The first panorama of the Tatras - wooden church in Trybsz

St. Elizabeth's Church in Trybsz, photo by eM

St. Elizabeth's Church in Trybsz is a part of the Wooden Architecture Route in Małopolska Region (Lesser Poland). It probably arose in 1567 funded by the local peasants or a head of a rural subdivision. The church was built using log construction with the walls, as well as the roof, covered by a wooden shingle. 

The most important and characteristic feature of the church is late-baroque polychrome from 1647. It covers walls and ceiling with a paintings presenting biblical and Marian themes. They originated due to reintroduction of the Catholicism in Spiš. 

The ceiling is covered with two scenes: the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and the Last Judgement. A background of the first one is the panoramic view of the Pieniny Mountains and of the second one - the Tatra Mountains. This is the first known representation of those mountains in Poland.

The Pieniny Mountains in St. Elizabeth's Church, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

The Tatra Mountains in St. Elizabeth's Church, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

The elements of the furnishings are also: fragment of the altar (XVI), a pulpit decorated with paintings and a wooden baptismal font.

Trybsz is a small village located 12 km south-east of Nowy Targ, 25 km north-east of Zakopane. The best way to get there is by car. You can also use a local transport - buses run from Nowy Targ (timetable). In order avoid a situation that you are standing in front of the church's closed door, you can visit it on sunday - after a mass in a nearby new St. Elizabeth's Church ask a priest for opening the old church.

  The altar in St. Elizabeth's Church, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński

The painted pulpit in St. Elizabeth's Church, photo by Andrzej Śliwiński