Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve and Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
212 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 55
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
212 km from Bardejov to Bardejov, about 4 h 55 of riding. The stops in between: Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva, Church of St Philip and St James the Apost, Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska and Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection. It crosses from Slovakia into Poland - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve
Bardejov's main square is a long, gently sloping rectangle lined with Gothic and Renaissance burgher houses, their tall gables painted in pastel colours, with the Gothic Basilica of St Giles at the top and the old town hall standing alone in the middle. The town grew rich in the Middle Ages on trade between Hungary and Poland, and its walls, bastions and moat largely survive. Bardejov was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2000, along with its Jewish suburb, with a synagogue and ritual bath from the eighteenth century, a reminder of the community that lived here until the Holocaust.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve is where the day begins. Next is Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva.
2. Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva
The little wooden church at Kwiatoń is often called the most beautiful of its kind in Poland, and when you see it you understand why. Built in the seventeenth century by the Lemko community, it has three parts, each topped by a tower with a bulbous cupola, rising in height from the sanctuary at the east to the bell tower at the west, all clad in wooden shingles and set in a green churchyard among old trees. Inside, painted walls and an iconostasis of icons glow in the dim light. It is one of the wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine inscribed by UNESCO in 2013.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of St Philip and St James the Apost.
3. Church of St Philip and St James the Apost
The wooden church in Sękowa is small, dark and quietly astonishing. It stands on a slope in the Beskid Niski, the low and thickly wooded mountains of south-eastern Poland, and dates from the early sixteenth century, with a steep shingled roof, a tower with a pointed top and a gallery running around the walls. The timber has gone almost black with age, and inside the walls and ceiling are painted with colourful flowers, figures and scenes of faith from the seventeenth century. It is one of the wooden churches of southern Małopolska listed by UNESCO in 2003, and unlike a museum piece, it is still used for services.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of St Philip and St James the Apost. Next is Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska.
4. Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska
The church of St Michael the Archangel in Binarowa looks, from the outside, like a simple barn with a tower: dark shingled walls, a steep roof and a small onion-topped belfry. Step inside and the walls and ceiling explode with colour, covered with painted decoration of saints, scenes from the Bible and floral patterns, some of them centuries old. Built around 1500 of larch and fir, without nails in the traditional joinery, it is one of the Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska, a group of Gothic churches inscribed as a World Heritage site. The local story is that it was built from timber left over from another church, but whatever its origins, the result is one of the finest wooden interiors in Poland.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska, about halfway. Next is Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection.
5. Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection
The Lemkos, a mountain people of the Carpathians, built their churches of wood, with onion domes and steep shingle roofs stepping up in tiers toward the west tower, and the one at Owczary, in the Low Beskids south of Gorlice, is one of the finest. Built in the mid seventeenth century as a Greek Catholic church, it was later enlarged and painted inside with a rich polychrome decoration. After the Second World War the Lemkos were deported from this region in Operation Vistula, and the church was taken over by the Roman Catholic parish, while the Greek Catholic community has also returned to use it. It is part of the World Heritage listing of the Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine, inscribed in 2013.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska comes up about 131 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Church of St Philip and St James the Apost.
7. back through Church of St Philip and St James the Apost
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 151 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Church of St Philip and St James the Apost. Next is back through Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva.
8. back through Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 212 km.
Leg by leg
Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve to Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva
Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve → Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva to Church of St Philip and St James the Apost
Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva → Church of St Philip and St James the Apost is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of St Philip and St James the Apost to Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska
Church of St Philip and St James the Apost → Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska to Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection
Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska → Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection to back through Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska
Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection → back through Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska to back through Church of St Philip and St James the Apost
back through Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska → back through Church of St Philip and St James the Apost is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of St Philip and St James the Apost to back through Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva
back through Church of St Philip and St James the Apost → back through Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva to Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve
back through Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva → Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.