Zakopane

Zakopane is a town in southern Poland with approximately 30,000 inhabitants.

The town, called the Winter capital of Poland, lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the feet of the Tatra Mountains, which is the only alpine mountain range in the Carpathians.

It lies in a big glen between the Tatra Mountains and Gubałówka Hill. Zakopane is the most important Polish centre of mountaineering and skiing, and is visited by about three million tourists annually.

The beginnings of this place are not exactly known. It was founded between XVI and XVII c. as shepherds' settlement named "polana Zakopiska". Zakopane as a town name appears for the first time in documents in 1605 and it has its origin in the Polish word "kopane" ("zakopane"), which once meant the area grubbed up for glade.

The Settlement prerogative was issued by Polish King Stefan Batory in 1578. Later history of Zakopane is associated with the development of metallurgical and mining industries.

The beauty of Zakopane was discovered in the XIX century and soon became populat tourist and health resort.




Photos that I took a few days ago in Zakopane:

early morning - typical architecture in Zakopane

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Krupowki street - main pedestrian street in Zakopane - rare view - the street is almost empty (early morning)

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some other views

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Krupowki street in the evening - crowds of people

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Morskie Oko (Eye of the sea)

Morskie Oko is the largest and one of the most beautiful of the Tatra lakes.

It covers about 35 hectares in all, stretching some 860 metres in length, and 566 in breadth. The lake is entered through a small pass, and once inside, you are entirely surrounded by the mountains. It is very much as if you are in a huge crater, and hence the name, the eye of the sea.

photos that I took on the way to 'Morskie Oko'

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'Morskie Oko' - frozen during the winter :)

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Very nice, Docent:okay: I was waiting for a thread about Zakopane - there's a big chance ill visit the town in early April, hopefully there's still some snow there.

Did you have a chance to go skiing?

Btw, with names like Zakopane, "Morsko Oko", one could mistake it for Serbia;)

Very good thread. I have made once tour to Morskie Oko and pity I didn´t visit Kasprow wierch. Zakopane and Tatra mountains are gems worth to visit more times. :)

Did you have a chance to go skiing?



This time I was there only for three days, so apart from taking the trip to Morskie Oko my main activitiy was to drink hot beer and relax ;) :cheers:

There's been so little snow this year compared to normal. They finally got something accumulated, but still it's waaaaay below average. :ohno: