Hervartov and Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
217 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 53
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.
From Bardejov it runs 217 km to Bardejov; allow about 4 h 53 of riding. It goes by way of Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less, Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i, Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska and back through Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i. It crosses from Slovakia into Poland - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hervartov
Hervartov is a small village in the hills of north-eastern Slovakia, a few kilometres from Bardejov, and its wooden church of Saint Francis of Assisi is considered the oldest surviving wooden church in the country, built in the late Middle Ages in the Gothic style. It is one of eight wooden churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area inscribed by UNESCO in 2008, alongside Greek Catholic, Protestant and Roman Catholic churches that together tell the story of the many faiths and peoples of this borderland.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hervartov is where the day begins. Next is Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less.
2. 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
Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less comes up 32 km in. Next is Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i.
3. Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i
In a narrow valley in the Low Beskids, close to the Slovak border in south-eastern Poland, stands the wooden church of Saint Paraskeva in Kwiatoń, often called the most beautiful of the Lemko churches. Built in the seventeenth century by the Lemkos, an East Slavic highland people who lived in these hills for centuries, it is one of the sixteen wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine that UNESCO listed in 2013. Its silhouette is unmistakable: three towers rising in steps toward the west, each topped with onion-shaped domes and crosses, the walls covered in wooden shingles that have weathered to silver-grey.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
63 km in you reach Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i. 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
Hervartov closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hervartov to Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less
Hervartov → Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less to Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i
Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less → Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i to Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska
Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i → Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska to back through Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i
Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska → back through Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i to back through Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less
back through Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region i → back through Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less to Hervartov
back through Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less → Hervartov is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.