I remember sitting in front of the computer and racking my brain over what to write. Hmm…. What could I possibly present to a group of 11 year olds, most of whom had the attention span of goldfish. The first round of presentations consisted of a not very inspiring cooking session, a guitar lesson and a tutorial of an extremely boring computer game. Well… That was helpful.

The following day a boy talked about his Indian background. He brought in a traditional costume and a few Indian musical instruments. I loved it! Why don’t I talk about my Polish background! Thus, the journey started. I started researching famous Polish people, places and cousines. While exploring photos of unusual Polish places, I came across a rather fascinating image of a small white hut. It had blue rims around the windows and doors and was covered in… wait for it… flowers. Flowers of every colour and kind. I clicked the photo and a whole load of suggested photos popped up showing other small houses completely covered in flower designs. That’s how I discovered Zalipie – Poland’s Painted Village.

At first I thought that it was nothing more than a photo shop trick. As I researched more, I learnt that it was an actual village in the south eastern part of Poland. The women of the village started the tradition of painting flowers on their houses in the early 19th century, to disguise the unattractive black marks from the chimney soot.

As it turned out, Zalipie is one of the most unique and unusual places in Europe.

Earlier this year, when I was planning my trip to Poland with my mum, she asked me if there were any particular places on my “wish list” that I wanted to visit. The first place that popped into my head was Zalipie. So it was decided, Zalipie here we come!

The day started pretty ordinarily. First of all, I was squeezed in the backseat of a rather small car with two younger cousins bickering non-stop. Then it started raining. Well, this trip was definitely looking promising… I put the headphones in my ears and started listening to music, staring out at the flat landscapes outside, blurred by the raindrops pouring down the windowpanes.

The trip dragged on forever. I was getting bored of listening to my playlist on reply. As we were driving the weather started to improve slightly and the visibility of the outside world was better. ‘Mum, where are we? The GPS says that we are there.’ It was true, the GPS showed that we had ‘reached our destination’. We drove across what seemed to be the main road of Zalipie. So where are these houses? Do they keep them somewhere undercover? Maybe they need some sort of special protection so that the paint doesn’t peel…

Suddenly we spotted a tiny sign at the side of the road. ‘Dom Malarek’. We turned right and at the end of the road we saw the back of an ordinary building. We parked the car and armed ourselves with umbrellas as the rain started pouring again. We quickly ran from the car to the main doors of what was apparently a museum. We opened the door, went inside and…
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flowers, flowers and more flowers everywhere. Every inch of the walls, ceilings and even floor tiles were covered in intricate hand painted flower designs. It was like walking into a kaleidoscope of colours. After a few minutes, I started getting dizzy… in the best of ways. It was magical. I had never expected it to be this amazing. Room after room of painted flowers and folkloristic patterns appeared not only on the walls and ceilings but also on the furniture and window coverings.We spent a good hour admiring the folkloric treasures. I went crazy with the photos.

The helpful staff at the centre gave us a small tour of the museum and explained how to get to the open-air museum (Skansen). The rain stopped. We left the building and started walking back towards the car park and could not believe our eyes. Literally everything that surrounded us was covered in flowery designs: park benches, tree trunks, picnic tables… rubbish bins. They were gorgeous. As we kept on walking we saw a beautifully decorated sun clock and an old style village well complete with a water bucket decorated in flowers. All hand painted. The incredible thing was, that not a single flower or design was repeated. They were all different and original.

We started driving. ‘STOP!!!’ I shouted to my aunt who almost got a heart attack. ‘THAT’S THE ONE!’ As we turned the corner I instantly recognised the house. My house. The house from the photo I had seen two years earlier while preparing my school project.

We parked the car at the side of the road and everyone poured out and started taking photos. The house was simply beautiful. By then the sun was shining and the colours were so vibrant that the scenery could have been taken straight out of a fairy tale. It was perfect.

A thousand photos later, we were back in the car and on the way to the open-air museum. On the way there, we saw many more houses decorated in similar designs – some very small and simple, other much more elaborate. We spent the entire day in Zalipie admiring the houses, fire station along with the painted fire truck and lots of adorable beehives, doghouses, bridges and… more rubbish bins.

However, the undisputed highlight was the church. On the outside, it looked like any other small town church in Poland. On the inside, however, it was a different world. Decorations in a similar style as seen throughout the village covered the walls, pillars, ceilings, organ, altar and doors. There were even vestments on display all beautifully embroidered in flowery designs.

The day was coming to an end and we were getting tired and very hungry. A word of warning. If you go to Zalipie, please pack your own lunch as there is absolutely nowhere to eat. Not even a convenience store….

I had never imagined that a dreaded school project would end up in such an adventure. I have a soft spot for Polish culture – specifically folklore and I will never forget my time in Zalipie. Such a unique and special place that has to be seen to be truly appreciated. Poland Painted Village that deserves to be on the UNESCO list.

Amelka Gnatek

About Zalipie in Polish

Zalipie.Trip Advisor