Highlanders' Treasures
Skarby Górali (Highlanders’ Treasures) is an initiative under the slogan “Meet the Highlanders from beyond Podhale“, through which, together with local partners from southern Lesser Poland, we try to bring closer – to residents and tourists alike – the cultural heritage (traditions, customs, songs, dances, legends, dialect, cuisine, crafts…) of nine groups of Lesser Poland highlanders from beyond Podhale who are still little known in Poland: the Orawians, Babiogórcy, Kliszczacy, Zagórzanie, Pieniny Highlanders, Spisz Highlanders, Nadpopradzie Highlanders, White Highlanders and Lemkos.
The "Skarby Górali" portal
The www.skarbygorali.pl portal is a collection of hundreds of photos and texts and dozens of films documenting the culture and traditions of nine groups of Lesser Poland highlanders from beyond Podhale, as well as recordings of theatre performances with the highland community. These materials were prepared by local young people taking part in the project “Discovering the heritage treasures of southern Lesser Poland” and by artists taking part in the project “Highlanders’ Treasures from beyond Podhale”.
Quests and the Skarby Górali app
As part of the project we also created 50 quests – educational outdoor treasure-hunting games that present the culture and traditions of the region in an attractive way. The quests are available as downloadable leaflets and can also be completed in the field with the free “Skarby Górali” mobile app for Android and iOS, which complements the www.skarbygorali.pl website.
The app lets you get to know the culture of the Babiogórcy, Kliszczacy, Orawians, Zagórzanie, Spiszacy, White Highlanders, Spisz Highlanders and Nadpopradzie Highlanders better. With it you can watch films and photos and read reportage and interviews prepared by local young people.
With the app you can also walk or cycle the routes of 50 quests presenting local cultural heritage. Where possible, the quests in the app are also adapted to the needs of people with various disabilities (wheelchair users, people with visual impairments, deaf people).
The “Skarby Górali” app received a distinction in the “Best Tourist Publications of 2018” competition organised by the editors of the KSIĄŻKI Literary Magazine.
Our publications
We also published two books summarising the results of the project: “Skarby Górali. Poznaj Górala spoza Podhala” (Highlanders’ Treasures. Meet the Highlanders from beyond Podhale), presenting the most interesting texts and photographs collected by young people, and “Góralszczyzna mniej znana. W poszukiwaniu lokalnych tradycji” (The Lesser-Known Highlands. In Search of Local Traditions), summarising the results of ethnographic research carried out in 2018–2019.