Żywiecki Park Etnograficzny

Ślemień

Highlander culture was discovered by Polish culture in the 19th century. In the 21st century, despite great upheavals and changes, it is still alive and well. Where can you get to know it up close, as if at the source? In the Żywiec region, for example, in the western part of the Polish Carpathians.The best place to start exploring the culture of the Żywiec highlanders is Ślemień, a village on the road from Sucha Beskidzka to Żywiec. Recently opened there is the Etnopark – the Żywiec Ethnographic Park, which you can explore with an audio guide.The audio guide takes us around what is, in effect, an old village of the Żywiec Beskids. It has peasant farmsteads more than a hundred years old as well as a school and a small-town pharmacy. Together we look into a herbalist's cottage, a granary and even a forge.After a walk with the audio guide, the highlanders and their culture feel much closer to us.