St Leonard's Church in Wojnicz

A few minutes from the A4 motorway exit, on St Leonard Street in Wojnicz, stands a small wooden church with a shingled roof and a little bell turret. For centuries it was a hospital church that cared for the poor, and its altar holds paintings from a Renaissance triptych that the parish attributes to Stanisław Tarczowski and dates to around 1560. It is one of the stops on the Wooden Architecture Route of Małopolska.

History: a church beside a hospital for the poor

According to the parish of St Lawrence, a church stood here as early as 1209, and anonymous notes published in 1904 even speak of a first church from around 1112. Later documents are more reliable: a hospital for the poor operated beside St Leonard's and is mentioned in a document of Bishop Jan Lutkowic from 1465. It had its own farm, horses, cows and arable land, and in 1508 it housed twelve poor people. Pastoral care was provided by the Wojnicz chapter of canons, and the church had the status of a hospital provostry.

The present building was built or rebuilt in the 17th century; the regional tourist board VisitMałopolska dates it even earlier, to the second half of the 16th century, and stresses that it has survived almost unchanged. In 1892–1893 the church was thoroughly repaired and clad in boards, and in 2014–2015 the roof, walls and stone-and-iron fence were restored and a processional path was laid out.

What to see

• The structure — log construction, a single nave with a west porch, a three-sided chancel with the sacristy on the north, and a steep roof topped by a bell turret with a lantern.
• The interior — a false barrel vault over the nave and a flat ceiling over the chancel.
• The neo-Renaissance high altar from the late 19th century: the Visitation in the central panel, St Helena and St Catherine at the sides and St Leonard at the top. The parish considers the paintings to be Tarczowski originals, while VisitMałopolska describes them as copies of 16th-century works — take a close look and judge for yourself.
• Side altars with paintings of the Divine Mercy and St Kinga.
• A bell from 1655, cast by the bell-founder Baltazar Heroldt of Bratislava.
• A stone statue of the Assumption from 1889, by Adeodat Martyński of Borzęcin, beside the church.

When you can go inside (as of October 2026)

This is a chapel of ease with no regular visiting hours, so the easiest way to see the interior is during Mass: weekdays at 8:00 (except Fridays) and Sundays at 16:00 (except during the summer holidays). Note the winter season: from the First Sunday of Advent (29 November 2026) until the end of Holy Week, all services from St Leonard's move to the collegiate church. Entry is free, and you can see the exterior at any time.

Tripto tip

Wojnicz lies between Brzesko and Tarnów, at the Wojnicz junction of the A4. Fifteen minutes is enough to see the church from outside, half an hour with the interior. Combine it with the collegiate church of St Lawrence, the parish's main church, and a short walk around the market square; heading east, the Renaissance old town of Tarnów is well worth a stop.