MUSEUM IN

WYGIEŁZÓW

The ‘Nadwiślański’ Ethnographic Park in Wygiełzów is an open-air regional park which

represents the folk culture of the Western Cracow People who lived on both banks of

the Vistula River to the west of Cracow. On the 5 ha of the picturesquely formed terrain

there are 25 historical specimens of wooden architecture and numerous household

objects which are grouped in the following sectors: provincial, rural and court.

The Krakow regional costume is considered to be the best-known of Polish folk costumes. As a result of historical events, and the influence of patriotic as well as artistic ideas, the Krakow costume has acquired a symbolic meaning. This is especially true of the man's white overcoat called “sukmana” and a red square cap, decorated with peacock feathers. These two elements and the white and red colours came to symbolize the Poles and Poland and the Krakow regional costume has become a national costume.

Suburban house from Chrzanów

The suburban house dating back to the year of 1804 from Chrzanów; belonged to the

Buliński family.

Inn from Minoga

The inn from Minoga. A reconstruction of the old inn dating back to

the middle of the 19th century.

Cottage from Przeginia Duchowna

A larch cottage from from the year 1862; belonged to the village administrator Mikołaj

Marchewka – representative of the richest class of peasants. It is richly decorated inside

with numerous paintings and furniture

Oil mill from Dąbrowa Szlachecka

The oil mill from the second half of the 19th century, rebuilt in 1902.

Oil was pressed from the grains of oily plants: flax andhemps. Production started with pressing grain withfootsteps. Crushed grain was roasted in a kettle on a stove,mixed with water and placed in the lower log of the oilpress [the so-called nest],equipped with a coil and a plug.

Oil was obtained by manual, rhythmic hitting the rams in both sides of the movable,top log.

Oil was still produced in this way during WW II. The oil mill has its original furnishings.

Forge from Liszki

19th-century smithy equipped with a furnace and

and an open fire.

Firstly, charcoal and then, from the 20th century, coal was used as fuel. Glowing embers were fed with bellows, by which air was blown in. Hot iron was hammered on an anvil. The heaviest hammer weighed 10 kilos.

A separate group of tools used for shoeing horses, for example a special knife for hooves.

Apart from shoeing horses, nails, hinges, locks and all hardware for doors, chests and trunks were made here. Smiths made iron rings of wheels as well as iron parts of wooden farming equipment.

The smith was highly respected among villagers. Thanks to the smithy a lot of new inventions reached a village. He was believed to be a specialist in horse diseases; he also helped people by taking out their aching teeth.

Cottage from Podolsze

Cottage from 1862

In the kitchen: furniture, household equipment and kitchenware. A rich set of equipment used for washing, ironing and mangling can be seen.

Chamber with a big baking oven and equipment for bread baking: wooden vessels, a device for sweeping ash from the oven, device for taking out ash, a shovel and bread tins.

Room in the village administrator’s house with

decor characteristic for Easter.

On Holy Saturday food was put in baskets and takento church for blessing. The biggest baskets with foodwere prepared by the rich housewives - the poor ones, to make their baskets look more impressive, put in the bottom chopped logs of wood and then the food they could afford. In each basket there were eggs, bread, smoked bacon,diary produce, salt, vinegar and pepper. In the folktradition all the good had symbolic value.

In each basket there were eggs died different colours. Natural pigments were used for it: onion skin, oak bark and green rye. Among many different decorative techniques used by people the batik technique is the

oldest one; it consist in writing on an egg using hot wax.

The engraving technique is much younger. It consists in engraving / drawing ornaments with a sharp instrument on an egg dyed in one colour.

Cottage of Przeciszów

Cottage of a rich peasant from 1837, built by the Kasperek family.

The roof is coated with straw. The interior is characteristic of the early 20th century. Like most houses here, this has a basement too. In the hallway and the kitchen you can see tools for the processing of flax, spinning thread and weaving canvas workshop. People both lived and worked here.

Inside there is a shoemaker’s workbench with lasts for making and repairing shoes and a loom.

Exhibition entitled: “In the school of our grandparents from the beginning of the XX century”

In the hallway to the left there is a classroom. Next to it is the teacher’s room. He/She lived here together with the family. Old schools were located in peasant cottages. The teacher taught two classes at the same time. When one did quiet exercise, the other practiced reading aloud.

There is a wicker workshop and wicker products. The basic material for weaving baskets was wicker growing

on the banks of rivers. Thanks to the easily avaialble material wickerwork became popular home

manufacture and an additional source of income. Wicker products were able to satisfy the tastes of the more demanding customers from the city. After World

War II craftsmen wove pieces of furniture, chests, baskets, prams, bicycle saddlers, carpet beaters and

accessories out of debarked, white wicker.

The museum invites to see people weaving baskets and to buy wicker products during the folk events organized here. A wicker worker’s workshop consists of a slant table, a small stool, and the basic tools such as: a knife, a mallet, a tool to prick and a pair of pruning scissors. A garden or a shed used to be a wicker worker’s place of work. In winter he moved into the kitchen.

Cottage from Płaza

Poor cottage from the end of the 19th centuryInside there is a room and a small hall with a

clay trashing floor. The size and furnishings typical of the poor rural peoplewho used to hire themselves to work at rich farmers. In the room there are very few pieces of furniture, equipment and utensils.

On the pole wood herbs are hung and in the chest next to the bed accessories of a village herbalist can be found: clay suction cups to cup the ill and some dressing materials.

Church from Ryczów

The church from the early 17th cccent.century.

The architecture and style were shaped over a few centuries. The

leftside altar is the oldest element. The main decorativemotives are flowers on plant twigs with paintings of busts of the 12 apostles. There are images of 4 bishopson the wall next to the windows. On the choir there isthe organ from the 19th century. The basreliefs made ofwood are contemporary and represent the way of thecross of Jesus. Sunday services are still held here. For 20 years the annual concert of the Festival ChamberOrgan Music has been organized here.Next to the building there is an alarm bell tower (from

Nowa Góra) from the 20th century.

Court of Droginia

Magnificent, wooden manor, from outsideplastered with clay and whitened. Mansard Polishroof, covered with shingle. The columnar porch adorned with coat of arms. Two-bay interior with amfilade (transitive) arrangement of rooms andcentrally situated arterial hall. This typical Polishmanor was built in 1730 in Droginia by Adam Jordan,Contemporary owner of the property from Droginia. After his death the estate often changed hands.

Lipowiec Castle

Erected in the 13th century, situated at the top of Lipowiec Hill, after which it was named.

At first it was made of wood and was later rebuilt in stone. At first it served for defensive and protective purposes of a merchant rout. Until the end of the 16th century it was a prison for people sentenced to death by starvation. Convicts were pulled down into the deep dungeon and left there to die.

The castle acquired its present shape in the 15th century. Its small courtyard was surrounded by dwelling houses and an outer castle below was encircled by the wall. Another three floors were added around the tower. It has remained like this up till now.

Several ghost stories are, of course, related to the castle. One of them was the ghost of Bishop Oleśnicki which, however, appeared only until the fire in the early nineteenth century. But even nowadays, if you’ve got the nerve and stay at the castle till midnight, you can see a black shadow. It’s a cart drawn by six pairs of horses. A bishop in purple gets off and enters the courtyard. Behind him, guards drag a condemned man, the executioner raises his sword and then struck by lightning, falls to the ground and the ghosts disappear. Eyewitnesses claim that, even on a warm night the air gets icy.