St. Leonard's Church, Lipnica Murowana

Kościół św. Leonarda w Lipnicy Murowanej St. Leonard's Church in Lipnica Murowana
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholicism
Status	active church
Location
Location	Lipnica Murowana, Poland
Architecture
Type	Gothic
Completed	end of the 15 century
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name: Wooden Churches of Southern Lesser Poland
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii, iv
Designated	2003 (27th session)
Reference no.	1053
State Party	Poland
Region	Europe

St. Leonard's Church in Lipnica Murowana - a Gothic, wooden church located in the village of Lipnica Murowana from the fifteenth-century, which together with different churches is designated as part of the UNESCO Wooden Churches of Southern Lesser Poland.

History

The church is located by the Uszwica river, beyond the former levee in Lipnica Murowana. The church was most likely built at the end of the fifteenth-century, on the location of a former church. According to the town's tradition, the church was built in 1143 or 1203 - this date can be seen on the north-east wall of the chancel - in the location of a former pagan chram.

The church is found today in a near untouched structure, and belongs to the most notable wooden Gothic churches in Poland. The church is orientated, built from wooden framework, bipartite. The chancel is surrounded by three walls. The nave is wider, in the shape of a square. In the seventeenth-century, the church was surrounded with picturesque soboty (wooden undercut supported by pillars), during which a bell tower was constructed. There is no sacristy by the chancel. The roof is covered with wood shingle, with tradition, there are only windows in the southern side of the church, with the entrance doors to the south and west of the church.

Gallery

• 
  Polychrome illustrating the Ten Commandments.
• 
  Altar with St. Leonard.
• 
  Interior of the church.