Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica

Lutherans in Catholic-ruled Silesia were permitted churches only under harsh conditions — outside town walls, of perishable materials, built fast. The result, at Jawor and Świdnica in the mid-17th century after the Peace of Westphalia, was a miracle of timber framing: the largest wooden religious buildings in Europe, their modest shells hiding gloriously painted interiors. UNESCO inscribed the Churches of Peace in 2001.