KRYNICA COMMUNE

RABKA-ZDRÓJ

The Greek Catholic Orthodox Church of St Paraskeva

Only 4 km from Banica, in Czyrna, there is another wooden temple of log construction – the Greek Catholic Orthodox Church of St Paraskeva which was erected at the end of the 19th century according to the project of an Austrian architect. It is distinctive due to a cross plan on which it is built and metal-sheet roof with turrets over the nave, the narthex and the presbytery. Inside there is the iconostasis from the 20th century and a rococo icon of Saint Paraskeva from the second half of the 18th century. Currently, the temple serves as the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. visitmalopolska.pl

Less than 2.5 km further, in Piorunka, the Orthodox Church of Saints Cosma and Damian is situated – it is 100 years older than the one in Czyrna. The construction was rebuilt in 1909 and in 1930 the polychromy was made. This is an Orthodox church of the north-west style, oriented, in which we can clearly see the division into three parts. The iconostasis is almost entirely original and dates back to the turn of the 17th and 18th century. The painting which is above the icon of Saints Cosma and Damian presenting a Lemko shepherd againsts a background of mountains should draw our attention. Images of lay people are rare in Orthodox churches so probably the shepherd is Jesus Christ. After the resettlement of Lemko people, the church was transformed into the Catholic Church of Virgin Mary of the Rosary.

Another Orthodox church dedicated to the same saints is located 3 km further – today’s Church of the Mother of God’s Perpetual Succour is the former Orthodox Church of Saints Cosma and Damian in Berest. The temple dates back to the 19th century. It is a west-Lemko church of log construction. Inside, we will see the polychromy from the first half of the 20th century and the iconostasis built in the 19th century from icons which date back to the 17th and 18th century.

2.5 km to the north-east there is the Church of St Michael the Archangel in Polany – a former Orthodox church built in 1820. It is another west-Lemko, tripartite temple of log construction. Inside, we will see the iconostasis which dates back to the 19th century and the architectural and figular polychromy which dates back to the construction of the church.

In order to see the fifth temple, which lies on the border, we need to go in the direction of the Kamienica River Valley – the river which marks the border between the Low Beskids and the Beskid Sądecki. The Orthodox Church of St Michael the Archangel in Mochnaczka Niżna (today it serves as the Roman Catholic Church of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa) is still on the side of the Low Beskids. It was erected in the 18th century and a few dozen years later it was significantly rebuilt. It represents the north-west type, it is tripartite and oriented. The presbytery and the narthex are a bit longer than in other Orthodox churches and the nave is wider.

When we cross the Kamienica River, we enter the Beskid Sądecki – there, not only Orthodox churches, but also Catholic ones or wooden villas await us.

The Orthodox Church of Sts Cosma and Damian in Piorunka visitmalopolska.pl visitmalopolska.pl