andrzej Podżorski Beskid Museum (Muzeum Beskidzkie im. Andrzeja Podżorskiego) is an ethnographic museum in the very centre of Wisła, a resort town in the Silesian Beskids near the source of the Vistula river. It occupies a historic inn of 1794 — a two-storey building with stone and brick walls, cellars and a gabled shingle roof. The museum is a branch of the Museum of Cieszyn Silesia in Cieszyn; it opened on 16 August 1964 during the First Week of Beskid Culture in Wisła. The inn is one of the oldest buildings in Wisła: for about 150 years, until 1945, it was the centre of village social life. After the war it served as a warehouse and then a school, until the local activist Andrzej Podżorski succeeded in having the museum placed here; he became its founder and patron. The museum covers the villages of the Silesian highlanders, a distinct ethnographic group: Istebna, Jaworzynka, Koniaków, Wisła and Brenna.

In 2010 the Wooden Architecture Enclave (Enklawa Budownictwa Drewnianego) opened next to the museum. The idea dates back to the 1980s and the then head of the museum, Jan Krop: in 1986 the wooden Szarców house from the hamlet of Jonidło was moved to central Wisła, close to the museum and the old "U Niedźwiedzia" school. The present form of the enclave is the work of the current head of the museum, Małgorzata Kiereś. In summer it hosts many cultural events.

What to see

• The permanent exhibition on the life of the Silesian Beskid highlanders: shepherding, dairying and cheese-making (butter churns, butter moulds, cheese presses), weaving, woodworking, coopering and traditional farm tools.
• The interior of an old smoke hut — with no chimney, the smoke escaping through the loft; here are the bread oven, a stone table, kitchen vessels and a painted "trówła" — a chest holding the bride's dowry and the family's most precious things.
• Men's and women's folk costumes, especially the rich Cieszyn women's dress, and examples of folk art. Shepherding vessels — obońki, gielaty, putyry, known to shepherds throughout the Carpathians — are shown separately.
• Collections that complement the exhibition: professional painting (including Czesław Kuryatto, Ludwik Konarzewski, Jan Wałach and Paweł Steller), early printed books, archives and old photographs; the museum also holds temporary exhibitions.
• The Wooden Architecture Enclave: a smithy where you can watch a blacksmith at work, the cottage of a "kumornik" (landless lodger) with a traditional stove, and a shepherds' hut with a "koszor", a pen of woven wattle; in summer also an apiary and a herb garden.

Practical information

The museum stands on Pawła Stellera Street by Wisła's main square, so it is easiest to walk here from the centre; Wisła Uzdrowisko railway station is a few minutes away on foot. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, with the longest hours on Wednesday; last entry is one hour before closing. Ticket prices are not given in public sources, so check by phone. Allow about an hour for the museum and the enclave. Children usually enjoy the smithy, the shepherds' hut and the smoke hut most.

Nearby: trails and peaks

Only 60 m from the museum runs our trail Wisła – Szczyrk Salmopol, crossing the mountains to Szczyrk. From the town centre you can also set out on Wisła Centrum – Soszów Wielki and Wisła Uzdrowisko station – PTTK Hut on Soszów, and from Dziechcinka station on Wisła Dziechcinka station – Stożek Mały towards the Czech border.

Official website: wisla.pl

Photos: Marek Mróz, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; myself (User:Piotrus), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.