Villa Koliba — Museum of Zakopane Style

Villa Koliba on Kościeliska Street is the house where the Zakopane style began — the best-known architectural "brand" of the Polish Tatras. In the local highland dialect "koliba" means a shepherd's hut, and that was the modest name Zygmunt Gnatowski gave his home. He was a landowner and collector from Podillia (according to the museum, from Yakymivka in today's Ukraine) who wanted to build a simple highland cottage in Zakopane to house his ethnographic collection. Stanisław Witkiewicz — painter, critic and theorist of the new style — persuaded him to build something bigger. The sketches were made in 1891, and in 1892–1893 local highland carpenters built the villa under Witkiewicz's supervision. This was the first house to combine the vernacular timber building of Podhale with the needs of a town villa.

In 1901 an upper storey was added to the west wing. Gnatowski died without heirs in 1906, the villa was sold and his ethnographic collection went to the Tatra Museum. The building then had a chequered history: from 1935 it was a holiday home (most of the original stoves disappeared and Art Deco details were added), during the occupation it was used by the Hitler Youth, after the war it was again a holiday home and, until December 1981, a children's home. The museum took over the villa in 1984, restored it, and in December 1993 the Stanisław Witkiewicz Museum of Zakopane Style opened here. The interiors were arranged by the artist Władysław Hasior. The building is a listed monument.

What to see

The permanent exhibition recreates the rooms as they were in the owner's time. On the ground floor are the dining room, living room and bedroom; upstairs, Gnatowski's room and the servant's room. The "highland room" displays the ethnographic collection where it all began. You can see clearly how Witkiewicz transferred highland carving motifs — sun rosettes, gable ornaments, profiled beams — onto furniture, doors, tableware and even small household objects. In 2026 the temporary exhibition "RYSY" runs until 31 December.

• Façade and porch — a tall broken roof, carved details, a stone base.
• Furniture and objects designed by Witkiewicz — the key to understanding Zakopane's architecture.
• The garden around the villa — especially beautiful in autumn.

Practical information

The villa is at Kościeliska 18, Zakopane's oldest street, about half a kilometre from the Tatra Museum's main building on Krupówki, so it is an easy walk from the centre. There is no dedicated parking; use one of the town's paid car parks. Opening hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday 9:00–17:00, Friday and Saturday 11:00–19:00, closed on Tuesday; last entry 30 minutes before closing. A ticket for the permanent and temporary exhibitions costs 28 zł (reduced 14 zł), the permanent exhibition only 25 zł; on Thursdays the permanent exhibition is free. There is also a weekly Tatra Museum ticket for 69 zł covering all open branches. Allow about an hour for the visit. The house is timber and has stairs to the upper floor, so wheelchair users should check access in advance. Information as of October 2026.

Nearby

From Koliba you can continue a Zakopane-style walk: on the same street are the old wooden church and the Pęksowy Brzyzek cemetery, then the Tatra Museum main building and Krupówki Street. Another Witkiewicz masterpiece is the wooden chapel in Jaszczurówka on the east side of town.

Official website: muzeumtatrzanskie.pl

Photos: Piotrekwas, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons; Aneta Pawska, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons; Wojciech Grzegorz Domagała, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Januszk57, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons; Margoz, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.