Everyone has heard of the fact that at the turn of the 20th century. Zakopane was the artistic capital of Poland. Few, however, remember another locality significant to Polish culture. It is Kosów Huculski - once known as the Polish Davos - and the Natural Medicine Centre of Dr Apoleni Tarnawski located there. In the background of this momentous cultural role, there are echoes of the fashion for vegetarianism, yoga and aerobics.

Kosiv (known as Hutsul Kosiv since 1937), located 400 m above sea level on the border between Pokucie and Hutsul regions, is surrounded by wooded hills 800 m above sea level and situated on the picturesque River Rybnica. Such a location makes it a warm and secluded place almost devoid of cold winds. There are a small number of cloudy days throughout the year and precipitation is much lower than in other regions. Dr Apolinary Tarnawski decided to take advantage of these exceptional climatic qualities, and in 1893 he opened a Natural Medicine Institution in Kosovo.

Vegetarianism, yoga and aerobics
Inspired by the therapeutic activities of Fr Sebastian Kneipp and Dr Heinrich Lahmann from Germany, and drawing on his experience, Apolinary Tarnawski created his own therapeutic method, which he called 'Polish'. It consisted of shaping the patient's strong will through the introduction of healthy habits according to the slogan "rule yourself". He used the benefits of nature, such as water, sun and air, in his treatment. His patients would get up at dawn and go to bed at 9 p.m. They would wade barefoot in the dew, exercise in the open air to the rhythm of music played by an orchestra, do yoga, work in the garden, take naked baths in the sun and air, or bathe in a mountain waterfall.

In addition, they wore only light and airy clothing. Alcohol, smoking, gambling, drinking strong black coffee and eating sweets were strictly forbidden in the treatment area. The doctor from Kosovo was a staunch advocate of a diet of junk food and starvation. Together with his wife, he published two cookery books: the Yarian Cuisine used in Dr Apolini Tarnawski's clinic in Kosovo (Lvov 1901) and the Kosovo Yarian Cuisine (Warsaw 1929).

Healing house of the nation
What distinguished Tarnawski's clinic from the hundreds of sanatoriums in vogue at the time was not only the natural healing method, but also the owner's guiding idea of healing the nation. "For Kosiv was no ordinary spa like Krynica or Truskavets. It was a brick in the edifice of national culture - beautiful, valuable, original and very Polish," Ignacy Wieniewski, a former patient, wrote years later.

Doctor Tarnawski wanted his work to contribute to the rebuilding of a healthy society capable of fighting to regain independence and rebuild the homeland. For this reason, patriotic circles gathered around the clinic. Lectures, political rallies and artistic evenings of a patriotic nature were organised here, crowned by fund-raising for national causes. In addition, Tarnawski offered shelter to political dissidents from the Russian and Prussian annexations. The clinic was particularly popular among politicians and social activists associated with the National Democracy (Roman Dmowski, Zygmunt Balicki, Tadeusz Bielecki), but there was also room for socialists (Ignacy Daszyński or Kazimierz and Stanisław Kelles-Krauz).

In the interwar period, when the fashion for a healthy lifestyle and athletic physique took hold, the spa became popular with the celebrities of the time. Theatre and film actors frequented it, including Hanka Ordonówna, Juliusz Osterwa, Mira Zimińska, Karol Adwentowicz and Aleksander Żabczyński. There was also no shortage of representatives of literary life. Among those who stayed in Kosów were Maria Dąbrowska, Gabriela Zapolska, Ferdynand A. Ossendowski, Lucjan Rydel, Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna, Melchior Wańkowicz or Kazimierz Wierzyński. The intellectual atmosphere that prevailed during the Kosovo cure inspired artists to be creative, thanks to which many literary works, paintings and scientific works were produced here.

Pioneer of natural medicine and geriatrics
Dr Apolinary Tarnawski gained widespread fame. He was considered a pioneer of natural medicine and geriatrics. He was the author of dozens of articles popularising hygienic and healthy lifestyles and nutritional hygiene.

Supporters of his method emphasised that his therapeutics was a kind of school of life that shaped several generations of Polish intelligentsia. His activities in the social and economic fields were also appreciated. For example, he taught local peasants fruit farming and contributed to the town's tourist development. For this he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1933. In September 1939, the doctor and his family left his clinic and travelled to Romania with the government. He never returned to Kosovo. He died in 1943 in Jerusalem at the age of 92.

Architectural and natural heritage
Tarnawski aimed to create an establishment with the character of a country manor, far from the lavish and rigid spas. Therefore, the villas he built were scattered freely among the trees.

Over the years, he created an impressive park planted with 157 species of trees and shrubs. In addition to the park, the 12 hectares included an extensive orchard and allotments, volleyball courts and tennis courts. The doctor steadily expanded his establishment by erecting more villas. Eventually he built 12 wooden and plastered guest houses, as well as a bathroom building and a dining hall. All of them faced south, and some of them had special louvred walls to ensure a constant flow of air into the building.

A children's sanatorium has operated here since the Soviet Ukrainian era. In 1983, the sanatorium's park was declared a monument of garden-park heritage and named "Kosovo Dendropark", which was placed under legal protection in 1996. In 1993, the buildings on the site of the former medical centre were entered in the register of monuments. However, this did not save either the park or the buildings from progressive degradation. Eleven buildings remain. Some of them have been destroyed by ill-considered renovations, which have devastated the unique architectural elements and deprived the buildings of their original character. Nonetheless, it is worth a trip to Kosovo and see for yourself the former medical centre, now the "Kosovo" sanatorium.