Wooden churches of Southern Lesser Poland

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Wooden Churches of
Southern Lesser Poland
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Type Cultural
Criteria iii, iv
Reference 1053
UNESCO region Europe
Inscription history
Inscription 2003 (27th Session)
Locations of the UNESCO inscribed wooden churches in Poland

Wooden Churches of Southern Lesser Poland and Subcarpathia of the UNESCO inscription are located in Gorlice, Nowy Targ, Bochnia counties (Lesser Poland Voivodeship or Małopolskie), 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 Gothic ornament 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 Baroque ornamental influence. The form of these Roman Catholic churches is deeply influenced by the Greco-Catholic and Orthodox presence 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.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites [1]
St. Michael the Archangel Church in Dębno from 15th century 
St. Leonard Church in Lipnica Dolna, late 15th century 
Church of St. Phillip and St. Jacob in Sękowa, from 1520 
Church of the Assumption of Holy Mary and St. Michael the Archangel, Haczów, Poland; the oldest wooden gothic temple in Europe, 1388 
Church of All Saints in Blizne, east of Jasienica Rosielna 
St. Michael the Archangel Church in Binarowa from circa 1500 

Other wooden churches of the region

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wooden churches in Poland.

References

  1. World Heritage Site. "Wooden Churches of Southern Lesser Poland: Sękowa". Inscription. UNESCO. Retrieved 2013-04-11.

Oldest wooden Church at Czech Republic from 1177

Coordinates: 49°45′00″N 21°13′59″E / 49.7500°N 21.2330°E