These churches actually were an interesting change for this serial church visitor, the wooden construction suited the ornate but still charming painting. I also found it easy to discern the story and importance of these structures, relating back to a story of tolerance for Protestant minorities.

My initial plan was just to visit Jawor and that is where I headed first. Luckily I had read Els' note about it not being instantly obvious and checked on street view first how to get there, it still didn't stop me from doing an extra lap of the town's one way system. The church sits in a nice park and is rather hidden despite its large bright white bulk.

Stepping inside was certainly a "wow" moment, the amount of painted wooden surfaces contrasted with the golden chandeliers. The attendant asked me which language I would like the tour in and queued up the English one next on the sound system, in the interim I practiced my German by trying to understand the audio tour put on for the only other visitors. This wait allowed me to stroll around the creaky nether regions of the church trying to identify the painted biblical scenes. As the English tour reached its conclusion a large Polish tour group arrived, filling the church and giving an idea of how the church may feel during a service. The attendant then turned on all the chandeliers and the already impressive interior seemed to swell to greater proportions.

The rebuilding of a bridge meant my route back to Wroclaw took me with in 10km of Swidnica, so it seemed rude not to call in. Like Jawor the church here is in a nice park and you can't see much of it from the road. You can certainly see the two churches were built in the same circumstances. Swidnica felt somewhat darker with the reds and golds lingering in my colour memory. The large scale painted scenes were spectacular and the finest to my eye. However I think Jawor was the church that suited my taste more.

These churches were rather impressive and do a good job of illustrating an interesting story in European history, a very worthy diversion if you are in the area.

[Site 7: Experience 6]