Zakopane is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship. As of 2017 its population was 27,266. Zakopane is a centre of Goral culture and is often referred to as "the winter capital of Poland". It is a popular destination for mountaineering, skiing, and tourism.
View of Zakopane from Butorowy Wierch
A postcard of Zakopane from 1916
Museum of Zakopane Style at Villa Koliba - interior
Museum of Zakopane Style at Villa Koliba
The Gorals, also known as the Highlanders are an ethnographic subgroup primarily found in their traditional area of southern Poland, northern Slovakia, and in the region of Cieszyn Silesia in the Czech Republic, where they are known as the Silesian Gorals. There is also a significant Goral diaspora in the area of Bukovina in western Ukraine and in northern Romania, as well as in Chicago, the seat of the Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America.
A Goral with bagpipes from the region of Podhale in Poland
Zbójnicy, colored wood engraving by Władysław Skoczylas
Gorals from Zakopane (1967)
Young Gorals of the Beskid Mountains (Żywiec)