The wooden churches of southern Little Poland represent outstanding examples of the different aspects of medieval church-building traditions in Roman Catholic culture. Find out more about Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Binarowa, Poland.
Built using the horizontal log technique, common in eastern and northern Europe since the Middle Ages, these churches were sponsored by noble families and became status symbols. They offered an alternative to the stone structures erected in urban centres.
Binarowa Church of St. Michael the Archangel was entered onto the UNESCO heritage list in 2003. From the mid-000s on, travellers and artists became interested in the church and it found itself presented in drawings by S. Wyspiański, J. Mehoffer and others.
The church comprises a nave and adjacent chapel of Guardian Angels, a presbytery and a tower topped with a pyramidal dome.
The paintings were made in the late Middle Ages and in the 17th century. The earliest paintings have been preserved on the ceiling and on chancel walls, they come from the beginning of the 16th century.
In 2018, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of entering the wooden churches of southern Lesser Poland on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Pełni Kultury Foundation continued the project from 2017 entitled ‘Multisensory UNESCO 2’, where the heritage of Lipnica Murowana has been digitized, including the Church of St. Leonard. In 2018, it digitized the tangible and intangible heritage of wooden churches in Binarowa, Blizne, Dębno, Haczów and Sękowa.
The project consisted in comprehensive processing of material resources into digital form by making advanced three-dimensional models of objects and their equipment. A special feature was also the presentation of the broadly understood intangible heritage of temples.
Multisensory UNESCO 2. Digitization of the church heritage of southern Małopolska
on the 15th anniversary of being entered on the UNESCO list:
The foundation continues its project and it has already conducted 5 editions of Multisensory UNESCO.
The scope of each part included accordingly:
Multisensory UNESCO 3. Digitization of 8 wooden churches in the Polish region of the Carpathians entered on the UNESCO list
Multisensory UNESCO 4. Digitization of Cracow’s cultural heritage entered on the UNESCO list
Multisensory UNESCO 5. Digitization of the cultural heritage of the Sanctuary in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (UNESCO)
The Wooden Churches of Southern Małopolska are protected by law under the regulations determining the protection of historic monuments, implemented by the national monument protection services. The legal obligation to maintain these properties in good condition lies with the Roman Catholic parishes in Blizne, Binarowa, Dębno Podhalańskie, Haczów, Lipnica Murowana, and Sękowa. Responsibility for carrying out conservation programmes falls directly on the parishes, or on specially appointed plenipotentiaries, under the professional supervision of the relevant Provincial Conservator of Monuments, with the participation of diocesan conservators from the diocesan curiae.