Treasures of Wooden Sacral Architecture.
Churches And Tserkvas On The Unesco World Heritage List

Exhibition of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage on the occasion of the jubilee of the UNESCO World Heritage List inscriptions.

In 2023, we celebrate a round jubilee of two UNESCO World Heritage List entries: The 20th anniversary of the inscription of the Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska and the 10th anniversary of the inscription of the Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine. On this occasion, the National Institute of Cultural Heritage has prepared an exhibition entitled. ‘Treasures of Wooden Sacral Architecture. Churches and Tserkvas on the UNESCO World Heritage List’.

The opening of the exhibition ‘Treasures of Wooden Religious Architecture – Churches and Tserkvas on the UNESCO World Heritage List’ was held in Łańcut as part of the International Monuments Protection Day celebration. Subsequently, the exhibition will be displayed in Rzeszów (from 15 to 28 June), Sanok (from 3 July to 31 August) and Gorlice (from 5 to 30 September).

There are 1157 entries on the World Heritage List, 17 of which are from Poland, including 15 covering cultural and two natural sites. ‘The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage’ was adopted in 1972 in Paris at the UNESCO General Conference. Poland not only ratified this document in 1976 as one of the first countries but remains one of its most active signatories.

The National Institute of Cultural Heritage exhibition to mark the anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage inscriptions.

The Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska have been on the World Heritage List since 2003 as six of the best-preserved and oldest Gothic churches. They are located in the villages of Blizne, Binarowa, Dębno Podhalańskie, Haczów, Lipnica Murowana, and Sękowa, on the territory of the present-day Małopolska and Podkarpackie voivodeships. The inscribed sanctuaries are exceptional examples of the tradition of wooden construction of medieval churches in the Roman Catholic culture, built in the log technique. The buildings are also distinguished by high-class carpentry architectural detailing, emphasising their Gothic character. At the same time, their treasured decoration and furnishings, which present a variety of techniques and styles, a wealth of iconographic programmes, and outstanding artistic values, illustrate the stylistic transformations of religious interior decoration.

For more information see the entry zabytek.pl/en/obiekty/drewniane-koscioly-poludniowej-malopolski

The Wooden of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine were inserted in 2013, as a joint entry of Poland and Ukraine. The entry includes sixteen wooden churches located on the eastern edge of Central Europe, in the Polish and Ukrainian Carpathian region. The churches represent a unique example of the tradition of wooden Orthodox church construction. They represent characteristic types of wooden Orthodox church architecture: Hutsul – in the south-eastern Ukrainian Carpathian region (Jasina); Halic – in the northern part of the Carpathians, on both sides of the Polish-Ukrainian border (Chotyniec, Drohobych, Potylicz, Radruż, Rohatyn, Żółkiew); Boyko – near the border with Slovakia (Matków, Smolnik, Uzok); and Lemko – in the Polish Western Carpathians (Brunary Wyżne, Owczary, Kwiatoń, Powroźnik, Turzańsk).

For more information see the entry zabytek.pl/en/obiekty/drewniane-cerkwie-w-polskim-i-ukrainskim-regionie-karpat

The organisation of the International Monuments Preservation Days and the jubilee of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of wooden churches in southern Małopolska (20th anniversary) and wooden tserkvas in the Polish and Ukrainian Carpathian region (10th anniversary) were financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.