In front of the Moniak's manor house one can see a memorial boulder with an inscription that reads: Hannie Pieńkowskiej semper fidelis Zubrzyca AD 1984…

Hanna Pieńkowska (1917-1976) graduated from the history of art faculty at Jagiellonian University (and secret learning courses during WWII). She defended her master thesis in 1945 and the doctoral thesis in 1950. She became the Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments in Krakow in 1951, a post she held until 1975; she was also the representative of the General Conservator of Monuments for Southern Poland. Thanks to her efforts, the protection was given to urban and architectural complexes of Chochołów and the Kościeliska Street in Zakopane, a group of wooden churches of the Podtatrze region (in Dębno, Grywałd, Orawka and Trybsz) and a great number of lodges on Tatra pastures. To us, she was mostly the co-founder of the Orawa Ethnographic Park in Zubrzyca Górna and the Sącz Ethnographic Park in Nowy Sącz. Hanna Pieńkowska’s activities covered the Carpathians and the Subcarpathia from Żywiec to the Lemko region and, in particular, the Podtatrze region. She was the pioneer of the conservation planning methodology. She paid attention to the cultural landscape, which includes the creations of human hands and the works of nature. She introduced the scientific concepts of ‘spatial museums’ and ‘historical spatial structures’ as complexes combining cultural and natural values. Thanks to her efforts, our open-air museum was blessed with the opportunity to become what it is today: a unique place where culture and nature combines create a special atmosphere that takes visitors back in time.