Polish Carpathians - Wooden churches - masterpieces

15th February 2015

My summer house is located in the very interesting and historical place of my country. And what is more interesting there are a lot of wooden churches there which are not so common in other pars of my country. These building are so old and their architecture is great.

 All Saints church, built in the 15th or 16th century. This is one of the six Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland, on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 2003

Wooden Churches of Southern Lesser Poland and Subcarpathia of the UNESCO inscription are located in Gorlice, Nowy Targ, Bochnia counties (Lesser Poland Voivodeship , and Brzozów County (Subcarpathian Voivodeship) and are in Binarowa, Blizne, Dębno, Haczów, Lipnica Dolna, and Sękowa. There are in fact many others of the region which fit the description: "The wooden churches of southern Little Poland represent outstanding examples of the different aspects of medieval church-building traditions in Roman Catholic culture. Built using the horizontal log technique, common in eastern and northern Europe since the Middle Ages..."

The wooden church style of the region originated in the late Medieval, the late sixteenth century, and began with Gothicornament and polychrome detail, but because they were timber construction, the structure, general form, and feeling is entirely different from the gothic architecture or Polish Gothic (in stone or brick). Later construction show Rococo and Baroqueornamental influence. The form of these Roman Catholic churches is deeply influenced by the Greco-Catholic and Orthodoxpresence in the region. Some display Greek cross plans and onion domes, but the most interesting of the churches combine these features with the Roman forms with elongated naves and steeples. Other collections of wooden churches of the region are in the open air museums in Sanok and Nowy Sącz.