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hidden europe 24

A Polish curiosity

by hidden europe

Summary

To walk through the door of the church is to leave modern Poland and enter a space suffused with exotic incense and the rich iconography of European Orthodoxy. A note on the Polish Orthodox church in Jelenia Góra.

hidden europe 24 / Snippet  / By hidden europe

You could be forgiven for thinking that Poland is Catholic through and through. But in truth it is not. We have touched before in hidden europe on the Islamic villages of eastern Poland. Walk the main street of Jelenia Góra in southwest Poland and you will find much that is familiar from other Polish towns. Pizza galore, lots of outside cafés with Carlsberg umbrellas (but serving Polish beer) and towards the end of the road, high up on a hoarding, a fading post of the late Polish Pope smiling benignly on the commercial mayhem below. The view of the Pope is obscured partly by a small church that dominates the scene.

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Blog post: 23 March 2025
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