Sucha Beskidzka

Sucha Beskidzka is a district town located in the picturesque valley of the Beskids in the place where the rivers Skawa and Stryszawka meet. The town makes a wonderful base from which to explore the surrounding mountainous region. Its convenient localization at the intersection of the main arteries passing through Sucha, Kraków, Żywiec and Zakopane, together with the easy access to the Beskids and further to Slovakia have been beneficial to the development of tourism. The town covers the area of 27 square kilometres and has a population of circa 10 thousand.

HISTORY

Sucha was first mentioned in 1405 when it was located according to the Magdeburg law on the banks of the Sucha River, now called the Stryszawka. The first owners of the settlement known by name were the Słupski family. Historical sources state that in 1554 Gaspare Castiglione, a Florentine goldsmith living in Kraków, purchased the place from the family. Ten years later he was officially introduced into the Polish nobility, took on the name Suski and began to bear the Szaszor coat-of-arms. In 1608 Sucha, owned by Piotr Komorowski of the noble clan of Korczak, constituted the center of what was known as the "państwo suskie"("the state of Sucha"). The Wielopolski family of the Starykoń coat-of-arms, the next owners of the settlement, contributed to its economic revival by managing it efficiently and by initiating judicial and administrative reforms. In 1896, at the times of the Branicki family of the Korczak coat-of-arms, Sucha was granted a town charter. The last owners of the town were the Tarnowskis of the noble clan of Leliwa who left Sucha on the outbreak of the Second World War. On 3.September 1939 the town became a part of the German Reich. After the war, due to the industrial and architectonic development, the character of the town completely changed. New workplaces were created and a network of primary, vocational and secondary schools was built. In 1956 the Powiat (District) of Sucha was established and in 1964 the town's name was extended to comprise of two elements: Sucha Beskidzka. When the 1975 administrative division took place, Sucha was incorporated into the voivodship of Bielsko Biała. In 1999 it regained the status of a district town.

ECONOMIC PROFILE

Sucha Beskidzka is the administrative, economic and commercial centre of the region lying at the foot of Babia Góra. Having a developed network of schools at its disposal, the town can also boast the status of an educational centre of more than a regional significance. The private sector of small and average-sized companies plays a special role in the town's economy that has the commerce and services as its basis. A few bigger companies with strong position both on the domestic and international markets, as well as various institutions and offices, are registered here. The beautiful landscapes of the region and its cultural and historical legacy contribute to the development of tourism, heavily supported by environment-friendly undertakings and by investments of more than a regional scale, such as the indoor swimming-pool built in cooperation with the starostwo powiatowe (the local authorities). Sucha Beskidzka is a three-time winner of the King Kazimierz Wielki (Casmir the Great) statuette in The National Ranking of Local Investments where, in 2003 and 2004 it placed second and in 2005 third. In the years 2004 and 2005, the town won the 6th and 7th National Ecocompetition "Przyjaźni Środowisku." Last May Sucha's authorities were appreciated in the prestigious Trzy Korony Małopolski poll for their efficient and citizen-friendly management.

TOURS AND TRAILS

Undoubtedly, the geographical situation, a developed network of roads and paths and its cultural heritage are among the chief assets of the town. Here is located one of the largest historical complexes in the region comprising a garden and a Renaissance palace called "Mały Wawel" (Wawel in miniature).
Thanks to the existence of well-marked tourist trails, viewpoints, hiking and cycling routes, the visitors to Sucha may engage in an active recreation all around the year.
Among the most frequently visited trails are:
- the red trail leading from Sucha Beskidzka through Magurka (872 m) to the center of Zawoja which takes 3 1 hours to cover;
- the black trail passing through the valley of Zasypnica and through Magurka to Zawoja Przysłop taking 2 hours;
- the green trail along the Żurawnica range (733 m) leading to Krzeszów which takes 4 hours to cover and
- the blue trail leading from Sucha Beskidzka through Mioduszyna (638 m) and Makowska Góra to the town of Maków Podhalański taking 3 hours to cover.
Babia Góra (1725 m) is one of the most important destinations for backpackers in the region. It is often described as the Queen of the Beskid Mountains or the Queen of Bad Weather. In 1997, due to the efforts of the local authorities, routes for bicycles and municipal tourist trails were marked that enabled visitors to become acquainted with the town's historical and natural monuments. The tourists can enjoy a longer stay in Sucha Beskidzka because the town offers accommodation in one of its hotels, bed-and-breakfasts and training-and-leisure centres.

CULTURE

The town cultivates its historical traditions. In the palace courtyard, which hosts both formal meetings and artistic performances, outdoor events are organized. At the beginning of each year The New Year's concerts are held which draw Polish opera stars. In May Dni Ziemi Suskiej, designed to celebrate the town's history, culture and tradition, take place. In July international folk groups perform at the palace during the Suskie Spotkania z Folklorem, visited by popular Polish artists a well. Traditionally, September abounds in classical music concerts, in which the local Zespół Muzyki Dawnej im. Gaspare Castiglione participates. The group, which is the town's pride, performs music from the periods of Renaissance and Baroque. Sucha can also boast a dynamic brass band playing popular hits, the Jasień choir and the Ziemia Suska folk group. In the Renaissance interior of the palace the Zamek Art Gallery and Local Information Centre were opened, the latter of which functions under the aegis of the town's community centre.

DID YOU KNOW THAT...?

Many outstanding scientists, scholars and artists were born in Sucha. Among those were professor Walery Goetel, an eminent geologist and the vice-chancellor of the Kraków's University of Science and Technology, his younger brother and a man of letters Ferdynand Goetel, Billy Wilder, the excellent American film director, a famous Polish actor Andrzej Szczepkowski and the colonel Tadeusz Semik who is remembered for his heroic defence of Węgierska Górka. Two distinguished women writers, Maria Konopnicka and Helena Bobińska, kept visiting Sucha for recreation as well as to write their books here.

THE TOWN'S LANDMARKS

The most prominent monuments of the town are:
- the Renaissance palace "Mały Wawel" ranked among the gems of Polish architecture. Primarily designed as a fortified castle and built thanks to the efforts of Kasper Suski, in the years 1608 1614, it became later extended into a splendid magnate residence by Piotr Komorowski. The palace took its final shape at the beginning of the 18th century, when Anna Wielopolska, one of its owners, had two towers erected at its south eastern wing. In the clock tower of the palace there is a historic St. Peter the Apostle's chapel with a unique polychrome depicting "Tajemnice Mszy Świętej według Żywota Pana Jezusowego"( "The mysteries of the Holy Service according to The Life of Jesus Christ.") with Old Polish inscriptions. An English-style garden, in which a 19th century neo-Gothic orangery and a "Gardener's House" (with a regional chamber) can be found, adjoins the palace.
- St.Mary's Church founded by Piotr Komorowski and erected in the years 1613-1614. At the beginning, it was a Gothic single-nave building with Baroque and Renaissance decorations which later became part of a new church built in the years 1895-1907. The latter was designed in an eclectic style by a famous Krakow architect Teodor Talowski whose job had been commissioned by the Branicki family.
- Karczma Rzym, an 18th century inn situated in the centre of the town's agora. It is a wooden building, covered with a hipped, shingled roof. It was in this inn where the devious Mephistopheles took possession of Pan Twardowski's (a legendary 16th century nobleman's) soul and where the infamous highwayman Jan Baczyński from Skawica celebrated successful robberies of merchants travelling through the mountain pass of Krowiarki to Hungary along the amber trade rout. Opposite the building stands a fountain featuring a horse (depicted in Sucha's emblem) and the figures of Mephistopheles and Pan Twardowski.
- a chapel on the hill of Jasień erected in the second half of the eighteenth century to commemorate the battles that the Confederates of Bar known as the "St. Mary's knights" fought with the Moskals led by general Suworow. The picture of Black Madonna, the Patron of the Confederates, hangs in the chapel's altar. On Polish national holidays, services in the country's intention are held in the chapel.
- roadside shrines, crosses and figures of saints.