Cieszyn Vlachs

{{Short description|Silesian ethnographic group}}

{{Infobox ethnic group|

| group = Cieszyn Vlachs
Wałasi cieszyńscy

| image =

| poptime =

| popplace = {{POL}}: Cieszyn Silesia
{{CZE}}: Trans-Olza

| region1 =

| pop1 =

| region2 =

| pop2 =

| langs = Polish, Silesian (Cieszyn Silesian)

| rels = Roman Catholic, Lutheran

| related = Other Silesians

}}

File:CieszynVlachs.jpg

The Cieszyn Vlachs ({{langx|pl|Wałasi cieszyńscy}}, {{langx|cs|Těšínští Valaši}}) are a Silesian ethnographic group living around the towns of Cieszyn and Skoczów,{{Cite web|url=http://w.scdk.pl/zroznicowanie_etnograficzne_obecnego_wojewodztwa_slaskiego.php|title=Zróżnicowanie etnograficzne obecnego województwa śląskiego|publisher=Śląskie Centrum Dziedzictwa Kulturowego w Katowicach|access-date=22 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405024414/http://w.scdk.pl/zroznicowanie_etnograficzne_obecnego_wojewodztwa_slaskiego.php|archive-date=5 April 2018|url-status=dead}} one of the four major ethnographic groups in Cieszyn Silesia, the one mostly associated with wearing Cieszyn folk costume but not the only one speaking Cieszyn Silesian dialect. The name, "Vlachs" ({{langx|pl|Wołosi/Wałasi}}), is probably not directly associated with that group (as Gorals are) but was coined by adjacent groups as a nickname.{{Cite book |author = Marian Dembiniok| title = O Góralach, Wałachach, Lachach i Jackach na Śląsku Cieszyńskim| chapter=Wałasi cieszyńscy| publisher = REGIO| year = 2010| pages = 47| isbn = 978-80-904230-4-6 }}

The culture of this group blossomed in the second half of the 19th century. The exact extent of its habitat is hard to determine due to overlapping of various cultural elements with adjacent groups, especially on the borderlands. Cieszyn Vlachs dwell on Silesian Foothills and on the north-western slopes of Silesian Beskids in the watershed of Vistula and Olza rivers, within Cieszyn Silesia{{Cite book|surname=Malicki|first=Longin|title=Strój Górali Śląskich|publisher=Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze|place=Wrocław|date=1956|pages=23|series=Atlas polskich strojów ludowych ; cz. 3. Śląsk ; z. 3}}, a: {{Cite book|surname=Fierla|first=Gustaw|title=Strój Lachów Śląskich|publisher=Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze|place=Wrocław|date=1969|series=Atlas polskich strojów ludowych. cz. 3, Śląsk ; z. 4|page=19}} (also in the Trans-Olza region). Their neighbours include {{ill|Silesian Lachs|pl|Lachy śląskie}} to north west,{{Cite book|last=Bystroń|first=Jan Stanisław|author-link = Jan Stanisław Bystroń| title=Ugrupowanie etniczne ludu polskiego|publisher=Orbis|place=Kraków|date=1925|pages=11|url=http://zbc.uz.zgora.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=16290&from=&dirids=1&ver_id=218470&lp=1&QI=!9F9166E21FF7FF0D2E9917D12C4307E3-2}} and Silesian Gorals to south.