Churches and monasteries
wooden 17th-century cemetery church known as Walencinek, a shrine since 2015
Churches and monasteries
brick church of 1851-1859 in Bieruń Stary, with the image of Our Lady of Bieruń and a Nativity crib
Churches and monasteries
brick church from 1910, a former Evangelical church in Bieruń Nowy
Museums
young local museum with photographs, historic items and exhibitions on the history of Bieruń
Cemeteries and monuments
disused Jewish cemetery with more than forty matzevot from the 18th and 19th centuries, entered in the heritage register
Things to do in Bieruń: three historic churches, among them the wooden Walencinek, a museum on the Market Square and Jewish heritage.
Bieruń is divided into Old and New, and its monuments lie in both parts of town. Churches from many periods dominate, so it is a route for architecture lovers, and also for anyone who wants to learn local and mining history in a few hours.
Begin with the wooden Church of St Valentine at Krakowska 3, then walk on to the brick parish church in Old Bieruń. The two stand a short distance apart along the same street, so one walk covers both.
Locals call the timber church Walencinek. It stands in a cemetery on the eastern outskirts of the former town and has been a shrine of St Valentine since 2015. It belongs to the Wooden Architecture Trail of the Silesian Voivodeship and was rebuilt after fires in 1971-1972. The Church of St Bartholomew the Apostle is the fourth building on its site, raised in brick after the town fire of 1845 and visible from Krakowska Street.
In New Bieruń you will find the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus at Warszawska 296. It was built in brick in 1910 as a Protestant church and taken over by Catholics in 1922; since 2013 it has been on the register of monuments. More of the same appear under churches and monasteries in Bieruń and architecture in Bieruń.
Two places: the former synagogue at Oświęcimska 453 and the Jewish cemetery in Old Bieruń on St Vitus Street. The synagogue is now a fire station, and the cemetery is no longer in use.
The synagogue was built in the 19th century as a Reform house of prayer. After 1922 most community members left, and a post-war rebuilding erased much of the original look. The cemetery covers 0.21 hectares and keeps more than forty gravestones, the oldest from the 18th century. Inscriptions are in German and Hebrew, and since 2021 the site has been registered as a monument. Entry is free.
Visit the Municipal Museum at Rynek 14. The town council created it in 2018, and its collection falls into historic objects, ethnographic items, photographs and works of art.
The first exhibition showed the townspeople in photographs by Father Mateusz Bielok. An hour is enough for the visit. The mining past of the town is told in an article, the underground strike at the Piast mine in Bieruń, two weeks and a Christmas Eve below ground. Travellers on their own can browse solo trip ideas in Bieruń.
In Old Bieruń you see the churches of St Valentine and St Bartholomew, the Jewish cemetery and the museum on the Market Square. In New Bieruń stands the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Yes, the Church of St Valentine, called Walencinek. It stands in the cemetery on Krakowska Street and is on the Wooden Architecture Trail.
The former synagogue is at Oświęcimska 453 and has served as a fire station since the 1950s. It can be viewed only from the outside.
The Municipal Museum at Rynek 14. Churches also offer shelter, but their interiors are visited outside service times.
