Beskid Museum

The Beskid Museum named after A. Podżorski in Wisła is located in the building of a former inn from 1794 situated in the center of Wisła. This inn primarily served as a shelter for the faithful coming to services from distant hamlets and children attending the evangelical school.

The founder of the institution was Andrzej Podżorski – the head of the local school, a researcher and enthusiast of the Highlander culture. In 1954, he headed the Museum Committee, which after many difficulties led to the opening on July 22, 1964, of the first ethnographic exhibition, marking the end of a long period of work on creating the only museum institution at that time in the Silesian Beskid area. The permanent exhibition of the museum presents the material culture of the Silesian Beskid highlanders connected with areas of life such as herding, agriculture, weaving, cooperage, and carpentry. In a separate room, exclusively dedicated to the highlander costume in its female and male variants, differentiated according to use for summer and winter, is displayed. The museum also has many examples of folk art, valuable collections of art with numerous examples of painting and graphics. An additional attraction since 2010 is the Wooden Architecture Enclave built next to the museum, where one can see a smithy, a crofter's cottage, a shepherd's hut, a beekeeping apiary, and in the summer – an herbarium. A special attraction is the smithy, where one can see a blacksmith's work live.