Karpacz is a ski resort in the South-West of Poland, located in the Karkonosze Mountains. This is one of the favorite towns of the country's citizens, where they enjoy spending winter holidays and celebrating the New Year. Tourists are also attracted to this place as here they can go skiing and snowboarding, enjoy the picturesque scenery filled with Alpine charm, take a walk in the fresh air, and visit several interesting sights. One of them is the Meteorological Mountain Observatory.
The building of the observatory is located on the Śnieżka mountain, which is the highest point of the Karkonosze (more than 1,600 meters). It stands on the border between Poland and the Czech Republic. The observatory always attracts many tourists and awakens nostalgia for the sixties of the last century, when the whole world was gripped by the space race and the search for UFOs.
Meteorological research has been carried out on the top of the Śnieżka since 1862. The current building of the observatory was built in 1966-1974 by architect Witold Lipiński in the collaboration with his colleague Waldemar Wawrzyniak. The new building replaced the old wooden structure, which was in terrible technical condition and did not attract tourists at all. But now tourists are happy to admire the futuristic design of a small mountain complex, take excursions to the observatory and museum, enjoy incredible views from the observation deck and visit the local restaurant.
According to the chief architect Witold Lipiński, he was fascinated by the UFO theory, just like many people at that time. So he got the idea to create the observatory building in the form of three disks symbolizing unidentified flying objects. So he did.
The highest disk is used as the building of the Meteorological Mountain Observatory. The middle disk consists of technical rooms and rooms for employees of the scientific institution. And finally, the lowest levels include a restaurant, restrooms, and recreational facilities for tourists. This place offers the most picturesque view of the mountain scenery in the area.