The Mrukowska Mother of God Chapel

One of the attractions in the area of Mrukowa in the Beskid Niski (Low Beskid) is the chapel of Our Lady called Mrukowska. One should follow the road towards the south to get to the chapel, parallel to which yellow and green trails have been marked out. When we reach the southern end of the village, there will be two options for further wandering - now we can either follow the yellow trail or go towards the shrine visible from here (on the left), cross the Szczawa stream, and follow the road along which in 2000 was led Stations of the Way of the Cross. The founders of the chapel were brothers Jakub and Wojciech Bal from the nearby village of  Samoklęski, and they built it as a double votive offering: for business success and for saving their team together with the coachman - avoiding a tragedy while working in the local forest. The architecture of the monument, erected of hewn stone in 1906, refers to the Gothic Revival style. Inside there are, among others, Our Lady of Help of Christians and the so-called "Burski Kamień," embedded in the wall on the left. It is not the first chapel in this place; the previous one, wooden, stood here in the Middle Ages. According to legend, pilgrims from Stropków (now in Slovakia) carried a figure of the Virgin Mary, carved in wood, to Jasło and rested there. When they put the statue on one of the stones, the foot of the Madonna was imprinted on it, and the stone marked in this way, rejected by the builders of the chapel, miraculously returned to its place. Therefore, it was embedded in the temple, considered from that time to be miraculous and having the power to heal. The figure can also be seen today in Tarnowiec. Right next to the chapel, there is another chapel with statues of the Virgin Mary with Child and St. Józef, also with the Child. There is also a spring here, the water of which is considered miraculous.