St. James the Less Church, Powroznik

The Orthodox Church of St. James the Less the Apostle in Powroznik is the oldest Lemko shrine in Poland and one of the oldest ones in the Carpathians. Constructed in 1600, after a flood it was relocated uphill, to a place ca. 150 m away from the original site. That took place in the years 1813-1814, with some changes to the church construction. A new presbytery was built, and the old one was changed to a sacristy. In 1878 a main, post-frame construction tower was added. After World War II most Lemkos were relocated under Operation Vistula (forced resettlement of Ukrainians, Boykos and Lemkos from south-eastern Poland to the territories in the west regained from Germany – which was to cut the support base for the Ukrainian UPA guerrilla). As there were very few Orthodox minority left, in 1951 the church was taken over by the Roman Catholic church. In 1965 the building was renovated. In 2013 the church was entered, along with a number of other Orthodox churches in Poland and Ukraine, on the UNESCO World Heritage list.