The tserkvas in the Polish Carpathians were definitely our favourites among the three wooden church WHS and one of the highlights of our trip through Lesser Poland and Slovakia in August 2014. The sites are an amazing mixture of outstanding architecture, beautiful wall paintings and interior decorations, and a picturesque landscape. The WHS consists of sixteen wooden churches, examples of four different architectural styles each representing a specific ethnographic tradition. We visited the five westernmost churches, all of the so-called Lemko type.

The distinctive feature (compared to the other two inscriptions) is the tripartite ground plan - porch, nave and chancel - surmounted by octagonal cupolas, the highest cupola is above the porch, with the roof sloping downward towards the chancel. Inside, I was particularly impressed by the magnificent and colourful Iconostases.

Four of the churches are close together, within a driving distance of about 75 km, near the Slovakian border and not far from the WHS Bardejov in Slovakia. We enjoyed our ride in the hilly countryside, our tom-tom did a good job, only once it suggested an impassable dirt road. All churches were open to visitors and the entrance was free. The people in this region seemed to be very proud of their churches, they willingly showed us everything and were very happy when we appreciated the quality of the art works and the architecture and the good state of preservation.

Some specific comments on the individual sites:

Owczary: a very nice and typical example of the tripartite architecture; the churchyard is surrounded by a stone wall with a massive brick-built gate; inside a beautiful iconostasis in red and blue with decorated pillars and doors in golden colour.

Kwiatori (photo): another fine example with very harmonious proportions; an elaborate roof construction of multiple planes due to the different heights of the domes and their multi-level design.

Brunary: the church has an elongated floor plan due to the extension with a second chancel and the combination of the old chancel with the nave; the black colour of the planks and shingles is striking, a nice contrast to the white bulbous cupolas; the interior with colourful paintings and a beautiful iconostasis, the pillars adorned with motifs of grapevines

Powrodznik: no murals in the church, but don't miss the sacristy, it is entirely decorated with wonderful paintings, the most impressive wall paintings we have seen on our trip

Turzansk: located in the Subcarpathian Province in the south-east of Poland, it was a one hour detour on our route from Blizne to Bardejov, but it was worth it; also in the Lemko style, but with distinct differences: a free-standing tower, all cupolas are of similar height and the roof is covered with a metal cladding; the church was open despite an ongoing renovation, one of the restorers allowed us to climb the scaffolding and showed us how they clean the painted wooden walls

Although I learned a lot about the architecture and the characteristics of different wooden churches, I'm still unsure whether three serial WHS are the best option for their classification. However, the number of WHS is not a major issue for me. But it may be controversial how many individual sites are required to represent the category of wooden churches. But I am glad that we have visited eighteen of them.