Jaszczurówka Chapel
The finest example of Zakopane Style architecture in a religious building — a wooden chapel by Stanisław Witkiewicz set in a forest clearing on the road toward Morskie Oko.
- ul. Jaszczurówka, Zakopane
- 0.4 h
- Family friendly
A wooden chapel built in 1904 to designs by Stanisław Witkiewicz — widely considered the finest realization of the Zakopane Style in a religious building. Set in a forest clearing on the road leading south toward Morskie Oko, it's a 20-minute walk from town but consistently missed by visitors who don't know it's there.
The exterior is immediately recognizable as Zakopane Style: the steep shingled roof, the carved wooden ornament, the relationship between the building and the forest that surrounds it. The interior is where the visit rewards extended attention — carved wooden details throughout, highland ornament in the ceiling and fixtures, and the specific quality of light through the small windows that Witkiewicz understood as essential to the effect.
What to expect
The chapel is an active place of worship — services are held regularly. It's open to visitors outside service times; check current visiting hours locally.
Photography: the exterior is entirely photographable from the surrounding area. Interior photography may be restricted during services — check with the church staff.
Duration: 20–30 minutes is enough to appreciate the architecture properly. The walk from town and back is as much of the experience as the building itself — the approach through the forest gives the chapel its correct context.
Why visit
The chapel is on the route toward Morskie Oko and toward the Strążyska valley. Combining the chapel visit with a walk in Dolina Strążyska or the beginning of the Sarnia Skała approach makes a logical half-day.
Jaszczurówka or Villa Koliba? Treat them as complementary rather than competing. If you want a proper introduction to the Zakopane Style, Villa Koliba is the better starting point: it's the first house Witkiewicz designed in the style, and it now houses a museum that explains what you're looking at. Jaszczurówka is arguably the more picturesque of the two and it's easier to simply turn up and see — but what it shows you is the sacred branch of the style specifically, not the whole idea.
Do Koliba first if you're going to do both. The chapel makes more sense once you understand what the style was trying to do.
Insider tips
Visit on a weekday morning in winter or early spring — the chapel in snow, with no other visitors, in the specific grey-and-white light of a January morning, is one of the best architectural photographs available in Zakopane. The forest setting changes completely under snow.