Wooden churches in southern Lesser Poland

Wooden churches in southern Lesser Poland
UNESCO world heritage
Church in Sękowa
National territory:	Poland
Type:	Culture
Criteria :	(iii) (iv)
Surface:	8.26 hectares
Buffer zone:	242.0 ha
Reference No .:	1053rev
UNESCO region :	Europe and North America
History of enrollment
Enrollment:	2003  (session 27)

The wooden churches in southern Lesser Poland are a selection of six wooden churches in Lesser Poland that were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003. They are among the best preserved and oldest wooden Gothic churches characteristic of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship and the western part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship . The churches are a unique example of the tradition of medieval wooden churches in the Roman Catholic Church . They were built using the log construction method that was common in Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. The spectrum of carpentry technology used in their construction makes them unique.

description

The three-part floor plan, which resulted from the liturgy , is characteristic of the buildings . The narrower choir, which usually ends in an apse , is attached to the rectangular nave in the east . The church towers in the west are partly of a more recent date. The church in Lipnica Murowana is the only one without a tower. Often there are arcades (soboty) in front of the ship. The often steep roofs are covered with wooden shingles .

The churches are witnesses of high quality carpentry from the Middle Ages . This includes structural solutions, the design of the roof trusses and valuable decoration through rich carvings. The elements of the rich interior fittings are harmoniously connected with each other and complement each other in content, function and style. They also illustrate the stylistic changes over the centuries. The polychrome painting of the walls and ceilings is preserved in some churches and testifies to the church patronage at the time by the local nobility.

List of wooden churches

image	Name (polish)	place	particularities
	Parish Church of the Archangel Michael (Kościół św. Michała Archanioła)	Binarowa 49 ° 45 ′ 26.3 ″  N , 21 ° 13 ′ 38.9 ″  E Lesser Poland Voivodeship	Built around 1500, Gothic sculptures from the end of the 14th century: Mother of God with the child and four bas-reliefs in the side altars; valuable ceiling paintings from the beginning of the 16th century, baroque wall paintings - in the choir from 1655
	All Saints Parish Church (Kościół Wszystkich Świętych)	Blizne 49 ° 45 ′ 7.5 ″  N , 21 ° 58 ′ 43.3 ″  E Subcarpathian Voivodeship	Built in Gothic style before 1470, tower from the first half of the 17th century; Painted in polychrome in 1549, 1649 and around 1700, repainted at the end of the 19th century and exposed in 2000–2001
	Parish Church of the Archangel Michael (Kościół św. Michała Archanioła)	Dębno 49 ° 27 ′ 59.3 ″  N , 20 ° 12 ′ 43.3 ″  E Lesser Poland Voivodeship	Built in 1490, church tower from 1601; Tabernacle from the beginning of the 14th century, cross from 1380, late Gothic triptych , extensively painted in the 15th and 16th centuries with geometric and floral designs
	Branch Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (Kościół Wniebowzięcia NMP)	Haczów 49 ° 40 ′ 13.3 ″  N , 21 ° 53 ′ 23.9 ″  E Subcarpathian Voivodeship	Gothic church from the end of the 14th century, baroque tower from the 17th century, figural, polychrome paintings from 1494 (discovered in 1956 during restoration work); largest wooden Gothic church in Europe and oldest wooden church in Poland
	St. Leonhard (Kościół św. Leonarda)	Lipnica Murowana 49 ° 51 ′ 37.6 ″  N , 20 ° 31 ′ 49.4 ″  E Lesser Poland Voivodeship	Cemetery church, without tower; Built at the end of the 15th century, paintings from the end of the 15th to the beginning of the 18th century, valuable and rare furnishings
	St. Philip and James (Kościół św. Filipa i św. Jakuba)	Sękowa 49 ° 37 ′ 50.3 ″  N , 21 ° 11 ′ 9.9 ″  E Lesser Poland Voivodeship	Branch church , built in 1520, tower and arcades from the 18th century; Completely cladding except for the boarded-up tower room ; late baroque main altar from the beginning of the 17th century destroyed in 1915 and restored between 1948 and 1949

Monument protection

The churches were each entered in the national register of monuments of the voivodships. Their protection is also under the supervision of the curators of the dioceses. The areas protected by the World Heritage add up to 8.26 hectares . To protect the area around the objects and the visual axes , buffer zones of 242 hectares were set up.

tourism

The Małopolska Organizacja Turystyczna tourist organization of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship has set up a wooden architecture route (Szlak Architektury Drewnianej) with more than 250 objects and various routes. The project is also coordinated with the neighboring voivodeships.

See also

In contrast to the Roman Catholic churches, the wooden churches of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine (eight each in both countries) with World Heritage status belong to the architectural heritage of the Eastern Churches .

• List of wooden churches in southern Poland
• Wooden churches in the Maramureș
• Wooden churches in the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountains
• Peace churches in Schweidnitz / Silesia and in Jauer / Silesia

Web links

• whc.unesco.org: Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska. (English)
• drewniana.malopolska.pl: The wooden architecture route. (Lesser Poland Voivodeship) (multilingual)

Footnotes

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} whc.unesco.org: Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska. (English, accessed on July 16, 2020)
2. ↑ drewniana.malopolska.pl: The parish church Archangel Michael in Binarowa. (accessed on July 31, 2020)
3. ↑ medievalheritage.eu: Blizne - Kościół Wszystkich Świętych. (Polish, accessed July 31, 2020)
4. ↑ drewniana.malopolska.pl: The parish church of St. Archangel Michael in Dębno Podhalańskie. (accessed on July 31, 2020)
5. ↑ dhaczow.pl: Modrzewiowy kościół w HaczowieO - XIV w. (Polish, accessed July 31, 2020)
6. ↑ drewniana.malopolska.pl: The St. Leonhard Church in Lipnica Murowana. (accessed on July 31, 2020)
7. ↑ drewniana.malopolska.pl: The Church of St. Philip and Jacob in Sękowa. (accessed on July 31, 2020)
8. ↑ drewniana.malopolska.pl: Szlak Architektury Drewnianej. (multilingual, accessed July 31, 2020)

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap