ZAKOPANE

'Zakopane' (pronounced: ) is a town in southern Poland with approximately 28,000 inhabitants (2004), situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999 (it was previously in Nowy Sącz Voivodeship from 1975-1998). The town, informally known as ''the Winter capital of Poland'', lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the feet of the Tatra Mountains, which is the only alpine mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains.

Contents

Location and surroundings

History

Sports

Twin city

Notable structures

Notable residents

See also

Gallery

External links

Location and surroundings

Zakopane lies in a big valley between the Tatra Mountains and Gubałówka Hill. It is the most important Polish centre of mountaineering and skiing, and is visited by about three million tourists annually. The most important alpine skiing locations are Kasprowy Wierch, Nosal and Gubałówka Hill.
Zakopane has the highest elevation (800-1000 m) of any town in Poland. The central point of the town is at the junction of Krupówki and Kościuszki streets.

History

The earliest documents mentioning Zakopane date to the 17th century, describing a glade named ''Zakopisko''. Its further history was connected with the development of the mining and metallurgy industries in the region, and later with the progress of tourism. Its growth has progressed greatly, from being a small village, into a climatic health resort.
Rail service to Zakopane started on 1 October 1899.
In March 1940 representatives of NKVD and Gestapo met for one week in Zakopane, for the coordination of the pacification of resistance in Poland.

Sports

Zakopane hosted the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 1929, 1939, and 1962.

Twin city

★ Saint-Dié-des-Vosges (France)

Notable structures

★ Zakopane-Gubałówka transmitter

★ Wielka Krokiew ski jumping ramp

★ Kasprowy Wierch cable car

Notable residents

★ Tytus Chałubiński physician

★ Olga Drahonowska-Małkowska, one of the founders of Scouting movement in Poland

★ Władysław Hasior, sculptor

★ Jan Kasprowicz, poet, playwright

★ Kornel Makuszyński, children's writer

★ Karol Szymanowski, composer. His house in Zakopane, the Villa Atma, is now a museum dedicated to the composer.

★ Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy), avant-garde novelist, playwright, and painter

★ Mariusz Zaruski mountaineer and yachtsman

★ Jerzy Żuławski, poet, writer

See also

★ Gorals (''highlander'') ethnic group

Gallery

External links

★ Official Page (Local Municipality)

★ Zakopane

★ General information, available in Polish, English, German

★ Zakopane ICT - Travel Guide

★ Symphony No. 3 of Henryk Górecki using text found in a Gestapo cell in Zakopane.