History

The Sołtys Family Farm was built in 1861. It was founded by Jakub Sołtys, a farmer from Jurgów. The wood for construction purposes was brought from forests which are currently located on the Slovak side. The farm was subsequently owned by the heirs of the Sołtys family in male lane: Jakub, Maciej, Szymon i Jakub Sołtys. Jakub Sołtys, born 20 June 1918, lived in the farm until 1942, and then he bought a new house in another part of the village. However, less close relatives of Jakub still lived in the farm. In the years 1982-1985, a full-scale renovation of the farm was carried out. As a result, it was transformed into the Museum of Folk Culture of Spisz - Branch of the Museum of the Tatra Mountains in Zakopane.

Description

The farm is located in the central part of the village, in a compact complex of buildings. The cottage is separated from the road by a small flower garden, fenced with a picket fence. The farm is comprised of a front-gabled cottage and a utility building adjoining it from the west. The cottage is built on a rectangular floor plan, and has a one-and-a-half-bay layout or rooms: main room - hallway and a storage. In the hallway, there is a descent to a small basement located under the storage. It is made of wood and rests on a post-and-beam structure. Walls are made of spruce beams, joined at the corners with dovetail joints. Gaps between the beams are filled with moss. The cottage rests on stone posts placed under the corners and construction nods. The foundation is made of half-cut spruce planks jointed with “padlock” joints. The space between the foundation and the ground is filled with clay. The cottage is covered by a gable-abutment roof with a smoke outlet, laid with wood shingles and laths. The ceiling over the main room is made of boards which rest on carriers supported on a profiled crossbeam. The floor in the main room and in the storage is made of boards laid on joists, in the hallway, there are flat-laid stones. The windows are small, rectangular, loom-type, one-leaf, and 6-panel. In the entrance to the building, there is a beam door frame with a one-leaf board and plank door. In the main room, there was a kitchen stove with a bread core, made of stone an brick. The utility building is wooden, based on a log structure. It was built on a rectangular floor plan. It is comprised of a stable and a sheepcote. It is covered with a gable roof clad with laths. Inside the stable and the sheepcote, there are surviving troughs for animals. The cottage houses the permanent exposition “A farmhouse of the Spisz region from the turn of the 19th and 20th century”. It shows every-day life of Spisz residents. Fittings of the main room, with a shelf for kitchen vessels, painted chests, pictures, spinning wheel, clothing, etc. can also be seen.

The site is accessible to visitors during the Museum opening hours.

compiled by Olga Dyba, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Krakow, 08-07-2014.

Bibliography

• Liscar A., Muzeum Tatrzańskie im. Tytusa Chałubińskiego w Zakopanem. Informator. Zakopane 1998.
• Kozak Anna, Zagroda Sołtysów w Jurgowie. Muzeum Tatrzańskie, Zakopane 2001.
• Moździerz Z., Niebieskim szlakiem zabytków „muzeum przestrzennego”. Informator Muzeum Tatrzańskiego. Zakopane 2001.
• Muzea, izby regionalne, galerie i pracownie w województwie małopolskim. Kraków 2004.