All Saints Church (Sedliště)

The Church of All Saints in Siedliszcze is a wooden church standing in the center of the Czech village of Siedliszcze (Czech: Sedliště), in the Frýdek-Místek district of the Moravian-Silesian region. Note: this is not the Polish town of the same name in the Lublin region, but a village in Czech Silesia, on the Cieszyn Silesia side of the border. The building ranks among the rarest wooden sacred monuments in the whole of the Czech Republic — not only because of the number of original structural elements preserved from the time of construction, but above all because of its size, which no other wooden church in the Cieszyn Silesia region matches.

How long has there been a church in Siedliszcze?

The history of a church on this site goes back much further than the current building. The first written mention of a church in Siedliszcze dates from 1447. That earlier, also wooden, church stood for nearly two more centuries before a new building replaced it on the same site in 1638. The construction was carried out under the direction of Jan Scultetus, the priest of the neighboring village of Bruzovice. It is this early-17th-century structure, after later modifications, that stands in Siedliszcze today.

For centuries the church served as a filial church, subordinate to another parish. That changed on February 1, 1871, when an independent parish was established for Siedliszcze alone. From that point on, the local church has functioned as a parish church.

Formal protection of the monument followed in 1981, when a protective zone was declared around the building and its surrounding grounds, intended to safeguard both the structure itself and its immediate surroundings from unfavorable changes.

What does the church's architecture look like?

The Church of All Saints is a log-built structure, a construction method typical of wooden sacred architecture in the Cieszyn Silesia region. It is a single-nave building, oriented along its main east-west axis, following traditional Christian church-building practice. The building's present architectural form dates from the 17th century and has largely retained its original character — a trait that sets it apart from many other wooden sacred buildings in the area, which were often heavily rebuilt over the following centuries.

What makes this church stand out regionally?

What distinguishes the Siedliszcze church from other wooden churches of Cieszyn Silesia is its scale. Among the surviving wooden churches of the region, none matches it in size, making it a reference point for researchers studying wooden sacred architecture in the Czech Republic. Added to this is the number of original structural elements preserved from the time of construction — a rarity compared to other buildings in this category, which have often kept only fragments of their original fabric.

Frequently asked questions

When was the current church in Siedliszcze built? Before 1638, on the site of an earlier, also wooden, church first mentioned in written records in 1447. The new building was constructed under the direction of the priest Jan Scultetus of Bruzovice.

Where exactly is the church located? In the center of the village of Siedliszcze (Sedliště), in the Frýdek-Místek district, Moravian-Silesian region, Czech Republic.

Is it a parish church? Yes. An independent parish covering Siedliszcze was established on February 1, 1871, and the local church has served as a parish church ever since.

What sets this church apart from other wooden churches in the region? Above all its size — unmatched among the surviving wooden churches of Cieszyn Silesia — along with the unusually high number of original structural elements dating from its construction.