Originally, Zakopane Valley was overgrown with woods. A name of the city is probably a consequence of the fact that - it derives from the term „zakopane", which in Polish means a terrain grubbed for a clearing.
At first, seasonal shepherd's settlements appeared here, which transformed into a village in the second half of the 14th century. Primarily, it was a property of the king, and in 1772 it was captured by the imperial-royal Austrian treasury, which, subsequently, sold it together with a part of the Tatra Mountains to the Homolacs family in 1824. During their reign, only Kuźnice, in fact, was being developed thanks to the metallurgic factory erected there. A tourist vegetation of the city was interrupted by the establishment of Tatra Association („Towarzystwo Tatrzańskie") in 1873. Its co-founder was Tytus Chałubiński- a physician, a natural scientist, and a pioneer of mountaineering who promoted Zakopane actively. Three years later the spot gained a health-resort status. When in 1889 Władysław Zamoyski bought it, there were over 3000 residents. Further development of the small town became possible thanks to building a road to Nowy Targ, as well as, thanks to railway building from Chabówka. Accessibility of Zakopane resulted in a considerable growth of number of guests. At the beginning of the 20th century, many sanatoriums and guesthouses were established. The artistic circles from all over Poland came to Zakopane, among others, Stanisław Witkiewicz. He introduced a notion of "Zakopane Style", which especially caught on villa building, and till today it is a flagship of Podhale. The dynamic development of Zakopane was uninterrupted even in the interwar period. The Krokiew ski jump was built and Ski World Championship FIS was organized here twice (1929 and 1939). In 1933 Zakopane gained municipal rights. In the period of occupation, there was Gestapo outpost in the Palace hotel, from where the "Goralenvolk" operation was controlled, which aimed at winning highlanders over.
In 1955 the Government enacted the act concerning the city's development from the tourist, recreation, and sport point of view. That brought profitable changes and investments - bus station, Tourist House, and Krokiew Sports Training Center were built (the ski jump was also re-built); the post office gained a new pavilion.
Today's Zakopane is the most important Polish center of mountain sports and tourism.
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Hotels in Zakopane
| GRAND STAMARY | LITWOR | REDYK | SKALNY | TATRA HOUSE | |
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