Orthodox Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian Bartne
Bartne 23, 38-307 Sękowa
Tourist region: Beskid Sądecki i Niski
Built in 1928–1929 in the Eastern Lemko style, the church fell into disrepair after the Second World War and the displacement of the Lemko population as part of the Operation Vistula in 1947. A sheepfold was arranged in it. In 1958, after the return of some displaced persons and the reactivation of the Orthodox parish, the church was restored to its liturgical functions. In 1968–1969, the church was extensively renovated.
It is a timber-framed building with walls boarded horizontally, tripartite with a broad, rectangular nave, a presbytery ending in a trilateral angle with a vestry, without a tower, with rectangular windows, gabled and sloping sheet metal roofs with turrets with apparent lanterns with spherical cupolas. The stone and brick foundation with stone bevels and carved crosses is distinctive.
The first iconostasis was brought to Bartne after 1936 from a demolished church in the Chełm region. It was deported in 1947, with only the royal door remaining. The current iconostasis was composed from contemporary icons. In 2008, the iconostasis, painted in heather colour with gilding, was dismantled during the renovation of the walls. The original light blue colour and silvering were discovered and returned during its restoration. The blue colour testifies to the origin of the iconostasis from the church dedicated to the Mother of God, and the altar and part of the nave were also decorated in blue. A second copy of the Pochaaev Bogurodzica was placed above the royal gates; the first was taken with the displaced Lemkos. The lost icons were reconstructed from old photographs, the icon of Saints Cosmas and Damian following a Greek pattern. On the sill of the music choir, 12 oval icons of the prophets can be seen coming from the defunct temple of Świerzowa Ruska. The crystal spider chandelier comes from the local Greek Catholic temple.
The trees around the church were felled in 1995. Next to it are three stone Orthodox crosses and a statue of Our Lady of the Rosary Immaculately Conceived. A freestanding bell tower with four bells was erected in 2017.