Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Haczów

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Michael the Archangel in Haczów is a late Gothic wooden temple, considered the largest Gothic wooden church in Europe and one of the oldest in Poland. Built in the first half of the 15th century, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003. The structure is distinguished by its log construction on a stone foundation, with an oriented, tripartite layout. The church consists of a presbytery, a nave, and a bell tower, and its interior is adorned with a unique figurative polychrome from 1494 and later additions from around 1864. Valuable furnishings include a late Baroque main altar with a Gothic sculpture of the Madonna and Child, as well as four Rococo altars. The church is surrounded by a wooden fence roofed with wood shingles, and within its grounds stands a historic parsonage granary. Legends associated with the local Marian cult tell of a miraculous statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, which, according to tradition, is said to have arrived via the Wisłok River. In 1997, the statue was crowned by Pope John Paul II. An interesting fact is that in 2006, the National Bank of Poland issued coins featuring the church, highlighting its significance in numismatics as well. As the oldest and best-preserved Gothic wooden church, the Haczów church is appreciated for its architectural layers and rich decoration, making it an important landmark on the cultural map of Poland and Europe.