The wood­en church­es of south­ern Lit­tle Poland rep­re­sent out­stand­ing exam­ples of the dif­fer­ent aspects of medieval church-build­ing tra­di­tions in Roman Catholic cul­ture. Built using the hor­i­zon­tal log tech­nique, com­mon in east­ern and north­ern Europe since the Mid­dle Ages, these church­es were spon­sored by noble fam­i­lies and became sta­tus sym­bols. They offered an alter­na­tive to the stone struc­tures erect­ed in urban cen­tres.