Orthodox Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian (Cerkiew świętych Kosmy i Damiana) in Tylicz
Rynek 15, 33-383 Tylicz
Tourist region: Beskid Sądecki i Niski
The tripartite church in the Western Lemko style was built in 1743–1744. It appears today in the form in which it was rebuilt in 1780 and again after a fire in 1930. It is characterised by a log construction with planked walls that are reinforced with studs. It has three towers with spherical domes. Above the vestibule rises a tower with sloping walls of post-frame construction with a double wooden dome with a lantern, cupola and wrought-iron cross. Smaller domes can be seen over the nave covered with a broken-tent roof and the presbytery with a multi-pitched roof. Adjacent to the nave by the iconostasis are two rooms for singers, so called kriłosy, typical of Eastern Orthodox church architecture and found nowhere else in Lemkivshchyna, which function as side chapels. The interior is decorated with a figurative-ornamental polychrome from 1938, referring to the celebrations of the 950th anniversary of the Christianisation of Rus. Several paintings are copies of icons from St Vladimir's Cathedral in Kiev. The Late Baroque iconostasis from the 18th century was replaced with modern elements after the theft of the iconostasis. Its special feature is the much larger icons of patron saints and St. Nicholas, hung in the lowest row of icons, higher than the tsarist gates and reaching to the next row of icons, which is unusual in Lemko Orthodox churches. The church with the bell tower together with the old and new cemetery is surrounded by a fence. The temple is located on the Trail of Lemko Orthodox Churches in Beskid Sądecki and on the Wooden Architecture Route in Małopolska.