Wooden catholic and orthodox churches of the Podkarpacie region - Zabytek.pl
Wooden catholic and orthodox churches of the Podkarpacie region
The collection includes primarily temples — Catholic and Orthodox churches, which comprise an enclave of wooden sacral structures, extraordinary in the global perspective. Location on the border of the western and eastern cultures, in the area of their mutual diffusion, facilitated creation of unique works of art.
The temples have diverse composition layouts and structural solutions. The richness of architectural forms, interior design and furnishing, high aesthetic values, authenticity of the substance and function as well as frequently harmonious composition with the natural landscape make the wooden temples highly valuable structures. Among them are log-structure Roman-Catholic churches dating from late middle ages up to the Interwar period. The oldest of them, located on the strip of middle ages piedmont settlement, were erected in the 15th century. They belong to a broader group of wooden churches of southern Lesser Poland. The most precious of them were entered into the UNESCO World Heritage List (from the Podkarpackie Voivodeship — churches in Blizne and Haczów). Since the 17th century, wooden Baroque churches were constructed in the area of present-day Podkarpackie Voivodeship as well. Some of them are an example of architectural forms typical to brick sacral architecture being adapted for wood. Next to Catholic churches, a distinctive feature of the cultural landscape of south-eastern Poland are wooden Orthodox churches. Today, only half of the pre-war stock survives, however the remaining group still exhibits stylistic diversity and a variety of forms. The Carpathian part of the region is dominated by latinised Lemko style, structures of an archaic type are preserved in the central- and north-eastern part of the Voivodeship. Of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Orthodox churches in Chotyniec, Radruż, Smolnik, and Turzańsk were declared to be UNESCO World Heritage (under the cross-border, serial entry Wooden orthodox churches in the Polish and Ukrainian regions of the Carpathians). The outstanding group are Orthodox churches which by the end of the 19th century were erected in a spirit of historicism (so-called Ukrainian national style) which is a synthesis of old-Ruthenian architectural models with regional elements of folk construction.