21/04/2017
“The mountain is calling and I must go” John Muir said.
And it’s true, there are people who once tasted the beauty of the mountains and
can’t imagine life withouth them. There are also those who live in the mountain
areas since birth. In Poland they are called Górale
podhalańscy (singular – Góral podhalański). They are a perfect
example of Polish culture and traditions which every tourist visitng southern
Poland – Podhale (literally “under the Mountain meadows”) –
should experience.
Podhalanie
(Górale podhalańscy) are
a Polish ethnographic group who lives in the area of Tatra
mountains.
The biggest city of Podhale is
Nowy Targ and the second Zakopane – one of the most known touristic cities in the
south of Poland. Jan Stanisław Bystroń, a Polish ethnographer and sociologist,
stated that Podhalanie are the most original and the most characteristic group
in Polish culture and at the same time having many foreign influences. While
talking about Podhalanie four ascpects shouls be taken into
consideration, which define the identity of this ethnographic group: dialect,
clothes, food and music.
- Dialect
– gwara
podhalańska – is one of the subdialects considered to be
one of the liveliest present in the area of Podhale. What’s
more, it’s one one of the most well-know and best preserved subdialects
nowadays in Poland with German, Hungarian, Slovakian and Romanian
borrowings. This subdialect is very specific – the accent is on the first
syllable and
characters: cz, sz, ż, ch are
pronounced
as c, s, z, k. Górale also
use old Polish archaism which may led to a funny situation. A person who
doesn’t know this subdialect might think it’s a foreign
language.
- Clothes:
MALE
CLOTHES: Góral wears
a flat black hat (kapelusz) surrounded by scalloped “crabs”
situated on a red ribbon. The white linen shirt (koszula)
with wide sleeves has a metal buckle next to the neck which is decorated
with chains and beads. White trousers (portki) have slits at
the waist and at the bottom of the legs. Along the legs there is a colourful
string, bottom of the trousers are decorated with pompoms, and the top with
colorful embroidery called parzenica. A leather Batac
belt (pas bacowski) is richly decorated with gouges, metal
studs and tumors. Kierpce – traditional moccasins –
are attached to the legs with straps. Cucha is worn
on the shoulders like a cape, is a top coat – it is decorated with
multi-colored embroidery, various applications, ribbed ribbons and red
ribbon for binding. The whole outfit is complemented by a cane with an ax
called ciupaga.
FEMALE
CLOTHES: Góralka wears
a colourful scarf on her head called szmatka. During
spring and summer her head is not covered but she puts flowers and ornaments
in her hair. White shirt (koszula) is decorated with white
embroidery. She also wears a velvet corset (gorset) decorated
with colourful embroidery. A ribbon in the corset is long, usually red, tied
at the bottom; its long and flows down on the skirt (spódnica)
with flower patterns. Under the skirt there is a white underskirt, on her
feet moccasins (kierpce), and a necklace of red coral
(korale) on her neck.To see the clothes in
details click here.
- Food – The basic dishes of
the Podhale cuisine include all what poor mountain farms
could produce. The basics were potatoes, flower (used to
make pierogi), cabbage, melted bacon, linseed oil, sweet and
sour milk, cheese, butter and oscypek (smoked cheese). The
greatest delicacy is kwaśnica – sauerkraut
soup.
- Music
and dance –
The traditions of highlander dances originate from the habits of Wallachian
shepherds. That is why highlander dances are mainly men’s dances, which
are meant to show the strength and dexterity of the dancers. Of course
during his dance góral is also suppose to dazzle his
partner. The highlander band consists mostly of four musicians. The most
important is called prym whose task is to choose music
which later is played on the violin. The second violin is suppose to fill
the gap between the basses. There is also a double bass which according to
folk musicians is the easiest instrument to learn playing on. Last but not
least – music… Music shouldn’t be described, music must be listened
to:
Every
culture has its specific features. Some might be considered good, some other
bad. However, before you give your opinion about it, experience it –
wear kierpce, taste oscypek and dance together
with Górale. Thanks to its distinctiveness and upholding the native
traditions, highland culture is an interesting tourist attraction. Thanks to the
extraordinary climate, Polish Mountains attract tourists, not only from all over
Poland, but also from different corners of the world. The culture
from Podhale amazes all those who decide to visit the south of Poland. This is also one of the
reasons why it is worth to cultivate and share native
traditions.
Beata Jaranowska