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   Krynica is a famous 19th-century health resort situated in southern Poland, close no Nowy Sącz, between the Sądecki and Niski Beskid Mountains, at the altitude of 500 to 750 metres. Known as “the pearl among Poland’s spas” it has been celebrated not only for its highly coveted mineral waters and mudbaths, but also for its rather mild climate, beneficial to the health of the spa’s clients, its unique atmosphere and remarkable architecture.
    Side by side with magnificent spa buildings designed by renowned and inspired 19th-century architects, the visitor can also admire numerous well-preserved wooden family and boarding houses hidden among flowers and the garden and park greenery. The town’s lovers, cherishing its history and tradition, take walks down the picturesque meandering streets, stopping in various places to announce proudly: “This is where Józef Ignacy Kraszewski lived and wrote his novels; here Helena Modrzejewska spent her summers; Gabriela Zapolska came for holidays here. In this spot, there was the 19th-century larchwood theatre where troupes from Lvov, Cracow and Warsaw, the brightest stars of Polish and foreign theatre, opera and operetta came to perform in the summer season. This splendid house once hosted Marshal Józef Piłsudski, the one next door - Juliusz Osterwa with Hanka Ordonówna. And this is Jan Kiepura’s house, one of Europe’s most luxurious villas of that day, which he named PATRIA – FATHERLAND.
    “Patria” was Jan Kiepura’s only Polish house, to which he hurried from the remotest corners of the world to spend a few days or weeks at home with his closest family. The greatest personages followed Kiepura to his town: the Dutch royal couple, blue-blooded aristocrats and tycoons. Crowds of the great tenor’s fans gathered in front of “Patria” already at daybreak hoping to see him singing on the balcony. They cried and cheered, “Sing, Jasio (Johnnie), sing!” And every now and then Jasio, the legendary “Boy from Sosnowiec”, crown jewel of the world’s greatest operas and a famous film star, appeared on his balcony and sang the popular hits of the day: Dark-haired and Fair-haired, Ninon, Signorina, and other songs which owed their fame to his films.
    And likewise on the Boulevard: thousands of people ran towards him with outstretched hands. He was lifted onto a car roof, and a song recital started – the generous gift for innumerable enthusiasts of his extraordinary voice and his obstreperous, colourful personality, the charm and legend that surrounded him still in his lifetime.
    Every year in mid-August, Krynica’s streets fill up with music audiences from various parts of the world. On the Boulevard, in the Central Pump Room, the theatre house and the beautiful ballroom of the Old Spa House, we will join music’s high society, admire phenomenal singers, musicians, dancers, actors, and stage artists.
    Very soon, for the time of the European Jan Kiepura Festival, Krynica will become Poland’s capital of song, the Town with Jan Kiepura in its coat of arms.

BOGUSŁAW KACZYŃSKI'S LAUDATORY SPEECH FOR
THE UNVEILING OF JAN KIEPURA'S MONUMENT

KRYNICA-ZDRÓJ 17th JULY 2004

I would like to thank the mayor of Krynica, Mr Emil Bodziony, for inviting me to this moving ceremony and the proposal that I should give a laudatory speech.

On Jan Kiepura's most important monument, erected at his own request at the Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw, in the Alley of Merit, a beautiful and profound motto has been carved: "Nothing remains of a man but the good that he has done to others." Jan Kiepura did good to others throughout his life. Someone might ask: what were those great, extraordinary, heroic deeds of Jan Kiepura's life? He opened people's souls and hearts to beauty. He was the symbol of the splendid Polish 1920s and 1930s; the joy, radiance and smile of those years, unusual in our nation's history, the time when after more than a century of life in bondage the nation was building an independent state. Jan Kiepura captivated the audience with his joy, temperament and smile. We all need joy in our lives. Some experiences undermine our will to live. He, Kiepura, was the one who proved with his existence, his art, his voice and his smile that life is worth living after all, and frequently - in defiance of all.

Crowds gathered at his performances. Even greater crowds waited in front of theatres and philharmonic halls for Kiepura to end the programme and come out into the square or street. They lifted him onto the roof of a car, pleaded with him that he should sing, and sing he did - the most popular melodies and the songs which were fashionable at that time and which were later hummed in the streets all over the world.

Jan Kiepura will be remembered in history as one of the 20th century's greatest opera singers and film stars, but also as a great Pole and a genuine patriot. He participated in an immense number of charity events, the proceeds of which went towards noble, laudable enterprises. Kiepura's famous concerts for an audience of tens of thousands were held to raise money for the building of the National Museum in Cracow, for the Winter Aid, Aid for the Victims of Floods, or - directly before the outbreak of World War II - to collect money for the noble cause of the National Defence Fund (FON). Poles generously filled the money boxes with Kiepura's name on them, though they could not yet fully realise how terrible the coming war would be and what kind of national apocalypse they were about to face.

Jan Kiepura's last concert, the one for the National Defence Fund, was held on 15th August, two weeks before the outbreak of the war, in the Old Town Square in Warsaw, for an audience of 40, 000. One could ask: why just forty thousand? This was namely the greatest number of listeners that the square could contain, while his other fans had to content themselves with crowding round the city walls or filling the streets around and further from the square.

Kiepura has remained the timeless symbol of perfection, but he was moving in his way of creating art and bringing it closer to the widest audience.

Kiepura's association with Krynica is also unusual. In the 1920s, he took to this place so much that he decided to build here a magnificent house, in imitation of the most modern Swiss and Austrian hotels. The edifice was named PATRIA, which was hardly a coincidence: PATRIA - means the mother country. (applause).

The Patria in Krynica was his only Polish home, while the apartment on the 2nd floor was his only apartment in Poland, brimming with memories collected all over the world.

From the remotest corners of the globe, he hurried homeward to Poland, to his Patria, to spend a few moments with parents, friends and visitors who came to meet, see and talk to him, and most eager to hear him singing. He did not spare his voice, but appeared in a window in Patria and sang for the crowds that gathered in front of the building. He also sang while riding in a carriage along the Boulevard, or standing in the concert conch. Crowds cheered him and thanked him for his generosity, for his willingness to share his voice with everyone. The great and famous came to Krynica to stay in the spa that was recommended by Maestro Jan himself.

I would like to thank the mayor of Krynica, Mr Emil Bodziony, for inviting me to this moving ceremony and the proposal that I should give a laudatory speech.

To unveil another Jan Kiepura monument here, in Krynica, is the most proper thing to do. He was, and still remains despite the flow of time, the most vital symbol of this pearl among Polish health resorts. The heiress to the Dutch crown, the future Queen Juliana, and her husband Prince Bernard, were Patria's first guests. They were followed by great artists and the elite of the establishment - for to come to Krynica was fashionable and becoming. Therefore I advise the founders of this monument to carve these words on the granite plinth: HE LOVED KRYNICA AND DID MUCH FOR HER. (applause)

I believe that this monument will become - as in Kiepura's hometown of Sosnowiec - the symbol of Krynica, because for the visitors to this town Krynica is not only a magnificent European spa, but also the enchanted town with Jan Kiepura in its coat of arms.

Maestro Jan, greet the guests that enter the town along this green alley, invite them to our beautiful resort which, thanks to the European Festival of Your Name, is becoming a happy, friendly town, the most musical town of song in this part of Europe.