Church of St Michael the Archangel in Turzańsk

The Church of St Michael the Archangel in Turzańsk is a wooden church in the Osława valley, south of Lesko and Zagórz, on the border between Lemko and Boyko lands. In 2013 it was inscribed, together with other churches, 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 Podkarpackie Wooden Architecture Route (route IV, Sanok–Dukla). Today it is an Orthodox church.

The village of Turzańsk was founded under Wallachian law in 1514, and a church is first mentioned in 1526. The present building was put up in 1801–1803 as a Greek Catholic parish church. In 1817 a bell tower was built next to it, and in 1836 a second sacristy was added to the sanctuary and a porch to the west. In the early 20th century the shingle roofs were covered with sheet metal. After the Lemkos were deported in 1947 during Operation Vistula, the church was used by Roman Catholics; in 1961 it was sealed. In 1963 some Lemkos returned to the village and, wishing to pray in their own language, invited an Orthodox priest — since then an Orthodox community has worshipped here. According to a local legend, when an older church burned down, an icon of the Mother of God flew out through a window and fell exactly where the present church was later built.

What to see

• The architecture: a three-part log building (narthex, nave, sanctuary) with twin sacristies, a shared multi-pitched roof and five onion domes with cupolas and wrought-iron crosses. Inside, eight-sided tent vaults over the three main spaces, typical of the eastern Lemko region.
• The wall paintings of 1898 by Josyf Bukowczyk covering the walls and vaults. Besides biblical scenes there are rare subjects: Christ in a Lemko cottage ("O Jesus, be our guest"), the parable of the sower set in a local landscape, St Olga and Prince Volodymyr, and a mountain panorama above the iconostasis.
• The iconostasis of the early 19th century, repainted by Bukowczyk in 1895, and side altars with icons of St Michael and St Nicholas. Some icons were stolen and replaced with modern copies.
• The 1817 bell tower on the church's axis — three storeys with sloping walls. It is said to be the tallest free-standing bell tower in the Polish Carpathians. The churchyard with a few late-19th-century gravestones is enclosed by a fieldstone wall.

Practical information

Address: 38-542 Turzańsk, Komańcza commune. By car: take road no. 892 towards Komańcza; in Rzepedź turn left onto the local road to Turzańsk — after 1.5 km you will see the church on the right, about 100 m from the road. The church stands on a hill above the village, so it is only a few minutes' walk from the car, which makes it fine for families. No official visiting hours or ticket prices are published: the church and bell tower can be seen from outside at any time, while the interior is usually open during services — check locally. This is a working church: please keep quiet, be respectful and dress appropriately. The easiest time to go is May to October. Information as of October 2026.

Nearby

To the north, in Sanok, are the Museum of Folk Architecture with Lemko and Boyko churches and the Royal Castle with the Beksiński gallery. To the west, in the Low Beskids, is the Museum of Lemko Culture in Zyndranowa. Another UNESCO-listed church, a Boyko one, stands in Smolnik.

Official website: sad.podkarpackie.travel

Photos: Daniel.zolopa, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Plane Paparazzo, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; EvaPrima, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Daniel.zolopa, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; LuzynaS, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, Wikimedia Commons; LeszekUminski, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.