Church of St Philip and St James the Apost and Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
125 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 46
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 Gorlice it runs 125 km to Gorlice; allow about 2 h 46 of riding. The stops in between: Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska, Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva and back through Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Church of St Philip and St James the Apost is where the day begins. Next is Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska.
2. 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 comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva.
3. 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
Back at Church of St Philip and St James the Apost. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
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 Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva
Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska → Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva to back through Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska
Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva → back through Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska to Church of St Philip and St James the Apost
back through Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska → 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.