Pieniny shrines emerged in the 14th to 16th centuries simultaneously with the settlements established at that time. With an exception of the church in Krościenko, these were wooden buildings, usually with bell towers and with singled roofs and walls. The parish in Szczawnica was created around 1350. The Orthodox church in Szlachtowa was built at the beginning of the 16th century and the one in Jaworki was erected in 1680. They were places of prayer for Ruthenians of the Greek Catholic rite who came to the area from northern Slovakia with the Wallachian-Ruthenian settlement wave.

    The wooden churches in Jaworki, Szczawnica and Szlachtowa did not survive, and brick churches were erected in their place in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Their artifacts were dispersed. After the expulsion of the Ruthenians (in 1945–50) as a result of which the Ruś Szlachtowska region ceased to exist, the Uniate churches were converted into Roman Catholic ones.

    Note the procession float in this part: a portable, double-sided painting on a four-leaf shaped board (one side of the float depicts St. Anna Samotrzeć, the other one – Christ in a crown of thorns). It dates back to the turn of the 18th century and comes from a wooden church in Szczawnica built in 1550 and demolished in 1894. Other interesting exhibits include altar Canon tables from the 18th century that were used during masses until the 1960s (pre-Vatican II Trent masses).