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Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland
Site number:
1053
Type of site: Cultural
Date: Middle Ages
Date of Inscription: 2003
Location: Europe, Poland, Gorlice, Nowy Targ, and Bochnia counties, Voivodship of Lesser Poland,Brzozów County
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Description: The various aspects of medieval church-building traditions in Roman Catholic culture are exceptionally portrayed in Southern Little Poland’s wooden churches. Constructed using the horizontal log technique that was widespread in eastern and northern Europe since the Middle Ages, noble families subsidized these churches that soon became status symbols. They presented a substitute for the stone structures erected in urban centres. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available.
  Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland and Subcarpathia of the UNESCO inscription are located in Gorlice, Nowy Targ, Bochnia counties ( Lesser Poland Voivodeship or Małopolskie), and Brzozów County (Subcarpathian Voivodeship) and are in Binarowa, Blizne, Dębno Podhalańskie, Haczów, Lipnica Murowana, and Sękowa. There are in fact many others of the region which fit the description: "The wooden churches of southern Little Poland represent outstanding examples of the different aspects of medieval church-building traditions in Roman Catholic culture. Built using the horizontal log technique, common in eastern and northern Europe since the Middle Ages..." The wooden church style of the region originated in the late Medieval, the late sixteenth century, and began with Gothic ornament and polychrome detail, but because they were timber construction, the structure, general form, and feeling is entirely different from the gothic architecture or Polish Gothic (in stone or brick). Later construction show Rococo and Baroque ornamental influence. The form of these churches is deeply influenced by the Greco-Catholic and Orthodox presence in the region. Some display Greek cross plans and onion domes, but the most interesting of the churches combine these features with the Roman forms with elongated naves and steeples. Collections of wooden churches of the region are in the Skansen open air museums in Sanok and Nowy Sącz. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1053
Reference: 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page.
 
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