Imagine a remote clearing deep in the Beskid forests where, centuries ago, Protestants secretly gathered to pray under threat of persecution. These are the forest churches - some of the most extraordinary heritage sites in Cieszyn Silesia, silent witnesses to the Counter-Reformation era (1654-1709), when a simple rock in the woods became an altar.

Nine such sites survive today across the Silesian and Moravian-Silesian Beskids - six on the Polish side, three in Czechia. Each has its own unique character: a flat boulder on Równica shaded by old-growth forest, an amphitheater carved into the slope of Wysokie near Jaworze, or a modest stone at the fork of a stream in Ostre. In spring and summer these places come alive with services and youth gatherings, while in autumn and winter they fall into a silence that truly lets you feel the spirit of those times.

• Ustroń - the 'Kamień' (Stone) on Równica is reached via the Main Beskid Trail (red), easy route
• Bielsko-Biała - the 'Jan' altar table lies along the red trail to the Stefanka shelter on Kozia Góra, easy route
• Leszna Górna - 'Spowiedzisko' along the black trail from Goleszów to Mała Czantoria
• Nydek - Zakamień accessible via marked trails from the Czantoria shelter

• An annual service is held at the 'Kamień' on Równica on the Gustav Adolf Brotherhood Aid Day (coinciding with Catholic Corpus Christi)
• At 'Spowiedzisko' in Leszna Górna, services are combined with confession and communion - on the last Sunday of June
• Services at Szymków in Wisła Bukowa take place on the last Sunday of August
• The site in Jaworze is officially named 'Uroczysko kultowe' (cult site)

The most fascinating story belongs to the 'Kamień' on Równica - in 1904, on the 250th anniversary of the first services, a spring nearby was enclosed and a commemorative plaque installed, still drawing crowds of worshippers from distant parishes today.