The Museum of Lemko people culture in Zyndranowa

The Museum of Lemko Culture operates in Zyndranowa - a small village near Barwinek and the Dukla Pass. The initiator of its creation was Teodor (Fedor) Gocz, who in the 1950s and his great-grandfather Teodor Kukieła undertook efforts to protect the heritage of the Lemkos who were expelled from Zyndranowa after the war. Although he avoided deportation as part of Operation "Vistula", he was repeatedly repressed for his activities. Having returned permanently to Zyndranowa, supported by his wife Maria, he created the Lemko Culture Memorial Room, gathering in the former great-grandfather's great-grandfather exhibits related to the life and culture of the Lemkos, and in the former equestrian war collection from the times of the fight for the Dukla Pass during World War II.

Today you can watch, among others, original old furniture, everyday objects, dishes, folk costumes, and agricultural tools. Over the years of operation, the memorial room, in 1990 transformed into the Museum of Lemko Culture, expanded to include a cottage (common room) from Tylawa, a Gypsy forge, a chapel with an altar, a small inn, a windmill from Wapienne, a Jewish cottage and an exhibition pavilion. Every year in June, the open-air museum organizes the spectacular Feast of Lemko Tradition on the Borderlands of Cultures from Rusal to Jan.

Currently, the museum is run by the Society for the Development of the Lemko Culture Museum in Zyndranowa, and its activities, after Teodor Gocz's death in 2018, are managed by his son Bogdan.

You can reach the open-air museum along the green trail leading from Barwinek towards Stasien and the Hermitage of Jan of Dukla.