Cieszyn Vlachs

Cieszyn Vlachs
Wałasi cieszyńscy
Regions with significant populations
 Poland: Cieszyn Silesia
 Czech Republic: Zaolzie
Languages
Polish, Cieszyn Silesian dialect
Religion
Roman Catholic, Lutheran
Related ethnic groups
Silesians
Approximate extent of Cieszyn Vlachs within Cieszyn Silesia

Cieszyn Vlachs (Polish: Wałasi cieszyńscy, Czech: Těšínští Valaši) are a Polish ethnographic group (subgroup of Silesians) living around the towns of Cieszyn and Skoczów,[1] one of the four major ethnographic groups in Cieszyn Silesia, the one mostly associated with wearing Cieszyn folk costume[1] but not the only one speaking Cieszyn Silesian dialect. The name, identical to Vlachs (Polish: Wołosi or Wałasi), is probably not directly associated with that group (as Gorals are) but was coined by adjacent groups as a nickname.[2]

The culture of this group blossomed in the second half of the 19th century.[2] The exact extent of its habitat is hard to determine due to overlapping of various cultural elements with adjacent groups, especially on the borderlands. Cieszyn Vlachs dwell on Silesian Foothills and on the north-western slopes of Silesian Beskids[2] in the watershed of Vistula and Olza rivers, within Cieszyn Silesia[3] (also in the Zaolzie region). Their neighbours include Silesian Lachs to north west,[4] and Silesian Gorals to south.

References

  1. 1 2 "Zróżnicowanie etnograficzne obecnego województwa śląskiego". Śląskie Centrum Dziedzictwa Kulturowego w Katowicach. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Marian Dembiniok (2010). "WaÅ‚asi cieszyÅ„scy". O Góralach, WaÅ‚achach, Lachach i Jackach na ÅšlÄ…sku CieszyÅ„skim. REGIO. p. 47. ISBN 978-80-904230-4-6.
  3. ↑ Malicki, Longin (1956). Strój Górali ÅšlÄ…skich. Atlas polskich strojów ludowych ; cz. 3. ÅšlÄ…sk ; z. 3. WrocÅ‚aw: Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze. p. 23., a: Fierla, Gustaw (1969). Strój Lachów ÅšlÄ…skich. Atlas polskich strojów ludowych. cz. 3, ÅšlÄ…sk ; z. 4. WrocÅ‚aw: Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze. p. 19.
  4. ↑ BystroÅ„, Jan StanisÅ‚aw (1925). Ugrupowanie etniczne ludu polskiego. Kraków: Orbis. p. 11.


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