Stecówka in Istebna

At 760 m above sea level, the broad Stecówka clearing slopes down towards the Olza valley, and the red Main Beskid Trail runs right across it. Several chapters of Istebna's highland history fit into one view here: a wooden church built in defiance of the communist authorities and rebuilt after a fire, a mountain hut whose story goes back to the 1930s, and a wide panorama of the Silesian Beskids.

A name three centuries old

Stecówka is part of the village of Istebna in the Silesian Beskids. Its name comes from the surname Stec, probably the first settler and owner of the clearing. A Hanus Stetz appears in documents held in the Cieszyn archive in 1722, and by 1788 the records mention "pole Steczowka", the Stec field. The clearing sits on a ridge running west from Karolówka towards the Kubalonka Pass.

The church that "was going to be a sheepfold"

In 1957 people from the surrounding hamlets built a wooden church dedicated to Our Lady of Fátima. This was a time when the communist authorities obstructed church building – parishioners later recalled joking at first that a sheepfold was going up, with the tower added only afterwards. The interior was decorated by local Istebna artists, among them Jan Wałach and Ludwik Konarzewski Jr.

On the night of 2–3 December 2013 the church burned down. The parish chose to rebuild it in spruce once more, as a log structure under a shingle roof. The work took place in 2014–2016, and two dates are carved into the beam in front of the altar: 1957 and 2014. Next to the church stands a stone wayside shrine holding fragments of the bell and a cross saved from the burned building. The church is part of the Wooden Architecture Route of the Silesian Voivodeship.

What to see

• paintings by Iwona Konarzewska and sculptures and reliefs by Grzegorz Kuśnierz inside the church,
• the shrine with the remains of the old bell,
• the Rosary Way with 20 small shrines, leading from Stecówka to Przysłop below Barania Góra,
• the mountain hut, whose history dates back to 1934, when Michał Legierski opened a private hostel here.

Tripto tip

Stecówka is best reached on foot: the red trail from the Kubalonka Pass takes about 1 h 15 min, and continuing to Barania Góra via Przysłop takes about 2 h 15 min. Driving along the forest road from the Szarcula Pass requires permission from the Wisła Forest District, as the parish itself points out. From May to October the church holds Fátima vigils that end with a midnight Mass. The hut has been closed at times in recent years, so check in advance if you plan to stay or eat there.