The Painted Polish Village of Zalipie Bursts With Blooms

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Zalipie, a small Polish village east of Kraków, is forever in bloom. The walls of its wooden homes, both interior and exterior, are decorated from floor to ceiling with painted flowers. The village well is covered with carefully colored blossoms. At St. Joseph’s church, a sculpture of Jesus on the cross is surrounded by sprays of flowers painted on the wall. Floral murals curl their way around ovens, roofs, dog houses, and chicken coops. 

The Zalipie tradition of painting flowers on every available surface likely began during the late 19^th century as a way of dealing with the soot spewed into the air from wood-burning stoves. To hide stubborn spots on the blackened walls, the women of Zalipie took to painting over them, first with a lime whitewash and then with colored flowers. By the time chimneys and modern ovens replaced the soot-spewing stoves, floral murals had become a hallmark of the village.

During the 20^th century, the standout artist among many painters was Felicja Curyłowa, who went all-out in the floral decoration stakes. In addition to painting murals all over the walls and ceilings, Curyłowa decorated her home with hanging bouquets made of crepe paper and painted blooms on her plates and kettles. After she died in 1974, Curyłowa’s flower-filled home was kept intact and opened to the public as a museum.

Zalipie’s flower-painting practice continues to this day. Every spring, the village holds a competition for the best painted cottage.

Visit Atlas Obscura for more on the painted village of Zalipie.

Other vibrant villages around the world:

• Filled with fading propaganda, Nanjie is the last communal village in China
• One small Pacific Northwest town transformed itself into a Bavarian village
• An abandoned set from the 1980 film Popeye has been claimed and repurposed by creative locals

Visit Atlas Obscura for more on the painted village of Zalipie.