Żegiestów ( rue, Жеґестів, ''Zhegestiv'', uk, Жеґестів, ''Zhegestiv'') is a spa village in the administrative district of Gmina Muszyna, within

Nowy Sącz County __NOTOC__ Nowy Sącz County ( pl, powiat nowosądecki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland, on the Slovak border. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result o ...

, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, close to the border with

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. It lies on the

Poprad Poprad (; hu, Poprád; german: Deutschendorf) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. It is the biggest town of the Spiš region and the t ...

river, approximately west of

Muszyna Muszyna is a town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. Population: 4,989 (2006). It is a railroad junction, located near border with Slovakia, with trains going into three directions - towards Nowy Sącz, Krynica-Zdrój and southwards, ...

, south of Nowy Sącz, and south-east of the regional capital

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. The village has a population of 910.

History

Before World War II it experienced an impressive growth period, becoming a fashionable resort competing with neighbouring Piwniczna and

. The vast majority of the village's residents before World War II were

Lemko Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of C ...

Rusyns, but after the war most of them were forcibly resettled to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, and the remaining ones to western Poland as part of

Operation Vistula Operation Vistula ( pl, Akcja Wisła; uk, Опера́ція «Ві́сла») was a codename for the 1947 forced resettlement of 150,000 Ukrainians (Boykos and Lemkos) from the south-eastern provinces of post-war Poland, to the Recovered Te ...

.Żegiestów Wieś
official page of Żegiestów In 1947 the communist government nationalized the spa facilities, but since 1990 the company that originally owned them has been taking legal steps to recover its property. The condition of the buildings has deteriorated, and the Spa House ''(Dom Zdrojowy)'' has not been used since 2004.

References

External links

Żegiestów official website

Żegiestów Zdrój Sp. z o.o. company website

Żegiestów
Villages in Nowy Sącz County Spa towns in Poland {{NowySącz-geo-stub