Visitors can experience the living history of the Malopolska Region (Southern Poland) enshrined in the marvels of its wooden architecture. Stone and brick fortresses, Romanesque and Gothic churches and abbeys, palaces and manors are a living testimony of the history of the Malopolska Region (Lesser Poland). Preserved here are the numerous historical remnants of old Polish village life, built of wood and thus in harmony with the landscape. What is more, the wealth of local culture and art of the Malopolska Region is unmatched throughout Poland.
Countless preserved Catholic and Orthodox churches not only amaze with the logic of their construction but also with their delightful shingle finish. The architectural landscape of the Malopolska countryside features also inns and granaries and the old Malopolska manors, built of wood "in accordance with heavenly prescription and the custom of Poland". Little provincial towns still today display the clear urban layouts where life has always been lived under the arcades of wooden houses.
The Wooden Architecture Route in Malopolska Province, stretching over 1500km, includes 237 architectural examples, from Catholic churches, Orthodox churches, chapels and belfries to granaries, rural cottages and manor houses. All the points of interest on the route are clearly marked with directions on more than 600 signposts.
The largest treasures of the region include the churches in, Binarowa, Lipnica Murowana and Debno Podhalanskie, which, in 2003, were entered on the UNESCO List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
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