Find a region on the map
Find a region on the map
Forests cover 30% of Poland’s land area, once even more. For centuries, different regions developed completely separately, subject to different cultural influences. There was no emperor who ordered all temples to be built in one style, and local craftsmen took advantage of what they had in abundance – the proximity of the forest and the talent of their own hands.
The following is a presentation of temples, because in addition to churches there are Orthodox churches, synagogues and even… mosques of Polish Tatars.
The Carpathian Mountains and the Małopolska region are a basin of wooden architecture. The 383 historic buildings in the two provinces form a distinctive part of the landscape of these mountains.
There is a particular concentration of wooden churches in the region of Low Beskids, once inhabited by Greek Catholic Lemkos. In almost every valley you will come across characteristic wooden bulbs or sites of Orthodox churches.
The UNESCO-listed 17th-century St. Paraskevi Orthodox Church in Kwiatoń is one of the most beautiful in the area.
The stunning 17th century Churches of Peace in Świdnica and Jawor are the result of the religious policies of the Catholic Habsburgs. As a result of the treaty ending the Thirty Years’ War, local Protestants were given the right to build three churches throughout the region. All were to be built outside the city walls, and only wood, straw and clay were allowed for their construction.
The restrictions imposed on builders gave rise to masterpieces of carpentry art. The Lower Silesian Churches of Peace were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Few pre-war Orthodox churches have survived in the wild, almost deserted Bieszczady mountains. One of the most interesting of these is the graceful, small Orthodox church of St. Michael the Archangel in Smolnik on the San River, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built using a traditional technique, without the use of nails. Inside you will be delighted by… unusual chandeliers made of deer antlers.
Poland shares the wooden architecture route with neighboring Ukraine.
In the popular belief, Poland is a religious monolith. However, this has not always been the case. One of the country’s most multicultural regions is the northeastern, wild and green Podlasie. A few villages there are home to Polish Muslim Tatars, once invited here by King John II Sobieski.
In the village of Kruszyniany you will find an intimate, green mosque, where a local Tatar guide will show you around.
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We end this brief and necessarily selective list in… Warsaw. You will find a real gem in the remarkable, award-winning building of the POLIN Museum, whose creators paid tribute to the culture of Poland once created by three million Jews. It is a reconstructed, board by board, roof of the former synagogue in Gwoździec in today’s Ukraine. It is decorated from the inside with a stunning, colorful polychrome with biblical motifs.
A must-see when on a trip to Warsaw!
Polish Tourism Organization
Fleschgasse 34/2a
1130 Wien
wien@pot.gov.pl
+43 6767828258
