St Andrew's Church in Kadłub

Beside national road 45, five kilometres from Wieluń, a modern brick church has its larch-wood predecessor standing right next to it. St Andrew's wooden church in Kadłub dates from the early 16th century and belongs to the so-called Wieluń-type churches – a group of places of worship so similar in form that architectural historians treat them as a type of their own. Kadłub is counted among the finest examples, alongside Grębień, Popowice and Łaszew.

History: a larch church from the early 1500s

The village is recorded from 1357, and at the end of the 16th century it belonged to the cathedral chapter of Gniezno. Poland's National Heritage Board dates the church to the early 16th century. It was built of horizontal larch logs and, after the Second World War, in 1948–1949, rebuilt and lengthened. The church is a listed monument and belongs to the parish of St Andrew the Apostle in Kadłub, which also looks after the wooden church in Popowice.

What to see

The building shows every feature of the Wieluń type: it is oriented east–west, with a narrower, polygonal chancel and a single shingled roof covering both nave and chancel. On the west side stands a tower tapering towards the top, with a porch at its base. The dark, weathered timber looks best in the afternoon sun. Inside, under a wooden ceiling, the furnishings are Baroque, including side altars.

Did you know?

• The most valuable object is a 15th-century bell with a Latin inscription – older than the church itself.
• The Wieluń-type churches are regarded as Poland's most valuable group of wooden sacred architecture after the wooden churches of Lesser Poland.

Tripto tip

This is a working parish church at Kadłub 1; the parish posts current Mass times on its website. You can see the exterior at any time, while the interior is easiest to visit just before or after a service. Allow 20–30 minutes. Combine it with the wooden church in Popowice, part of the same parish, and a stroll around Wieluń.