St Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church in Trześcianka

The green wooden Orthodox church of St Michael the Archangel, with a bulbous dome above the entrance and an onion-domed turret over the nave, is the best-known building in Trześcianka, one of the three villages on the Land of Open Shutters trail in Podlasie, along with Soce and Puchły, north-eastern Poland. During renovation in 2015 a stone was found in its walls with an inscription naming 1864 as the year building began. The same renovation, with its gilded domes, divided lovers of the region's wooden architecture.

History: from a Uniate church to a teachers' school

There was already a church in Trześcianka in the 16th century, and in the 18th century it was a wooden Uniate (Eastern Catholic) church dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. Visitation records describe Latin influences: instead of an iconostasis it had only painted royal doors, the nave had pews, and its furnishings even included a painting of St Francis of Assisi. In 1835 it burned down and the parish was dissolved.

Money for rebuilding was collected until 1864, the work took three years, and in 1884 the grounds were enclosed by a fieldstone wall. Until 1895 the church served a school: a parish school with a teacher-training course operated here, and thanks to priests from the Sosnowski family Trześcianka became one of the leading educational centres of the Vilnius diocese. In 1915 the Orthodox villagers left in the bieżeństwo, the mass evacuation deep into Russia during the First World War. A returning priest noted that the abandoned church had not been vandalised – even the bells had survived.

Architecture and what to see

• The building – wooden, of log construction, in three parts: porch, nave and a rectangular sanctuary with two annexes.
• Two towers – one over the porch with tented roofs and a bulbous dome, and an octagonal one over the nave with an onion dome. Between the wars the larger tower had a clock.
• Covered entrances – the main door and two side doors, each with a small roof on posts.
• A three-tier iconostasis inside.
• A plaque and monument from 2015, marking the church's 150th anniversary and the centenary of the bieżeństwo.
• The cemetery chapel of the Presentation of the Virgin, a wooden church moved here from Białowieża.

Interesting facts

The church and parish cemetery were listed as monuments in 1994, and the whole village layout with its traditional wooden houses in 1988. The renovation completed in 2015 strengthened the structure and turned the walls green, but fitting gilded domes and replacing crosses forged by local blacksmiths with mass-produced castings drew sharp criticism. It is worth knowing when you compare today's church with old photographs.

Tripto tip

This is a working parish church (Trześcianka 120, Narew deanery, tel. +48 85 681 55 21). We could not confirm regular visiting hours: you can see the outside at any time, while the interior is easiest to visit during a service or by contacting the parish. Modest dress is expected. The church itself takes 15–30 minutes, but plan a walk along regional road 685 past houses with carved shutters and a drive on to Soce and Puchły – half a day in total. The Podlasie Stork Trail and the "Wood and Sacrum" cultural route also pass through the village.