Church of All Saints and Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
409 km
Riding-time estimate
8 h 10
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.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Jasienica Rosielna it runs 409 km to Jasienica Rosielna; allow about 8 h 10 of riding. The stops in between: Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch, Bodruzal, Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve and Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less. It crosses from Poland into Slovakia - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Scenic road chapters
Bieszczady Loop
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 65 km this is Bieszczady Loop, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
65 km
Named road
Bieszczady Loop
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Church of All Saints
Blizne, in the green rolling country of the Subcarpathian region, has one of the oldest wooden churches in Poland, and you can see its age before you step inside. The Church of All Saints dates in its main structure from the late fifteenth century, built of larch and fir logs, with a steep shingled roof that sweeps nearly to the ground and a slender tower that seems to grow out of the nave. It is a classic of the Gothic wooden tradition that spread across the Carpathian foothills, and in 2013 it joined the UNESCO list of wooden churches of the Carpathian region.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of All Saints is where the day begins. Next is Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch.
2. Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch
The wooden church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Turzańsk stands on a gentle slope in the foothills of the Bieszczady mountains, in the far southeast of Poland, near the borders with Slovakia and Ukraine, with its onion domes rising above the trees. It was built in the early nineteenth century by the Lemko or Boyko communities, the Ruthenian highlanders who once lived in these mountains, and it is one of the wooden tserkvas of the Polish and Ukrainian Carpathian region listed by UNESCO in 2013. Inside, an iconostasis of painted icons separates the nave from the sanctuary, and the church is still used for Orthodox services.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch comes up about 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bodruzal.
3. Bodružal
Bodružal is a tiny Rusyn village in the far northeast of Slovakia, close to the Polish border, with a few dozen houses scattered along a valley among the forested hills of the Low Beskids. What brings people here is its wooden church of St Nicholas, built in 1658, a three-domed Greek Catholic church with shingled walls and onion-shaped towers stepping up from east to west. It is one of the eight churches in the UNESCO listing of the wooden churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian mountain area, and it is a perfect example of the Lemko style: compact, harmonious and rooted in its landscape. Inside, the iconostasis glows with painted saints.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 123 km into the recorded legs you reach Bodruzal. Next is Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less.
5. Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less
Hidden among the hills of the Beskid Sądecki, close to the Slovak border in southern Poland, the little wooden church at Powroźnik is one of the oldest of its kind still standing in the country. Its oldest parts date from around 1600, and it belongs to the group of wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region listed by UNESCO in 2013. A tserkva is an Eastern-rite church, and this one was built by the Lemkos, the Rusyn highlanders who farmed these valleys for centuries until most were forcibly resettled after the Second World War. Today it serves as a Catholic church, but the shape tells its origin story at once: a tower with a bulging onion-like cap, stepped shingle roofs and dark timber walls weathered almost black.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 409 km.
Leg by leg
Church of All Saints to Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch
Church of All Saints → Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch to Bodruzal
Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch → Bodruzal is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bodružal to Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve
Bodružal → Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve to Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less
Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve → Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less to back through Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve
Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less → back through Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve to back through Bodruzal
back through Bardejov Town Conservation Reserve → back through Bodruzal is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bodruzal to back through Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch
back through Bodruzal → back through Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch to Church of All Saints
back through Turzańsk-Tserkva of Saint Michael the Arch → Church of All Saints is 65 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.