Church of the Holy Cross

The Church of the Elevation of the Holy Cross is the parish church of the Roman Catholic parish of the same name. The parish was erected on September 14, 1983 by the bishop of the Katowice diocese, Herbert Bednorz. It currently belongs to the Istebno deanery of the Bielsko-Zywiec diocese.
The wooden temple was built between 1665 and 1667 in the village of Przyszowice, in the municipality of Gierałtowice in Upper Silesia, where it served as a cemetery church. In 1957 it was moved to Istebna and was treated as a museum of Upper Silesian sacred art until 1967. In 1967 a rectorate was erected at the church in Kubalonka, and Masses were celebrated at Easter, indulgence and Christmas.
The wooden temple of log construction is one of the attractions of the Trail of Wooden Architecture of the Silesian Voivodeship. The church is non-oriented, as its chancel faces north. It is covered by a gabled shingle roof with prominent eaves, connecting in the front with a wooden fence. This architectural solution makes it a unique object, as it has not been used in any other church in Silesia.
In its present location it does not serve its purpose, but in its original location it protected the building, standing on the edge of the village, from snow blown in from the fields.

On the ridge is a quadrilateral turret with a baroque cupola and lantern. The interior design of the temple presents mostly Baroque style and dates from the 17th and 18th centuries. Also noteworthy are the main altar with an 18th-century painting with the scene of the Crucifixion and a statue of God the Father and sculptures of angels, and the Baroque pulpit from 1697 with bas-reliefs of the four Evangelists, a statue of Christ and a statue of the Holy Spirit, as well as paintings depicting St. Augustine and St. Jerome. In addition, 18th-century pews have survived from the church's original decoration.

The church stands on a hillside, above the road from Istebna to Vistula, below the Kubalonka Pass, accessed by a steep staircase.

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