Astronomical Paradise
The Żywiec Beskids (Polish: Beskid Żywiecki) is one of the most attractive places in Poland. The authorities of Sopotnia Wielka, a small village (with a population of 1,6 thousand people) lying close to Cracow and next to Slovakian border, decided to meet expectations of astronomy fans launching a project of protection of the night sky.
The Żywiec Beskids have been very popular among astronomers thanks to their perfect morphology, air transparency and good weather conditions. It is a great place for night observations of the sky as the stars are extremely visible. Astronomy fans from the entire Poland come to this beautiful place just to observe and take photos of objects invisible in other parts of the world. Numerous events, jamborees and astronomical workshops take place here.
The authorities of Sopotnia Wielka decided to meet astronomy fans’ expectations by introducing partial black-out in the village. Between the midnight and 4 a.m. street lamps will be switched off in order to avoid diffused light disturbing observations of the night sky.
Other nearby localities joined this initiative and even European Union got interested in the project. There is an idea of creating a special “nature reserve of night sky” within the Żywiec Landscape Park (Polish: Żywiecki Park Krajobrazowy).
It is worth going to Sopotnia Wielka starting from August not only to have a rest at a waterfall, to see the model of a space station in 1:1 scale but also to have a quiet and peaceful moments of observations in Krzyżowe Gronie.