Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection and Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
218 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 12
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.
218 km from Sękowa to Sękowa, about 5 h 12 of riding. The stops in between: Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska, Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva, Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less and back through Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection 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 25 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
about 68 km into the recorded legs you reach Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva. Next is Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less.
4. 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
Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection closes the day.
Leg by leg
Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection to Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska
Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection → Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska is 25 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 Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less
Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva → Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less to back through Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva
Powroźnik-Tserkva of Saint James the Less → back through Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kwiatoń-Tserkva of Saint Paraskeva to back through Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska
back through 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 Owczary-Tserkva of Our Lady’s Protection
back through 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.