precious-postcards

Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine

Situated in the eastern fringe of Central Europe, the transnational property numbers a selection of sixteen tserkvas (churches). They were built of horizontal wooden logs between the 16th and 19th centuries by communities of Orthodox and Greek Catholic faiths. The tserkvas bear testimony to a distinct building tradition rooted in Orthodox ecclesiastic design interwoven with elements of local tradition, and symbolic references to their communities’ cosmogony. The tserkvas are built on a tri-partite plan surmounted by open quadrilateral or octagonal domes and cupolas. Integral to tserkvasare iconostasis screens, interior polychrome decorations, and other historic furnishings. Important elements of some tserkvas include wooden bell towers, churchyards, gatehouses and graveyards.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1424

The Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine comprises 16 wooden churches built by horizontal log construction. They are located in isolated parts of the Carpathian Mountains. They were built by communities of the Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic faiths in the 16th-19th centuries.

The 16 churches can be divided into four groups of different ethnographic architectural traditions. 

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/woodentserkvas.html