A couple of years ago the wooden church of Holy Archangel Michael was celebrating its 450 th anniversary. Just a few ears later it celebrated its 650 anniversary. How’s that possible? New discoveries proved that the church is more than 200 years older than we thought, moving thus its history to the year 1369. This makes it the oldest wooden church in Poland!

The church of the Holy Archangel Michael stands on a hill in the middle of a peaceful hamlet of Domachowo. Its small tower can be seen from far away, making a good landmark. The structure is all wooden, with shingle on the roof and all the sculptures also crafted from wood. The walls and ceiling have been decorated with polychromy, showing the Crucifixion, the apostles and even St. George battling a dragon. All those date back to the middle ages, making them the most valuable and the most unique treasure of the church.

Domachowo lays in the middle of an ethnographic region known as Biskupizna (“The bishop’s land”). Since the 13th century the area was owned by the bishops of Poznań. Less serfdom and different laws made the community flourish, become richer than its neighbors and develop its own unique customs. The customs and traditions still live on and its nothing unusual to see people wearing traditional costumes and playing folk music on celebrations like weddings or church holidays.

Text: Jacek Cieślewicz