Churches & monasteries

St. Michael Archangel's Church, Smolnik

The wooden Church of St Michael the Archangel in Smolnik is one of the best-preserved examples of Boyko sacred architecture in the Polish Bieszczady Mountains. Built in 1791, it was added in 2013 to the UNESCO transnational entry “Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine”.

History on a hill above the San

The present building was one of several churches in Smolnik. After the population was displaced in 1951, the church began to deteriorate. In 1973 the church was transferred to the parish in Lutowiska and, a year later, consecrated as a filial church.

Boyko form and a modest interior

The building has the characteristic three-part layout of sanctuary, wider nave and narthex. Each section has its own hipped roof topped with a small dome and cross, while a broad skirt roof runs around the whole structure. The wooden walls and roof are covered with shingles. Inside, a fragment of 18th-century polychrome decoration survives, showing a curtain held by angels; the original iconostasis was lost after the war.

Planning your visit

The monument stands outside present-day Smolnik, on a hill beside the road towards Lutowiska and Zatwarnica. Lutowiska Commune says that interior visits should be arranged in advance with the site’s caretaker, Adam Bartnik, at +48 13 461 02 12; on Sundays in July and August, the church is listed as open from 9:00 to 17:00. Outside that period, check access before travelling. This is an active church, not a museum: keep quiet, stay within the areas made available and do not photograph services without permission.