Briefly about Jurgów

Jurgów is a small village in the south of Poland in the Tatra county , in the Lesser Poland voivodeship . The region where Jurgów is located is Spisz , often incorrectly located in Podhale region instead. Jurgów was probably founded in 1546. In 1996, a grand celebration of the 450th anniversary of the village was organized. Jurgów is a quiet village which during its history was ruled by various monarchs. In over 450 years of its existence, its character has not changed much. However, as everywhere, changes are inevitable and they also took place in Jurgów. Today there are almost no wooden houses, the muddy road through the village has been replaced by an asphalt road and a cobblestone pavement has appeared next to the road.

Jurgów, like any other town with such a long history, has its historic sites and attractions. There is a historic wooden church , an old wooden peasant cottage that now serves as an museum (Sołtys croft). In Jurgów there is also a still working sawmill powered by a water wheel. In the past, Jurgów was a very technically advanced village. In addition to the still operating sawmill, there were three mills, the so-called fulling mill (in Polish: folusz), a cloth production plant and a hydroelectric power plant. Everything was powered by water from the Białka river or a special "Przykopa" canal, which was dug to power the mentioned buildings. Unfortunately, not all of them have survived to this day. The hydroelectric power plant burned down in the 1980s, the cause of the fire was probably setting a fire by accident. In the place where it stood, only the remains of the foundations can be seen. The turbine was disassembled and taken for scrap. There is also practically no trace of the water mills, one was partially moved (actually only its living quarters, the rest was "taken" by the flood) to another place. Some have fallen into disrepair or have been adapted for other purposes. Immediately at the beginning, when entering Jurgów from the north, there is a wooden house, which used to be a miller's hut. However, today it does not resemble buildings from years ago because it was heavily rebuilt and adapted for tourist purposes. The building of the second mill collapsed during heavy snowfall in winter 2003, the remains of its wooden structure were discased in 2004. The former fulling mill was rebuilt and now houses a carpentry shop.

Clean air, water, forest and river make Jurgów a very good place to spend your vacation, it is also a good starting point to the Tatra Mountains and in winter there is a ski station Jurgów SKI . For more details on what to do in Jurgów in summer and in winter, please visit the tourism section.

Old photos of Jurgów

In the old drawers and wardrobes of Jurgów residents you can still find interesting photos. Some of them have reached us, so we place them on our website along with their description. The description is based on information from Maria Sołtys "from Symcie" and Zofia Wojtas "from Hamrocyk z pod brzyzku". We invite you to watch. Maybe you can find your ancestors in the photos. (descriptions of photos are in local dialect)

Only when you look at the photos from several dozen years ago you can notice how much has changed in Jurgów.

Old photos can also be seen in the old fire station where the exhibition was organized "Jurgów in old photos (in Polish: Jurgów w starej fotografii)". As a rule, it is open during the working hours of the neighboring museum.

More or less interesting tidbits from Jurgów

Lucjan Sołtys