Zalipie, the Painted Village

Women in Zalipie began painting flowers on their cottages more than a century ago, at first to cover soot marks around the stove, and it spread outwards from the chimney breast to the walls, then out of the door onto the render, the fences, the wells, the bridges and the dog kennels. The motifs are bunches of loose brushstroke flowers on white, painted freehand with brushes made of cow hair. A competition for the best painted cottage has run since the 1940s and is judged after Corpus Christi, so the paintwork is at its freshest in early summer. The house of Felicja Curylowa, the best known of the painters, is kept as a museum.

What you actually see

• Felicja Curylowa's house - the painter's cottage kept as she left it, painted inside and out.
• The competition cottages - houses across the village repainted for judging each summer.
• The small things - wells, fences, kennels and bridges painted with the same motifs.
• The village hall - the house of the women painters, with work and materials on show.

When to go

June to September, and best in the weeks after the competition is judged in early summer when the paint is new. The village is scattered along lanes, so allow time to walk or drive between houses. Winter and early spring show faded and weathered paintwork. The museum house keeps short hours and may close for lunch.

Honest expectations

This is a working village, not an attraction: most painted houses are private and you look from the road, without walking in. Numbers vary year to year, and some cottages are faded or no longer painted at all. There is nowhere much to eat and no public transport worth relying on. An hour or two covers it.

Nearby

Tarnow with its Renaissance square lies forty minutes south, and Krakow about an hour and a half west.