Krempachy: Village Center, Churches and Hiking Trail

Krempachy lies on the right bank of the Białka at the foot of a limestone ridge with Pieniny rock formations. The village’s setting is complemented by a long square in the center, two historic churches and a green hiking trail. If you are looking for hotels in Krempachy, you can match these features to your travel interests: the landscape, village layout, church architecture and hiking offer different perspectives on your stay.

The villagescape of Krempachy

The village is defined by a long square in the center and rows of barns surrounding it. The square and the barns represent two scales of the settlement’s layout: a long central area and an outer arrangement of buildings. If you are interested in the form of a village, you can take both into account rather than describing Krempachy only in terms of individual buildings. The central square shapes the villagescape differently from the rows of barns around it. Together, they create a spatial motif distinct from the church buildings, making the destination interesting to visitors who pay attention to settlement patterns.

Two churches, different architectural styles

St. Martin’s Parish Church has a tall tower with a distinctive swallowtail-shaped top and a surrounding wooden gallery. This gallery is called a hurdis or watch gallery. The interior furnishings provide a separate architectural accent: they are predominantly late Baroque and Rococo. At St. Martin’s, the shape of the tower can therefore be distinguished from the stylistic character of the furnishings.

St. Valentine’s Cemetery Church was built in 1761 on the site of an older wooden church. Its roof design distinguishes it from St. Martin’s: instead of a tower, it has a roof turret and a four-sided, sheet-metal-covered roof. Its main altar features a painting of Saints Stanislaus, Valentine and Nicholas, which comes from the older wooden church. Both historic churches have richly decorated Rococo altars. Their exteriors thus differ while their altars share a common feature; St. Valentine’s also connects the present-day building site and the painting with the former wooden church.

If you would like to see the altars or the interior furnishings, check in advance whether a visit to the churches is possible.

Hiking trail to Niedzica Castle

The green hiking trail to Niedzica Castle runs from Nowa Biała through Krempachy along the road toward Dursztyn. Krempachy is therefore part of a specifically described route, with Niedzica Castle as its stated destination. For trip planning, the trail offers a different focus from the village square and churches: here, the emphasis is on a hike and its named destination. Check trail conditions locally if you plan to follow the route. When looking for somewhere to stay, you can then consider whether to focus mainly on the villagescape and churches or include this hiking route in your trip as well.

Discover more destinations: Bańska Niżna, Trybsz, Obidowa, Łapsze Niżne, Niedzica, Łopuszna, Tylmanowa, Jablonka.

For the broader travel overview: Nowotarski.