Krupówki Street in Zakopane

Krupówki is the backbone of Zakopane: more than a kilometre of pedestrian street climbing steadily uphill from the junction with Nowotarska and Kościeliska streets to ul. Zamoyskiego and al. 3 Maja. Cars – and even bicycles – are banned. In season it fills with crowds, horse-drawn cabs and stalls, yet between the shops stand several buildings that tell Zakopane's story better than many a guidebook.

A street named after a meadow

The name comes from the Krupówki meadow; in the past the name was also used for today's ul. Zamoyskiego, which continues the promenade. The street grew up in connection with the ironworks in Kuźnice. Its modernisation began in 1992 and divided locals and visitors alike: black basalt and grey granite setts were dug up from under the asphalt, red concrete pavers were added, and everything was laid in decorative patterns. Tilted street lamps shaped like bishops' crosiers were mounted on granite plinths. The redesign was the work of architects Maciej Krawczyński and Andrzej Orłowski.

What to see on Krupówki

• Church of the Holy Family (Krupówki 1A) – the oldest masonry church in Zakopane, built of hard mountain stone in 1879–1896 to a design by Józef Pius Dziekoński. The interior of this neo-Romanesque basilica mixes neo-Romanesque and Zakopane styles: the high altar is by Kazimierz Wakulski, the wall paintings and stained glass by Janusz Kotarbiński. Attached to the church is the Chapel of St John the Baptist, furnished entirely in the Zakopane style.
• Main building of the Tatra Museum (Krupówki 10) – a monumental pale-stone building on lower Krupówki. The façades were sketched by Stanisław Witkiewicz and the technical design prepared by Franciszek Mączyński; the foundation stone was blessed in 1913, and construction continued, with breaks, until 1922. Since a renovation completed in 2022, its permanent exhibition on the history, culture and nature of the Tatras and Podhale is open again.
• historic houses along the promenade: Villa "Staszeczkówka" (no. 3), the former School of Wood Industry (no. 8), the Dworzec Tatrzański (no. 12), the "Bazar Polski" building (no. 41), and the villas "Poraj" (no. 50) and "Zośka" (no. 77),
• the Morskie Oko hotel – where Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) began his theatre work, Helena Modrzejewska performed and Jerzy Żuławski founded a literary cabaret.

Interesting facts

The junction of Krupówki and ul. Kościuszki is considered the centre of Zakopane. From some points on the promenade you can see Gubałówka hill and the Tatras, above all Mount Giewont. In 1997 Pope John Paul II met Zakopane's First Communion children in the newly restored Church of the Holy Family. An exhibit in the Tatra Museum recalls a wedding in 1923 – that of highland woman Helena Gąsienica Roj and Warsaw writer Mieczysław Kozłowski, attended by both highlanders and Zakopane's artistic elite.

Tripto tip

An hour is enough to walk up and down Krupówki; with the church and the museum, allow half a day. It is most crowded in the summer and ski seasons and at weekends; weekday mornings are calmer. The Tatra Museum does not sell tickets online or take bookings for unguided visits – entry is first come, first served – so arrive early in high season. Visit the church outside Mass times.