| Żywiec region | |
 View of Korbielów from the Na Groniu hamlet | |
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| Information | |
| Country | Poland |
| Capital city | Zywiec |
| Surface | approximately 1060 km² |
| Population | about 160,000 |
| Tongue | Polish, Zywiec dialect |
| Car code | SZY, SBI, KSU |
| website | |
Żywiec region - geographic and ethnographic region in the south Poland, historically westernmost part Lesser Poland, in the southern part, present of the Silesian Voivodeship.
The areas of Żywiec, despite their location, belong to the historical Lesser Poland, with which the Żywiec culture is identified (visible, for example, in folk costumes). In addition, the region is inhabited by a group of Żywiec Highlanders, who have their own dialect and style of folk architecture. Interestingly, villages located outside the district Wilkowice, Buczkowice, Rybarzowice, Lachowice, Stryszawa, Kuków, Kurów, Hucisko, Krzeszów, Targoszów, Pewelka, Tarnawa Górna and the cities Szczyrk and Sucha Beskidzkahistorically belong to these areas.
Main attractions
- Zywiec (Grojec Hill, Castle Park, Habsburg Palace, Castle Museum, Żywiec Brewery Museum, Old Town, City Beach)
- Łodygowice (a wooden church, the Habsburg palace and park complex, a quarry, Mount Czupel)
- Wilkowice (historic church, chalet on Magurka, cross-country skiing tracks and bicycle routes)
- Tresna (dam, Lake Międzybrodzkie, hiking trails)
- Lipowa (Zimnik Valley, routes to Skrzyczne, historic church)
- Szczyrk (ski slopes, trails to Skrzyczne, Malinowska Cave, Stara Karczma, Church of St. James, Sanctuary of Our Lady on Górka)
- Węgierska Górka (combat bunkers, Aleja Zbójników, Boulevards on the Soła river)
- Jeleśnia (historic inn, market square)
- Sopotnia Wielka (waterfall (the highest in the Polish Beskids), astronomical observatory, Rysianka)
- Korbielów (ski slopes, Pilsko, Redyk highlander (sheep grazing))
- Rajcza (sanctuary, palace, market)
- Milowka (open-air museum, Jewish cemetery, St. Mary's Church, market square)
- Sucha Beskidzka
Largest towns
- Żywiec (30,000 inhabitants)
- Sucha Beskidzka (10,000 inhabitants)
- Łodygowice (7,000 inhabitants)
- Wilkowice (7,000 inhabitants)
- Szczyrk (7,000 inhabitants)
- Stryszawa (5.5 thousand inhabitants)
- Lipowa (5,000 inhabitants)
- Pietrzykowice (4.5 thousand inhabitants)
- Radychowy (4.5 thousand inhabitants)
- Milówka (4.5 thousand inhabitants)
- Cięcina (4,500 inhabitants)
- Buczkowice (4,000 inhabitants)
- Hungarian (4,000 inhabitants)
- Gilowice (4,000 inhabitants)
- Jeleśnia (4,000 inhabitants)
Folk costume
In the Żywiec region, there is commonly one folk costume, in several different varieties (usually these are regional varieties with slight differences in design). There is a male and female highlander outfit, as well as a Żywiec bourgeois outfit, also for men and women. Żywiec highlanders, and later townspeople, left their clothes almost completely before the start of World War I, mainly as a result of mass departures for seasonal agricultural work in Hungary, Moraviaand also - to a lesser extent - to work in industry in the nearby area Silesia (mainly in Bielsko and Biała). In the interwar period, thanks to the efforts of folklore enthusiasts, attempts were made to preserve and recreate the highlanders' costume as representative for the village of Żywiec and folk groups. Currently, new costumes based on old designs are worn, for example, by members of the Grojcowianie band.
Women's costume of Żywiec highlanders
Żywiec bourgeois outfits
Men's costume of Żywiec highlanders
Children in highland folk costumes
