What is "kurpie"

Kurpie is one of a number of ethnic regions in Poland, noted for its unique traditional customs, such as its own types of traditional costume, traditional dance, and distinctive type of architecture and livelihoods. Kurpie is also the name of the people of this culture.

The Kurpie region is located in Poland on a lowland plain called the Mazovian Region (Mazowsze), which was once covered over by two forests known as the Puszcza Zielona (the Green Wilderness) and the Puszcza Biała (the White Wilderness).

The Green Wilderness (Puszcza Zielona) is usually associated with the White Wilderness (Puszcza Biała), and together the two forests are often referred to as the Kurpie Forest ( Puszcza Kurpiowska) because the two forests were populated by inhabitants who, over the centuries of isolation, developed a unique culture of their own, called Kurpie.

On today’s map, the Kurpie region comprises Mazovia, Podlasie and, to a small extent, the Warmia and Mazury region. Populated areas in Kurpie today are generally in the towns of Myszyniec and Ostrołęka and the villages of Czarnia, Dylewo, Jednorożec, Kadzidło, Lipniki, Łyse and Zbójna.