Wooden Church of St James in Szczyrk

On a tree-covered hill about 700 m east of St James's Square in the centre of Szczyrk stands a small shingled church that is the town's oldest historic building. It was built in 1797–1800, when the village had almost 2,000 inhabitants and had won its own parish, separate from Łodygowice. In its tower hangs a bell from 1691 – more than a century older than the church itself.

History: a parish by imperial decree

From the earliest settlement, Szczyrk's inhabitants belonged to the parish in Łodygowice. As the village grew at the end of the 18th century, they began campaigning for a parish of their own. The decree establishing it was issued at the imperial court in Vienna on 14 April 1787, and the Bishop of Tarnów added the new parish to the Żywiec deanery. The church was built in 1797–1800, and Father Wojciech Radoński became the first parish priest. Burials took place around the church until 1848. In 2011 the Bishop of Bielsko-Żywiec made the church the diocesan Shrine of St James.

What to look for

The church is of log construction, with a rectangular nave and a narrower chancel under gabled shingle roofs. At the front rises a square post-framed tower with an overhanging belfry and a slender pyramid roof; the walls are clad in shingles. Outside, by the east wall, stands a Rococo cross from 1797.

The interior is late Baroque, and most of the furnishings came from the Premonstratensian monastery in Nowy Sącz:

• the high altar with a figure of St James the Apostle between St Peter and St Stanislaus Kostka,
• a side altar with a painting of St John of Nepomuk from the first half of the 17th century – the parish's second patron,
• a canopied pulpit with a relief of St Ambrose holding a flaming heart and the four Evangelists below,
• 14 Baroque Stations of the Cross, hung after 1814, when the parish received permission for this devotion,
• a stone font and three holy-water stoups from around 1800.

Tripto tip

Do not confuse this church with the large Shrine of Our Lady Queen of Poland "Na Górce" in the north of the town, on the trail to Klimczok – that is a different church of the same parish. The wooden church is a working church, so the easiest time to see the interior is before or after Mass; do not sightsee during services. Allow 20–30 minutes. The church is on the Silesian Voivodeship Wooden Architecture Route and on the Beskid Way of St James, whose patron also gave his name to the square in the centre of Szczyrk – from there it is a short walk.