St Michael the Archangel Church in Szalowa

From a distance the church in Szalowa looks like a masonry Baroque church: a twin-towered façade, a triangular gable, three aisles. In fact it is built of fir logs, between 1739 and 1756 – a rare case of carpenters translating the forms of grand stone architecture into wood. Since 2017 it has been a Historic Monument of Poland, and the National Heritage Board ranks it among the most valuable buildings of its era.

History: a priest, a squire and an unknown architect

Szalowa has had a parish since 1375. Nothing is known of the first church; a second, wooden one was built in the 16th century. The present church was initiated by parish priest Wojciech Stefanowski and the village owner Krzysztof Jordan. The architect's name is unknown, but a wooden model of the church survives and is now kept at the National Museum in Kraków. The building has come down to us almost unchanged.

In 1911 the shingles were replaced with sheet metal, and in 1951–1953 conservators restored the paintings and furnishings. A major renovation begun in 2012 brought back the shingle roofing and board cladding, returning the church to its early 20th-century appearance. In 2000 it was shortlisted for UNESCO together with the Gothic wooden churches of Lesser Poland, but because of its different, Baroque character it was not inscribed in the end.

What to see

• The façade – two towers with bulbous domes set into the body of the church, and between them a gable with a sculpture of St Michael fighting Satan.
• Wavy arcades between the aisles, resting on columns set at an angle – the most surprising feature of the interior.
• Rococo wall paintings with illusionistic details; framed scenes on the nave ceiling include Golgotha, Noah's Ark and the Tablets of the Law.
• High altar and six side altars from the mid-18th century; one holds a venerated 17th-century painting of St John Cantius.
• Black marble font, a Rococo pulpit linked by stairs to the patron's box, and a monstrance-shaped reliquary of St Barbara.

Good to know

Below the nave windows are painted cartouches with Polish maxims, such as "Cursed be he who does not listen to the word of God". The entrance door still has two iron padlocks from 1659 and 1766. The interior reportedly contains 153 angels and 7 devils – counting them keeps children busy. The wall around the former churchyard dates from 1739; inside it stand an 18th-century Divine Mercy chapel and a 19th-century bell tower.

Tripto tip

The church stands in the middle of the village, on the road from Stróże through Szalowa to Łużna (Łużna municipality, Gorlice County). It is a working parish church, so the interior is easiest to see around Mass times; for other times, contact the parish in advance. Allow 30–45 minutes and bring binoculars or a zoom lens – ceiling details are easy to miss from the floor. Szalowa is on the Wooden Architecture Route, so combine it with the UNESCO-listed Gothic church in Binarowa and the town of Biecz.