Out on the flat, open country east of the San river, close to the Ukrainian border, stands a wooden church that has been watching the fields for more than four hundred years. The Church of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Chotyniec dates from the early seventeenth century and belongs to the eastern tradition of Christian building in this borderland, where Ruthenian communities worshipped in the Greek rite. It is one of the churches listed together as the Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region, and it has a tall, three-part design, with a nave, a smaller chancel and a bell tower, each topped by a wooden cupola.
Inside, the focus is on the iconostasis, the screen of icons that divides the sanctuary from the nave, which is the main glory of the church. The paintings, in rich reds, golds and blues, are of saints and biblical scenes, and the effect is dimly glowing. If the church is closed, ask in the village for the person who holds the key. The graveyard around it, with its old crosses and quiet atmosphere, belongs to a long story of mixed populations, shifting borders and wartime upheavals, and it is respectful to keep voices low.
The landscape is gently rolling farmland, with fields of wheat and maize, orchards, small woods and low ridgelines. It is not dramatic riding, but it is pleasant, with straight roads, light traffic and easy bends. Roads are generally good, though small village lanes can have rough patches. The best time is early summer, when the fields are bright, or September, when the harvest is in and the air is clear. In winter, the plains can be cold and windy.
Radymno, on the San river, is the closest town of any size, with fuel and shops, and Jaroslaw to the west is larger still. Villages such as Stubno and Laszki have a small shop at best. This is a quiet corner of the country, and the reward is a sense of space, farm smells, storks on the chimneys in summer, and the plain beauty of a building made entirely of wood and patience.