The original before the style
A real mountain house — what Witkiewicz later made into a national architecture.
Januszk57 — CC BY-SA 3.0 pl · Januszk57 — CC BY-SA 3.0 pl · Januszk57 — CC BY-SA 3.0 pl · Januszk57 — CC BY-SA 3.0 pl
A traditional timber cottage west of Zakopane, the home of Jan Krzeptowski, known as Sabała, a central figure in Tatra culture. Sabała was a shepherd, hunter, musician and storyteller in the nineteenth century, not a professional artist but a mountain man who knew the region's tales and its music. When Polish writers and artists began coming to Zakopane in search of an authentic Poland, Sabała became their guide and their source — and from him they took the stories and melodies on which the image of the Tatras in Polish culture was built. The cottage itself is a plain timber building in the local manner: horizontal logs, a steep roof and one main room with a hearth. This was the mountain house before it became an architectural style. That is what makes it interesting: you are seeing the genuine original that Witkiewicz later developed into a national architecture. It is very small and the visit is twenty minutes, with limited and seasonal hours — check before going.
A real mountain house — what Witkiewicz later made into a national architecture.
Polish writers took the Tatra tales and melodies from him.
Horizontal logs and a steep roof — mountain building at its plainest.
Kościelisko, west of Zakopane
Jan Krzeptowski, a shepherd, hunter, player of a traditional string instrument and storyteller who lived in the Zakopane region in the nineteenth century. He was not educated but held the region's tales and melodies in memory. He became a friend and guide to the Polish writers and artists who came to the Tatras, and after his death turned into a symbol of the mountain spirit in Polish culture.
For anyone interested in the region's culture, yes, and Kościelisko is close enough to fold the visit into a day in the neighbouring Kościeliska valley. With a short stay in Zakopane, the mountains and the timber architecture in the town come first. The cottage is very small and does not justify a separate trip.
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