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The cottage from Szydłów was built in 1705, as is written in the inscription carved on the principal beam in the living room. Currently, it is the oldest known example of vernacular architecture in the Kielce region. The building was purchased from Janina Gardyńska. A wide-front house with a front entrance and one passage way (single-bay) was built on a rectangular plan. The building consists of four rooms: the hallway, the living room and the cowshed which was later added. The walls from hewn beams are covered by a hipped, thatched, roof.

Among the noteworthy interior details are the plank door, fixed on a simple turnstile mechanism, leading to the hallway and to the utility rooms, as well as the floor from hewn panels fitted with wooden pegs, and the kitchen stove in the living room, which is archaic in form and construction technology.

The cottage houses a permanent exhibition illustrating the living conditions of a poor Jewish tailor. In the room furnished with exhibits dating from the 1920s and 1930s one can see a modest tailor’s workshop with a sewing machine, a screen, ready pieces of garments as well as a tailor’s accessories and devices – including irons. The room’s décor, through the use of religious accessories and Judaica, illustrates the atmosphere of preparations for a Sabbath dinner. On the table one can see prayer books and the ritual bread – hallah -- ready to serve. Suitcases in the hallway testify that the residents practiced an itinerant trade – an occupation typical of a large share of the poor Jewish population. Judaic religious accents in the interior include: the mizrah – a plaque with an inscription in Hebrew, fixed on the eastern wall of the room, kiddush mugs on the sideboard and two trays with engraved symbols of the Star of David and Hebrew inscriptions.

Chałupa z Szydłowa
Chałupa z Szydłowa - wnętrze 1
Chałupa z Szydłowa - wnętrze 2