Every design for Żywiec

Have you ever counted the mountains you can see from Żywiec? Pilsko, Babia Góra, Skrzyczne and Wielka Racza all stand on the horizon of this town on the River Soła, with the nearer slopes of Grojec just above the rooftops.

Żywiec lies in a deep basin, the Kotlina Żywiecka, where the Soła and the Koszarawa meet close to the centre and spill into Żywiec Lake. Żywiec Landscape Park wraps around it, the Grapa reserve protects old forest on steep slopes, and for years the town held the record for the coldest temperature ever measured in Poland. Historically part of Lesser Poland, it is the capital of Żywiecczyzna, the heart of the Goral Lands. The Stary Zamek w Żywcu stands in a landscaped park near the Pałac Habsburgów w Żywcu, and the brewery founded by Archduke Albert of Habsburg carried the town's name far beyond the mountains.

If you grew up between the river and the hills, with the Beskids watching from every window, keep this map close. It is your view, folded onto one page.