Wooden Church of St Catherine in Cięcina

In 1893 builders from Żywiec lengthened the nave of the church in Cięcina and rolled the entire wooden tower westwards on logs. A few years earlier, in 1879, the young Stanisław Wyspiański, later one of Poland's greatest artists, sketched this same church in pencil; the drawing is kept by the National Museum in Kraków. The Church of St Catherine of Alexandria stands about 1.5 km from central Węgierska Górka and is one of the most valuable monuments of the Żywiec region.

History: four centuries of building

A church in Cięcina was mentioned as early as 1358, though it is not known whether on this site. The oldest part of the present church was built in 1542 by Krzysztof Komorowski as a chapel of ease of the parish in Radziechowy. In 1666–1667 parish priest Stanisław Kaszkowicz enlarged the nave and added a tower, as recorded by the chronicler Andrzej Komoniecki. An independent parish was created in 1789.

Between 1857 and 1893 a sacristy and treasury-oratory were added; in 1893 the nave was lengthened and the tower moved, and in 1895 St Francis's Chapel was added. In 1932 the tower was raised by almost 7 metres to a design by Kraków architect Wacław Krzyżanowski. In autumn 2010 the fibre-cement roofing was replaced with larch shingles, split by hand along the grain – about 2,400 m² of them.

What to see

• The interior with wall and ceiling paintings made in 1896 by Antoni Stopka of Maków Podhalański.
• Baroque altars from the 17th century, richly gilded.
• A stone chalice-shaped font from 1705.
• St Francis's Chapel from 1895.
• The building – a wooden church of the Silesian-Lesser Poland type with a tall tower and shingle roof.

Tripto tip

The church is on the Wooden Architecture Route of the Silesian Voivodeship, in its Beskid loop. You can see the interior before or after services. Allow half an hour and combine it with the 1939 bunkers in Węgierska Górka.