Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Owczary

The Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Owczary is one of the oldest and most beautiful Lemko wooden churches in Poland. It stands in a village of Sękowa commune in the Low Beskids, south-east of Gorlice. In 2013 it was inscribed, together with 15 other churches in Poland and Ukraine, on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the "Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine". It is also on the Małopolska Wooden Architecture Route.

The present church was built in 1653 — the date, with the words "Anno Domini", can still be seen carved into a wooden beam inside. It is the second church on the site: the first collapsed because of the boggy ground. In 1701 the sanctuary was completely rebuilt, in 1783 the craftsmen Dymitr Dekowekin and Teodor Rusinka added the tower over the narthex, and in 1870 the narthex was widened to match the nave. The interior paintings date from 1938. Back in the 1680s the parish priest Stefan Rychwałski supplied the church with printed liturgical books, which are now in the Historical Museum in Sanok. After the Lemkos were deported in 1947 during Operation Vistula, the church was given to the Roman Catholic parish in Sękowa. Some of the deportees returned after 1956, and over time Greek Catholic services resumed here. Since 1998 the church has been shared by the Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic parishes, with services in both rites. The major renovation of 1983–1985, when the roofs were again covered with shingles, received a ministry of culture distinction, and in 1995 the church won a Europa Nostra award.

What to see

• The classic Lemko form: a three-part log building with a post-and-frame tower over the narthex, and stepped shingle roofs over the three sections crowned with domes, false lanterns and crosses. Because of the damp, the church was set on a foundation of uprooted tree stumps.
• Windows only on the south side: originally no windows were cut in the north wall, since folk belief linked the north with evil forces.
• The 18th-century iconostasis in blue, red and gold with openwork columns decorated with vine leaves. Most icons were painted by Jan Medycki, so they show a clear influence of Western Baroque. There are also side altars of St Nicholas, the Mother of God and Christ; the icon in the last dates from 1664 and comes from an older iconostasis.
• The stone wall and the gate bell tower of the mid-19th century, with white walls and an onion dome. The oldest icons from the church, of the second half of the 15th century, are now in museums in Łańcut, Kraków, Sanok and Lviv.

Practical information

Address: Owczary 51, 38-307 Owczary (Sękowa commune). It is easiest to come by car from Gorlice via Sękowa; the church stands right in the village. No official visiting hours or prices are published: the exterior can be seen at any time, and the easiest way inside is during services or by arranging a visit in advance using the phone numbers given by the Małopolska tourism portal: +48 739 497 838, +48 18 351 89 73. Photography is allowed. This is a working church, so please be respectful and do not disturb services. The best time to visit is May to October. Information as of October 2026.

Nearby

Several more UNESCO churches are close by: the wooden church in Sękowa and the tserkvas in Kwiatoń and in Brunary. To the north is the medieval town of Biecz, and to the east the oil industry museum in Bóbrka.

Official website: visitmalopolska.pl

Photos: Anwar2, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; myself (User:Piotrus), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Henryk Bielamowicz, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Grażyna Adamczyk, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Andrzej Otrębski, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.