Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary "Na Pólku" near Bralin

The wooden church known as Na Pólku ("in the little field") stands alone on a low rise among farmland, nearly 2 km south-east of Bralin, reached only by dirt roads. From outside it looks modest, but the interior covers 592 m² and, according to the parish, can hold as many as 2,000 people. The church of 1711 is built on a Greek-cross plan, with four entrances facing the four points of the compass and a double-sided altar in the middle.

History: a legend, the Reformation and a radar station

The site's origins are wrapped in legend. According to tradition, a painting of the Virgin from Bralin's parish church miraculously "moved" to the field several times until it was finally left there – first a cross was put up, then a chapel. A manuscript by Ignacy Puchała from 1888 says the image came from France to Burgrave Abraham von Dohna, lord of Bralin from 1592. During the Reformation, in 1560, the then owners, the von Maltzan brothers, handed the first church on the site to the Lutherans; a Catholic service was not held here again until December 1598, 38 years later.

Tradition also says that during an epidemic in 1630 ten people were healed here and vowed to help build a larger church. The present church, funded by Stanisław Drabik of Rychtal, went up in 1711 to cope with growing numbers of pilgrims. In 1943 the Germans built a large radar station nearby and considered burning the church down; after the parish priest, Fr Antoni Menzel, intervened, it was spared. A major restoration in 1978–1987 replaced the foundations and conserved the paintings, and in 1993 it earned an honorary Europa Nostra medal.

What to look for

• The covered walkways called "soboty" ("Saturdays") – pilgrims used to arrive on the eve of a feast day, usually a Saturday, and shelter here from the rain. Two small log chapels stand in their corners.
• Wall paintings modelled on copperplate engravings from a Venetian missal of 1638, and a ceiling painting of the Assumption measuring 5.6 × 6 m, almost 10 m above the altar.
• The painting of Our Lady of Pólko (185 × 125 cm), dated to around 1630–1640, in the double-sided high altar surrounded by a balustrade with angel figures. In 2013 the Holy See approved its coronation with crowns blessed by Pope Francis.
• A late Renaissance altar of around 1630 in the north arm, richly decorated with strapwork and nicknamed "the flower of the Silesian Renaissance".
• An octagonal turret with an onion dome above the crossing of the shingled roofs.

Tripto tip

The interior can be visited by arrangement with the office of St Anne's parish in Bralin – by phone (+48 62 307 04 18) or e-mail. Allow 20–30 minutes to walk around the church and enjoy the view over the fields, and at least 45 minutes if you go inside. The biggest crowds come for the church festivals – Our Lady of Mount Carmel in July and Our Lady of Pólko in September; for a quiet visit, choose another date.