The Beskid valleys of Sądecczyzna and the areas of Gorlice are famous not only for their landscape beauties. They hide unusual treasures of wooden architecture – tiny, Lemko Orthodox churches. Minute structures, bulbous, Baroque domes (often made of wooden shingles) rising up on several levels, wrought iron finely decorated crosses crowning the tops of turrets – all these features make these buildings look almost magical. Thanks to some elements, these Orthodox churches resemble wooden churches from Pogórze or other parts of Małopolska, but taken as a whole, they are absolutely unique. There are several types of Orthodox churches in the Sądecki Beskids and Low Beskids, but only one of them is a specific product of local folk culture: the so-called Western Lemko wooden Orthodox churches.
A classic Greek Catholic Lemko temple is built basically in accordance with the requirements of the Eastern liturgy, i.e. as a tripartite building. From the eastern side, there is a small chancel (or rather an altar room), in the middle – the largest nave (naos), from the western side – a narthex through which we enter the temple. Lemko wooden Orthodox churches are built using the full scribe method, from thick logs overlapping in the corners. Above, corbel domes were built, over which high, hip roofs were installed. In the fashion of Catholic churches, they were crowned with turrets with bulbous domes and quasi roof lanterns, originally covered with shingles which, over time, had been increasingly replaced by tin. Also in the fashion of Catholic churches, over the narthex a columnar steeple with a starling was built, also crowned with a Baroque dome. This was the way of constructing a picturesque building, as if rising higher and higher towards the sky.
Over time, the way of construction has been simplified – copulas covered by the hip roof were replaced by a flat ceiling and gable roof, the nave has been extended. Thanks to this, the exterior of later Orthodox churches, especially those from the 19th century, increasingly resembled that of Catholic churches. However, what still remained different, was the tripartite interior, mainly thanks to an iconostasis. This decorative partition, separating the nave from the altar, always has a similar layout, with numerous icons and three doors.
The most valuable, classic Orthodox churches have been appreciated in the world. The oldest temple of all preserved in the Beskids, located in Powroźnik, as well as the temples in Kwiatoń, Owczary and Brunary Wyżne have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
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