Wooden Church of St John the Baptist and St Barbara in Ulanów

From the outside it is a plain, austere, three-aisled larch church, but beyond the women's porch you step into an interior in the colour of sea water, covered entirely in paintings. The Church of St John the Baptist and St Barbara in Ulanów was built in 1643 by Jan Hilary Uliński, son of the town's founder. On the nave ceiling the rafters of Ulanów have a copy of Hans Memling's "Last Judgement", and on the walls – themselves: rafting masters, boatbuilders and fishermen.

History: chapel, church, parish

Stanisław Uliński founded the town in the fork of the San and Tanew rivers; Ulanów received town rights in 1616. The father built a chapel here, and his son, Jan Hilary Uliński, standard-bearer of Halych, replaced it with a wooden larch church. It was consecrated in 1730, repaired many times in the 18th century and thoroughly renovated in the second half of the 19th century. Curiously, until 1928 the church was only a branch of the parish in Bieliny – an independent parish was created only then by Bishop Anatol Nowak of Przemyśl.

What to see

• The wall paintings on a sea-green background – figurative, probably 18th-century, restored and completed in 1868 (that date appears beside the Ulanów coat of arms above the rood beam).
• Four Baroque altars in white and gold; the high altar bears the date 1730.
• St Barbara's altar in the left aisle – patron saint of the rafters. According to tradition, her image was brought by rafters along the Vistula and San from Gdańsk.
• Scenes from town life in the chancel: a rafting master entrusting himself to the Holy Family, Noah building the Ark and a scene on a lake – in other words rafting, boatbuilding and fishing.
• The crucifix on the rood beam with the Latin inscription "Exaudiat te Dominus in die tribulationis".
• A papal throne of black oak recovered from the bed of the San, prepared for John Paul II's visit to Sandomierz in 1999.

The legend of the kidnapped painter

According to local tradition, the Memling copy was painted by an artist from Gdańsk whom the rafters brought to Ulanów against his will. In revenge, the painter is said to have given his kidnappers' faces to the damned in the flames of hell. The parish names the painting from St Mary's Church in Gdańsk as the model. On St Barbara's Day, 4 December, every rafter came here to give thanks for a safe return from the river.

Tripto tips

• This is a working parish church: the easiest time to look inside is before or after Sunday Mass (in Ulanów: 7:30, 9:00, 11:00 and 18:00 – as of October 2026). At other times, ask at the parish office.
• Allow 20–30 minutes for the interior – the paintings are worth studying slowly, head tilted back.
• Ulanów also has the wooden Holy Trinity Church, known as the rafters' church – don't confuse the two.
• Combine your visit with the Museum of Polish Rafting, opened in 2015.