From ul. Kościuszko to Witkiewicz
There were times like this in Zakopane once, when the rule applied: Believe in one God, tear one another. Apparently they have passed.
If you are standing between the building of the Main Post Office and the building of Podhalański Bank Spółdzielczy, having behind them the Gazda and Giewont hotels, you can be 100% sure, that you are in the center of the city.
The post office is not pretty, but you get used to it. It was erected at the beginning of the 20th century. in the spirit of the Zakopane style, but it was quickly stripped of its style, building in the years 30. second floor. Despite the undoubted efforts of the Post and Telecommunications, Waiting in lines for telephones and letter boxes has become a tradition. You can buy postcards at the stalls next door, minerals, boiled corn and original hairpins. On the other side of Krupówki, left and odd, under no. 27 Ski Service Bujaka is located, i.e. a ski repair and assembly plant, founded 1926 r. by an activist of the Ski Section, an outstanding skier and ski manufacturer – Franciszek Bujak. Right next to it, there is one of the many restaurants in Krupówki – elegant Zbyrcok, where regional dishes are served – a very good stationery store right next door. Opposite, on the even side of the street, under no. 24 you can have a coffee in the modernized Szarotka cafe, which went down in history as the Buttonhole. The place is small and tight, was a favorite of the great personalities of Zakopane from the pre-war and post-war years: Makuszyński, Kasprowiczowa, Morstin and others.
A red McDonald's - a mecca for adolescents and kids - has recently been established at the former Dziurka. Next to it, there is a two-story department store Zawrat (no 22), offering hunting weapons, sports and gas on the ground floor, clothes from Tibet on the first floor, Indii i peru. A few meters up the hill and behind the Kolorowa restaurant (no 26) you come to a side street of gen. Galicia, reaching next to pl. Niepodległości to ul. Riptide.
A short street of gen. Galicy was once known as the Road to the Market Square. W 1938 r. she was baptized in honor of Stefan Żeromski, after the war it functioned as Karol Świerczewski, and recently it is called Galicy.
At its outlet, you can see a very interesting face of Krupówki, struggling, to look stately and big. On the left side (no 35) a large brick tenement house in the interwar style draws attention, built in 1933 r. It is commonly referred to as the Teutonic Order's tenement house, because it was built by Antoni Krzyżak – Zakopane merchant, commune councilor, activist of the pre-war BBWR and head of the Main Welfare Council in Zakopane during the occupation. At no. 37 there is one of the oldest brick houses in Krupówki. It looks quite interesting compared to the Teutonic Order's tenement house – there is even quite a wide passage between them on the ground floor, but it starts to get tight around the balconies. The building was erected in 1900 r. for Jan Mieloch, but soon it passed into the hands of the Zwoliński family, who opened a bookstore here. Today, on the ground floor, there is a gastronomy monument from the 70., that is the European cafe, preserved in the atmosphere of the era of success propaganda.
Opening of the Zwoliński bookstore at Krupówki 37 took place in 1901 r. Apart from selling books, the Zwoliński family also published guidebooks, postcards and maps. The bookstore functioned for years 50.
THE ZWOLIŃSKI FAMILY – Leonard – Krakow, then a Zakopane bookseller and publisher, Stephanie – mother of Tadeusz - a Tatra cartographer, Taternica, photographer, author of guides, and Stephen – also a photographer and mountaineer and researcher of the Tatra mining and metallurgical traditions.
A bit further from the street, on the level of the house no 37 stood the first summer villa of a lowland visitor – Eliaszówka built in the Tyrolean-Swiss style by Walery Eliasz-Radzikowski, which burned down in the great fire of Krupówki in 1899 r.
WALERY ELIASZ-RADZIKOWSKI – He was one of the first to write a guide to the Tatra Mountains, he built a summer house at Krupówki Street and took up Tatra photography. He was an artist-painter, writer, tourist, teacher. He belonged to the Tatra Society, was friends with Fr.. Eugeniusz Janota and Tytus Chałubiński. He designed the badge of Tatra guides, he participated in marking out many mountain trails. His merit was the popularization of the city. He became a champion, a teacher and friend of many Zakopane lovers.
Standing at ul. Galicia, the elegant one is hard to miss, Leisten's newly renovated house, its proudly curved front on the corner of the street. It is a very nice tenement house, decorated with a shapely turret, built by Samuel Leisten in 1900 r. Initially, it was the seat of the Central Hotel, there were shops of various industries on the ground floor. Everything was liquidated during the war. Currently, it is the seat of the Amplico company, and Knajpa Zbójecka attracts visitors to the cellars.