Mountains
wooden cottage from 1911 serving as a mountain hut below Potrójna in the Little Beskids
For children
open-air museum with 17 relocated buildings of the Żywiec region, from cottages to a sawmill and a pharmacy
Parks and nature
an upper montane forest and sandstone rocks on Łamana Skała in the Little Beskids Landscape Park
Churches and monasteries
brick shrine of 1866 with a spring and a grotto under the church
Mountains
timber cottage from 1925 on a pass in the Little Beskids, a former students' hut
Mountains
modest hut on the Gibasy pass in the Little Beskids, heated by stoves
Churches and monasteries
brick parish church from 1842-1853, three-aisled, with a churchyard
Things to do in Ślemień: an open-air museum, a hilltop shrine, the Madohora reserve and mountain huts on the Gibasy pass in Silesia.
Ślemień sits in the foothills of the Little Beskids and offers an open-air museum, two churches, a forest reserve and hostels in old highlander cottages. It suits a family day out, and it works just as well as the start of a hike with an overnight stay.
Three places fill a day: the Żywiec Ethnographic Park, the shrine on Jasna Górka hill and the parish church on Krakowska Street. The open-air museum covers more than six hectares, so give it the most time and see the churches on the way.
The park at Łączna 2a recreates a village from the Żywiec Beskids and holds seventeen historic buildings. It opened in August 2012, and a museum was set up a few months later to run it. Children enjoy it because exploring a village outdoors easily turns into a treasure hunt for interesting cottages.
The Jasna Górka Shrine stands above the village. The church, built in 1862-1866, keeps a copy of the painting from Jasna Góra in Częstochowa, and beside it is a grotto with a spring tied to the local legend of the beginnings of Marian devotion. The Church of the Nativity of St John the Baptist is a little older and clearly bigger, with three naves, sandstone walls and a churchyard.
Three huts with a hostel character operate nearby: the student Chatka pod Potrójną and two neighbouring buildings on the Gibasy pass. All occupy old highlander cottages, so the standard is simple and the atmosphere is pure mountains.
Chatka pod Potrójną is a house from 1911 in the Little Beskids, open all year, with a shared kitchen. On Gibasy you will find Gibasówka Cottage, known as Lutecja, built in 1925 and used as a student hut until 2001, and Gibasówka Hut (u Stacha). The second is plainer: stoves provide the heat, water comes from a well and the toilet is outside. For the full set of such places see mountain huts in Ślemień.
The best nature stop is the Madohora Nature Reserve, created in 1960 on the slopes of Łamana Skała. It protects spruce forest and sandstone outcrops in the Little Beskids Landscape Park. Entry is free, and the area combines well with a walk to Gibasy. More mountain destinations are gathered under mountains in Ślemień.
Yes, the Żywiec Ethnographic Park at Łączna 2a. It shows the buildings of a Żywiec Beskids village and is run by a skansen museum.
There are two huts on the Gibasy pass, Gibasówka known as Lutecja and Gibasówka (u Stacha). Chatka pod Potrójną in the Little Beskids is open all year. Conditions can be basic, so ask the hosts for details before you travel.
No, the reserve can be visited free of charge. The usual rules of nature protection apply, as in any reserve.
The two main ones are the shrine on Jasna Górka hill, from 1862-1866, and the sandstone parish church built in 1842-1853 and consecrated in 1860.
