World Heritage Identification Number: 1054
World Heritage since: 2001
Category: Cultural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇵🇱 Poland
Continent: Europe
UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America
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The Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica: A Testament to Religious Freedom
The Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica, located in Lower Silesia, Poland, stand as remarkable examples of architectural ingenuity and religious tolerance. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001, these churches offer a unique insight into the tumultuous history of the region during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648).
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica, the largest timber-framed religious buildings in Europe, were built in the former Silesia in the mid-17th century, amid the religious strife that followed the Peace of Westphalia. Constrained by the physical and political conditions, the Churches of Peace bear testimony to the quest for religious freedom and are a rare expression of Lutheran ideology in an idiom generally associated with the Catholic Church.UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (iii): The Churches of Peace are outstanding testimony to an exceptional act of tolerance on the part of the Catholic Habsburg Emperor towards Protestant communities in Silesia in the period following the Thirty Years’ War in Europe.
Criterion (iv): As a result of conditions imposed by the Emperor the Churches of Peace required the builders, to implement pioneering constructional and architectural solutions of a scale and complexity unknown ever before or since in wooden architecture. The success may be judged by their survival to the present day.
Criterion (vi): The Churches of Peace bear exceptional witness to a particular political development in Europe in the 17th century of great spiritual power and commitment.
Encyclopedia Record: Churches of Peace
The Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica in Lower Silesia. Poland, are 17th-century churches, named after the Peace of Westphalia of 1648.Additional Site Details
Area: 0.23 hectares
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
(vi) — Directly associated with events or living traditions
Coordinates: 51.05427778 , 16.19594444
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© Jar.ciurus, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
