Wang Chapel

Karpacz has a curious architectural gem – the Wang Chapel, the only Nordic Romanesque building in Poland. This remarkable wooden structure in Upper Karpacz was one of about 400 such chapels built at the turn of the 12th century on the bank of Lake Vang in southern Norway; only 28 of these ‘stave churches’ survive there today. By the 19th century it became too small for the local congregation, and was put up for sale to make way for a larger church. King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia bought it in 1841, had it dismantled piece by piece and then had it transported to Karpacz via Berlin. Not only is it the oldest church in the Sudetes, it’s also the highest situated (886m).