Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Chotyniec (Wooden Tserkva)

The Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Chotyniec (say "ho-TIN-yets") is a Greek Catholic wooden tserkva – an Eastern-rite church – built in 1615 near the A4 motorway and the Ukrainian border, between Radymno and Przemyśl in southeastern Poland. It is one of the few tserkvas in Poland that survived the war and the postwar deportations and serves its own community again. Since 2013 it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the "Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region."

Where it is and how to get there

Chotyniec lies in the Podkarpackie (Subcarpathian) region, about 18 km from Radymno, 30 km from Jarosław, 36 km from Przemyśl and roughly 100 km (62 miles) east of Rzeszów – about 1–1.5 hours on the A4 motorway. From Kraków it is around 260 km, or three hours. The village sits close to the eastern end of the A4 and the Korczowa–Krakovets border crossing, which makes it an easy stop if you are driving to or from Lviv. The village's postal address is 37-552 Młyny. Rzeszów-Jasionka is the nearest international airport. The UNESCO-listed tserkva at Radruż is about 60 km away. No official parking information is published.

A short history

The church was built in 1615, although the earliest surviving written record dates from 1671. It may originally have had three parts with two or three domes on drums, and a chapel of the Annunciation with outer galleries above the narthex. It was repaired and reshaped many times, including in 1733, 1858 and 1925.

The 20th century was turbulent. After the 1947 deportations of the local Ukrainian Greek Catholic population, the church was closed and later handed to the Roman Catholic Church; in the 1980s it was shut again because of its poor condition. In 1990 it was returned to the Greek Catholic Church – Catholics of the Byzantine rite – and became home to a revived parish. Between 1991 and 1994 it was thoroughly restored, largely by local parishioners themselves. The church is also part of the Podkarpackie Wooden Architecture Route.

The UNESCO listing

Inscribed on June 21, 2013, the property groups 16 wooden tserkvas – eight in Poland and eight in Ukraine – built of horizontal logs between the 16th and 19th centuries by Orthodox and Greek Catholic communities. The Polish eight are Brunary Wyżne, Chotyniec, Kwiatoń, Owczary, Powroźnik, Radruż, Smolnik and Turzańsk. Poland now has 18 World Heritage Sites in total; the latest, the Modernist Center of Gdynia, was added in July 2026.

What to see

• The silhouette: a single-nave, four-part building – sanctuary, nave, women's narthex and porch – built entirely of horizontal logs. The sanctuary, nave and narthex are crowned with domes on octagonal drums; the porch has a gabled roof.
• The arcaded galleries: the side walls of the narthex's second story open into arcades, a feature rarely seen in Polish tserkvas. Covered arcades (soboty) run beneath the lower eaves.
• The bell tower: a 17th-century wooden belfry moved here in 1993 from the village of Torki near Medyka, replacing the original destroyed in World War I.
• The wall paintings from 1735 and 1772, above all a striking Last Judgment on the south wall of the nave.
• The iconostasis, probably from 1671 and recently restored, holding an icon of the Mother of God venerated as miraculous and visited by pilgrims, plus an icon of St. Nicholas.

Opening hours and tickets

Chotyniec is an active Greek Catholic church, not a museum: there are no published opening hours or ticket prices (as of October 2026), and the parish does not post visiting rules online. You can always view the exterior, the bell tower and the churchyard; access to the interior depends on the parish, so the best chance is around service times or by arrangement on site. Dress modestly and keep quiet inside. Ask before taking photos, and never during the liturgy. In winter 2026/27 the church is unheated.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes – especially if you are traveling the A4 toward Ukraine or exploring the Przemyśl area. Chotyniec is one of the most harmonious tserkvas in Poland and a living place of worship rather than an open-air exhibit. Allow 30–45 minutes. Nearby, visit the historic towns of Jarosław and Przemyśl, or continue north to the UNESCO-listed tserkva complex in Radruż.