page_title: Morskie Oko
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Morskie Oko / History
caption_attribution_description: Polski: 20 złotych 1928 rewers
context_page_description: Morskie Oko, or Eye of the Sea in English, is the largest and fourth-deepest lake in the Tatra Mountains, in southern Poland. It is located deep within the Tatra National Park in the Rybi Potok Valley, of the High Tatras mountain range at the base of the Mięguszowiecki Summits, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
context_section_description: The earliest documents in which Morskie Oko is mentioned date back to 1575. In 1637, the Polish king Władysław IV granted landowner Wladyslaw Nowobilski the right to use pastures in the area. In 1824, during Partitions of Poland, Morskie Oko became private property, for the time being, when Zakopane estate, including the Dolina Rybiego Potoku, were purchased from the Austrian authorities by Emanuel Homolacs. At the end of the nineteenth century, a boundary dispute arose between Galicia and Hungary over property rights to the lake and adjoining area (the so-called "Morskie Oko dispute"). The Court of Conciliation in Graz ruled in favour of the Polish side. A powerful backer of the Polish cause was Count Wladyslaw Zamoyski. The decision is credited to Oswald Balzer, who represented the Galician government.
  Morskie Oko was "rediscovered" for tourism by Dr. Tytus Chałubiński in the mid-nineteenth century; the first shelter was built there in 1836 but burned down in 1865. A second shelter, built in 1874, burned down in 1898. In 1902, a road from Zakopane was completed and named the Oswald Balzer Road. Since 1933 following the return of sovereignty, the lake has been owned by the Polish state.
  The charm of Morskie Oko has provided inspiration to many artists, including painters (Walery Eljasz-Radzikowski, Leon Wyczółkowski, Stanisław Gałek), poets (Wincenty Pol, Adam Asnyk, Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, Franciszek Nowicki, Jan Kasprowicz), and composers (Zygmunt Noskowski). The lake was one of the filming locations for 'The Formula', a short film by musician Sevdaliza in 2015.
caption: Morskie Oko on a Polish banknote (20 złotych from 1928)
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