Discover Krościenko

Krościenko brings together traces of church history, the history of Greek settlement, and routes connected with the former railway station on the Ukrainian border. Cultural history and activities thus offer different travel interests. You may be interested in the church architecture and the town’s Greek history, or you may want to include the Bieszczadzkie Drezyny Rowerowe in your plans. If you are looking for a holiday apartment, it helps to decide in advance whether cultural history or a particular route should be the focus of your stay.

Church, cemetery, and Greek history of the town

The former Greek Catholic church in Krościenko is a transitional example of church architecture, combining archaic and classicist forms. Beside it stands a 19th-century bell tower, built using post-and-beam construction on a stone foundation and topped with a shingle roof. The construction method is precisely named: posts run vertically and beams horizontally. The church and tower offer two distinct architectural points of interest—the transition between styles and the specific construction of the dated tower. The former Greek Catholic church serves as the Roman Catholic parish church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Several gravestones from the interwar period and several from the 1950s have been preserved in the cemetery southwest of the church; some bear Greek inscriptions. The settlement of Greeks is also part of the town’s history: after the end of the civil war, they fled their country to escape reprisals and settled in Krościenko after 1948. The gravestones and migration offer different perspectives on the town’s Greek history.

A former church in Krościenko was first mentioned in 1558. After the villagers were forcibly resettled after 1951, the former Greek Catholic church stood empty. Roman Catholics took over the derelict church in 1971; it underwent a thorough renovation in 1973.

Routes and border location

The round trip on the Bieszczadzkie Drezyny Rowerowe from Ustrzyki Dolne to Krościenko is 16 kilometers long and takes two hours. In Krościenko, it reaches a former railway station immediately beside the Ukrainian border. The distance given is for the entire round trip. Check in advance whether the ride is being offered if you plan to take it.

The Szlak Kolonizacji Józefińskiej cycle route passes through Krościenko. The two routes therefore relate to the town in different ways: Krościenko is the destination of the round trip from Ustrzyki Dolne by rail bike, while the cycle route passes through the town.

The Krościenko–Smolnica road border crossing is also on the Polish-Ukrainian border; it opened on November 20, 2002.

Use your travel plans as a guide when looking for accommodation

If you are looking for a holiday apartment in Krościenko, you can weigh up whether a trip with a set duration or the cycle route passing through the town better suits your travel plans.

Discover more destinations: Bukowiec, Dwernik, Ropienka, Smolnik, Muczne, Procisne, Ustrzyki Dolne, Zatwarnica.

For the broader travel overview: Bieszczady.