History

The village of Jurgów is located on the right bank of the river Białka, in a valley dividing Pogórze Spisko-Gubałowskie, at the south-eastern outskirts of the Polish Spisz. According to tradition, the village was established in 1546 by Wallachian shepherds coming from Frankowa, and its name was derived from the name of the village head (locator), Jurko (Jurgo). The first reference to Jurgów (Gyurgova) can be found in a document of 1589 concerning the sales of a Dunajec estate by Olbracht Łaski to Jerzy Horvát from Palosca. In 1670, a wooden parish church was built. In 1769, the whole Polish Spisz was incorporated into Austria. In the parish records of 1799, there is a reference of Gypsies inhabiting Jurgów. In 1920, the Conference of Ambassadors confirmed Poland’s rights to 14 villages of Zamagurze Południowe, with Jurgów among them. During the World War II, Spisz was located in Slovakia. In 1945, the said fourteen villages were reclaimed by Poland.

Description

The complex of huts and barns on Podkólne Glade constitutes a unique complex of shepherd architecture in Tatra Mountains and in Podtatrze Region. The settlement is a so-called summer village (the largest ever preserved). This type of shepherd settlements occurred in Podtatrze Region and in Tatra mountains. It is surrounded from the west by farming fields, which separate grazing areas from meadows and the forest. The Glaze had been used from approx. 1880, when shepherd buildings of Jurgów residents were removed from the glazes of Jaworzyna and transferred near Okólne, where the next huts were built. This was a result of Jurgów residents losing their rights to graze their sheep on the glazes of Jaworzyna Spiska, when in 1879 the areas were bought by duke Hohenlohe. His intention was to merge the picturesque land and make modern hunting areas of it. The mountaineers from Jurgów were provided with two pasture on Podokólne Glaze. It was then that residential and utility buildings from approx. 90 glazes of Jaworzyna were transferred here. At a later time, new buildings were constructed in the same place of Podokólne. Today, the complex is comprised of 56 structures. The buildings are mainly concentrated along the north-south axis. The huts are arranged in four rows. They are built on a rectangular floor plan, covered by high gable roofs laid with laths. They are single-space, with door most commonly on the central axis of the front wall. The wooden huts were built with the use of a log structure. The complex is the biggest surviving summer village. Owing to its uniqueness, this largest preserved complex of shepherd buildings in Tatra Mountains and in Podtatrze Region is a highly valuable monument. The huts are seldom used for herding purposes and constitute first of all a major tourist attraction.

The site is accessible all year round.

compiled by Olga Dyba, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Krakow, 7-07-2014.

Bibliography

• Krajobraz kulturowy Polski. Województwo małopolskie, Kraków-Warszawa 2001 (współautor Dyba O.).
• Stokłosa J., Budownictwo i zdobnictwo w Jurgowie na Spiżu. Przyczynek do budownictwa podhalańskiego. „Lud” t. 14, 1908, s. 355-368.
• Robotycki Cz., Tradycje i obyczaje w środowisku wiejskim. Studium etnologiczne wsi Jurgów na Spiszu. Ossolineum Wrocław 1980, s. 118.
• Jabłońska T., Moździerz Z., Muzeum Tatrzańskie - muzeum przestrzenne. Informator o ochronie zabytków Podtatrza. Zakopane 1986.
• Ciągwa J., Dzieje i współczesność Jurgowa 1546-1996. Kraków 1996.
• Spisz. Wielokulturowe dziedzictwo (red. Kroh A.). Sejny 2000.
• Kozak A., Zagroda Sołtysów w Jurgowie. Przewodnik. Zakopane 2001.
• Cisowski B., Szlak architektury drewnianej. Małopolska. Kraków 2005.
• Haniaczyk J., Jurgowskie szałasy. „Na Spiszu” nr 2 (63), 2007, s. 25.
• Plucińska S., Jurgów w starej fotografii. „Prace Pienińskie” t. 18, 2008.