The Slavonic Countryside Museum in Kluki

When you think of your typical seaside vacation, is all you can think of limited to having fun at the beach, sunbathing and eating waffles?

Not necessarily! You can also have a decent amount of culture and history, all you have to do is just look around!

The village of Kluki was most likely established around he 17th century, but the first more accurate historical mentions of the town appeared in the mid-19th century, and they tell us about the 36 landowners. If you take a look at the nearby 18th century cemetery, you’ll find many family names, such as Kleka or Klukken, which sound similar to the name of the village itself. Despite the countless misfortunes, the local people managed to maintain their individual cultture all the way until World War II, and the memory of those people is taken care of by the Kluki Slavonic Countryside Museum.

Because of the geographic conditions – wet and hostile terrains – the slavonic villages were strongly isolated from the rest of the world. For most of the year, it was really difficult to get to the nearby villages. Thanks to that isolation, it was possible to maintain the tradition and separate language of a slavonic origin, which is classified by some people as part of a kashubian culture.
Can you imagine, that it wasn’t until the 1920s that a beaten road to Smołdzin was created? Before that, getting through a 9-kilometer path to this small village would take up to 3 hours, not to mention travelling to larger towns.

The thing that drive’s everyone’s attention once they arrive to the Slavonic Culture Museum in Kluki is the „trellis”, which is a typical prussian wall used in the construction of the Slavonic cottages. The black and white houses look really pretty, and the term „Chequered Land”, used by the local tourisitic organization really stirs up the visitors’ imagination.