St. Nicholas Church

Tarnowo Pałuckie is a village which since the very beginning has been connected with the Cisterican Abbey from the nearby Łekno. Today the local St. Nicholas Church is considered the oldest wooden sanctuary in Poland. The dendrochronological research on the timber used for the construction of the sanctuary conducted at the end of the 20 ^th century showed that the trees were cut down at the last quarter of the 14 ^th century! The year 1639, which was considered the year of the construction (it is written on one of the beams), turned out to be the year of the attachment of the tower. The church is oriented, of log frame structure. There are two entrances leading to the church – the main entrance through the tower and the side one – the massive door from around 1493, richly ornamented with iron fittings.

Inside the sanctuary there are the stunning, mostly Late Renaissance polichromies which date back to 1639. On the walls there are scenes from the everyday life of St. Nicholas and St. Margaret. In the presbytery and below the choir an unknown artist placed pictures presenting the scenes of the New Testament. Above, on the frieze, there are cartouches in which there were depicted the symbols of the Marian litany. The most beautiful part of the polychromy is on the ceiling. It presents the scene of the Adoration of the Most Holy Trinity. Around there were placed the symbols of the four apostles. The rest of the ceiling is decorated with painted coffers in which there were depicted the prophets, the Fathers of the Church, the tools of the Lord’s Passion, the figures of angles and other symbols.

Among the furnishing of the sanctuary special attention should also be paid to the Late Renaissance main altar from the 17 ^th century with the painting depicting the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the southern side altar from the 17 ^th century with the picture of St. Nicholas, the northern altar with the image of St. Margaret from around 1712, the scene of crucifixion on a rood beam, which includes the Baroque cross dated back to the beginning of the 18 ^th century and the figures of St. Mary and St. John, and also the organs from before 1712 – originally they were operated with special ropes, not typical windbags.