Zawoja

Zawoja is the largest (by area) village of Poland which is situated in the south-western part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship. The settlement became the part of Lesser Poland in 1998 as a result of an administrative reform. Before Zawoja belonged to Bielsko-Biala Voivodeship.

Geographically the settlement is situated at the foot of Babia Gora (1,725 m) between the mountain ranges of Beskid Żywiecki (Babiogorski mountain range) and Maków Beskids (Przedbabiogórskie range) in the valley of Scawica. The administration of Babiogorski National Park is situated here. In 1954 the protected area was established here. Mostly forest fauna is protected within it (brown bear, lynx, wolf, fox, marten, deer, wild boar and also endemic plant species).

Zawoja as well as neighbouring village Scawica owe their origin to Scawica river which in ancient times attracted the nomadic tribes. It is attested by archaeological artefacts found on the territory. The first written record about Scawica dates back to 1593 (these two settlements were called like that because they were regarded to be the same localities for a long time). During the old Polish period both villages belonged to Lanckoroński starostwo. In 1836 one of the settlements got the name of Scawica which in translation from Italian means 'forest above the river'. In 1847 the typhus and cholera epidemics spread over the area, resulting in the shortage of population in Zawoja and Scawica. On April 2, 1969 the village has become ill-famed due to the plane crash, 53 persons died.

Nowadays Zawoja is known as one of the largest centres of ski tourism in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Here eight ski lifts operate, the most famous of them is "Mosorny Groń", it is serviced by four-chair funicular and has a licensed FTS track for the competitions of national and international significance. In addition to these the following ski lifts function here:

• Baca ski lift
• Bartek ski lift
• Welch ski lift
• Wojtek ski lift
• Górnik ski lift ("Shakhtar")
• Kolisty Groń ski lift
• U Malika ski lift