Haczow

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Haczow is a pearl of the wooden gothic architecture on the Wislok river. However the church is famous not only for its interesting form but also the numerous miracles which were to happen here in the past.

The first miracle occured in Haczow in the early 15th century, when according to the legend the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Sorrows „came through the water” and stopped at the front of the ancient wooden church in the village. Another miracle took place in the 17th century: during the Tatars’ invasion the old wooden church was only charred.

The church is one of the oldest wooden churches in Poland and Europe’s largest Gothic church built in wooden carcass construction (carpenters did not use even one nail, only the wooden latches) on the stone foundations. The Gothic wall painting from 1494 in the chancel is the largest figural polychrome in Poland and the oldest of this kind in Europe. In the 17th century the church was surrounded by wooden arcades and the tower was built at the front. In the 18th century the chapel with famous for its miraculous statue of Our Lady of Sorrows (15th century) was added on the north side. Now in the main altar there is the 16th-century gothic sculpture of Madonna and Child. In the chapel in the baroque altar is placed a copy of the famous Pieta which is currently located in the new parish church. The magnificent temple testifies the inhabitants’ richness – free peasants, because Haczow remained the royal village for centuries. Even during the partitions Haczow was known as the richest village in Galicia. After World War II the state illegally took over the church and its amenities was exported to the museum in Sanok.  At the end of the 70s, the communist authorities were even intending to create in the church a museum of agricultural tools.
In 2003 historic church was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.