Europe

[Visited: August 2021]

From the airport of Krakau, I directly head east. I am on my way to what has been dubbed as "the most beautiful village of Poland". Probably not smart to start any visit with a place with a similar name, but it makes the most sense given all the things I want to see and visit in my week in southern Poland. So I find myself driving through the mostly flat south Polish countryside, through small villages, until I reach Zalipie. I first want to visit the visitor centre, and easily find it: the narrow country road is lined with parked cars. I add mine to the row, and walk to the entrance. After paying my ticket, I roam around the terrain. I marvel at wooden houses, with mostly white painted walls, and flowers painted on them. Some with multiple colours, some just blue or brown.
Some of the houses have open windows. Inside, I see a colourful interior, with ceilings and walls decorated with flowers as well. Cloths on the table and beds are colourful as well. Doors are a bright blue. Puppets give a better idea of what these houses would look like with traditionally clad locals. The bright colours both inside and out of the houses give Zalipie a vibrant, lively feel. It is hard to imagine that this tradition started because the fires people would burn inside their houses, covered them in black because they didn't have a chimney. In order to get rid of the dark look, the women of the village of Zalipie started to paint the houses and decorate them with flowers. The practice even continued throughout the Second World War, giving the inhabitants of the village hope even in the darkest of times.
The house I see first is the one of Felicia Curylo, who is considered the woman who started and led the house-painting tradition of Zalipie. The tradition is kept alive by annual competitions, through which people still develop the art, finding new ways to paint flowers on virtually any possible surface in and around the houses and their compounds. After seeing the museum-like house complex, I walk around, discovering an array of houses with decorations. I then drive around, seeing many more examples of richly and brightly painted houses with predominantly floral designs. Inside the local church, there are also floral paintings. When I drive away from Zalipie, I am definitely in an upbeat mood by the cheerful colours and paintings, and I can imagine how the inhabitants have found the perfect way to lift their spirits - and of those who take the trouble to visit Zalipie.

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Zalipie painted houses > Poland > Europe

[Visited: August 2021]

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