Places

The small wooden church dedicated to the "Entrance to the Church" in Dobricu Lăpușului was erected in the 18th century, being built of oak wood on a stone foundation. The layout of the edifice includes a narthex, a nave and a polygonal altar. The exterior walls are decorated around the entrance door, while the interior painting has been largely preserved, which is in line with the artistic style of the painter Radu Munteanu. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Florin Pop

Erected at the beginning of the 18th century, as a place of worship for an important monastic community, the current UNESCO heritage church was the cathedral of Bishop Gavriil of Maramureş. Born in Bârsana, the bishop patronized a monastery school and a book distribution center there. The events that have taken place in the last three hundred years on the Iza Valley have left their mark on the beams of the church in Bârsana, more than on other monuments.  At the end of the 18th century, the imperial court in Transylvania and Maramureş would impropriate the monastic properties and the close down of the monastic communities. This campaign directly affected the monastic community, which was forced to withdraw to Moldova. Left unprotected, the church would be saved by villagers, who dismantled it piece by piece and, around 1800, would rebuilt it on its current site. For a proper reassembly, the beams bear signs that can be admired today. Standing on a pedestal, the beams carved from large oak trunks - from which the walls were built - were joined at the corners in a "swallow's tail" pattern. For two hundred years, the church has been guarding the peace of the people of Maramureş, buried in the cemetery on Jbârului Hill, to the left of the road that starts from Sighetu Marmaţiei, along the Iza River. The layout of the church is rectangular, composed of four rooms: porch, narthex, nave and altar. The apsis of the altar has five sides, being covered with a simple roof. Above the other rooms of the worship place, the roof has two ridges, housing a balcony to the west. The ornaments and the manner in which the western façade is made are identical to those of the porches of traditional houses. The carved wooden decoration uses motifs common in Maramureş, such as the twisted rope or the solar disk. The whole church seems to be surrounded by a twisted girdle, discontinued by a circle-shaped solar motif. After moving to the village, it was painted by Toader Hondor and Ioan Plohod, the iconography of the monument being considered to be the best expression of Baroque and Rococo in folk painting, in this part of the country. The scenes are depicted within stylized medallions binding the entire iconographic ensemble. The impressive wooden church from Bârsana is an example of perfect stylistic unity and an impeccable artistic sense.

The wooden church "The birth of the Virgin Mary" from Călinești Căieni was made in 1663 from oak wood and later on, in the 19th century, was extended using fir wood. The interior of the church stands out through the set of murals made by Alexandru Ponehalschi.

The church from Dealul Corbului dates from 1801, having been relocated to its current location a century later. During the consolidation works carried out in 1987, the exterior walls of the place of worship were plastered, and the shingled roof was replaced and made of galvanized sheet metal. Inside, the edifice was decorated with paintings made during the years 1901-1902. Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș

A place of worship which was declared a historical monument, this wooden church dedicated to the birth of the Virgin Mary in Hărnicești was dendrochronologically dated around 1679, having a rectangular layout and a multi-storey roof on the sides. Its proportions make it unusual, given that the roof measures ten meters and the tower only nine. Outside, the church is surrounded by a carved belt, while only a few fragments of the interior painting survive. *Photo credit:  CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Rada Pavel

The ancient hearth of human habitation, Iza Valley, is home to several villages whose history is lost in the mists of time. The village of Ieud was part of the domain of Bogdan from Cuhea, the legendary Maramureș voivode who, by conquering the lands east of the Carpathians and declaring independence from the Kingdom of Hungary, later became the founding Prince of Moldavia. According to legend, the Church of Ieud Deal, dedicated to the Birth of the Virgin Mary, was erected in the second half of the 14th century, but recent research dates it to the beginning of the 17th century. Built of fir wood, the monument is a testament, centuries later, of the mastery of carpenters in this region. The layout of the church was adapted to the needs of the Orthodox Christian cult, being composed of three rooms: narthex, nave and altar. The access inside the place of worship is made from the west, through a portal without decoration, recurrent at the entrance to the nave. Natural light penetrates the monument through small pentagonal windows. With only four pentagonal openings, the narthex is dark. The nave, however, enjoys more sunlight, coming from its twelve windows, six placed on each side: three at the lower level and three at the upper one. Above the narthex rises the famous Maramureș bell tower. Unique architectural solution for wooden constructions, the steeple supports a turret covered by a square-shaped coif with a square base, which points to the sky, defying the law of gravity, reminiscent of the audacious forms of European Gothic. The mural painting and the icons dating back to the 18th century give a special value to this monument. The church was painted in 1782 by Alexandru Ponehalschi, one of the most important representatives of the post-Byzantine current in Maramureş at that time. An original element of the Maramureș iconography is represented by the scenes in the nave of this place of worship, which capture the themes of conversion and baptism. It is about the baptism by Deacon Philip of a great Ethiopian ruler and the conversion of the Holy Apostle Paul. A true temple of the ancestral faith and culture, the church in Ieud preserved among its beams one of the oldest manuscripts in Romanian, also known as the "Codex of Ieud". The manuscript currently enriches the collection of the library of the Romanian Academy with its pages, full of spirituality and history. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Rada Pavel

According to the archives, the wooden church "The birth of the Virgin Mary " from Ieud Vale dates from around 1710, while according to the folk tradition it dates back to 1717. The church is surprising in size, being one of the largest wooden constructions in Romania. Another interesting aspect is the legend surrounding its construction, to which it is said that the famous outlaw Pintea the Brave contributed with a bag full of gold. Unfortunately, the painting on the interior walls was largely destroyed. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Rada Pavel

The wooden church "The Birth of the Virgin Mary" in Lăschia was erected in 1861. It observes the particularities of the wooden churches built on a stone foundation, with a high turret, measuring 32 m from the base. The interior walls were decorated by the painter Paul Weisz from Baia Mare in 1870, while the author of the painting on the iconostasis remains unknown. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș

"The Birth of the Virgin Mary" wooden church from Rona de Jos is said to have been built between 1634 and 1644, a fact confirmed by the old church bell, dated 1637 and which was moved to the new church in the village. The edifice is also called the "church with eyes", due to the porch in which eye-shaped openings were cut. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Timur Chiș

Erected in the 19th century, the wooden church "The birth of the Blessed Virgin" has undergone several restoration processes, being covered in shingles and renovated on the outside in 2001. The church turret is only 12 m high, being provided with a closed steeple, above which rises a pyramidal coif with a cross at the top. The interior painting was made in 1862 by the painter Paul Weisz from Baia Mare, being preserved in good condition.

The wooden church "St. Anne" from Coruia dates from 1794 and surprises by its proportions, the high turret, but also the carved ornaments that compliment the entire architecture. The place of worship is the only one in this area with  the turret framed by four other smaller turrets at the base of the coif. The walls are decorated on the outside with a twisted rope belt, while on the inside, the painting made in 1807 has been replaced by another in 1928. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Florin Pop

Dating from the 18th century, the wooden church "Saint Mary" in Fântânele is currently dedicated to "Saint Nicholas", being built of wooden beams on a stone foundation, with the usual floor layout consisting of porch, narthex, nave and polygonal altar. The bell tower has an octagonal coif and is covered with sheet metal, ending at the top with a bulb and a simple cross. Inside, the plastered walls are decorated with geometric and floral motifs.

The road from Baia Mare to Sighetu Marmaţiei crosses the Gutâi Mountains, passing through the township of Deseşti. On these lands stands one of the most important churches of Maramureş, not far from the sources of the Mara River. Erected in 1717 - according to other sources, in 1770, on the site of an older one, this place of worship was dedicated to the Pious Paraschiva and was painted around 1780 by Radu Munteanu and Alexandru Ponehalschi. The architecture of the building is in line with that of the traditional churches of Maramureș, the harmony of its proportions strengthening the impression of simplicity and elegance, specific to these monuments. The upper beams that support the frame are carved in the shape of a ladder, giving the ensemble a special line. The layout of the place of worship comprises a rectangular main body - which, on the outside, resembles the layout of a hall-type church - which consists of a narthex and a nave, continued by the detached altar. The nave has a semi-cylindrical vault and double eaves. Above the ceilinged narthex rises the bell tower with a sharp coif, the entire architectural ensemble being supported on a stone pedestal. Access to the interior of the building is done through a portal inlaid with geometric and vegetal decorative motifs, but also with the element of the twisted rope, a symbol of Christian unity. The exceptionally well-preserved painting has undergone a complete restoration, giving the monument its original appearance. The iconographic themes of Deseşti are common to all churches with post-Byzantine paintings, but here they can be observed much more easily. The narthex develops the theme of the Last Judgment, and here - but also at Poienile Izei - the moralizing valences of this theme can be easily identified. If in the art of Byzantine tradition of previous centuries the main characters painted in Hell were heretics and persecuting emperors, here we can easily see how the theological valences of the scene diminish, carnal sins prevailing over faith sins. Thus, the one who steals land without respecting the border, the one who steals taking advantage of his job as a miller or merchant, or the one who destroys families, become the main characters in scenes that show us a Hell full of torture tools used in the Middle Ages. The value of the monument lies in its technical construction, in the perfect science of execution and assembly of wooden elements. The architectural harmony and the perfect integration of the wooden decorative elements with the iconographic ones created an ensemble of remarkable simplicity and elegance. 

The wooden church "Saint Dumitru" from Larga was erected in 1802, observing a standard layout, composed of narthex, nave and altar. The bell tower, whose coif has pentagonal eaves, rises above the four-sided roof. Inside there are fragments of the painting made by the painter Gheorghe Opriș. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș

Built in the 18th century, the wooden church "Saint Dumitru" from Răzoare stands out thanks to the wood that covers the building on the outside and the wood paneling that can be found inside, covering the bottom half of the walls. The edifice has a nave-type layout, with a closed porch, narthex, nave and detached rectangular altar, a roof covered in shingles and a bell tower with a truncated coif. The interior walls are painted and adorned with traditional icons and traditional towels. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Florin Pop

The wooden church "St. Elijah" in Posta dates from 1675 and is part of the typology of Maramureș churches by its harmonious proportions. Four oak pillars support the porch, while the roof highlights the turret, which is 30 m high. The crosses on top of the turrets are also adorned with the crescent moon symbol, which evokes the Turkish influence. Inside, on the vault, visitors can admire several scenes from the painting made in 1781. The holy doors of the church, adorned with floral motifs, are also of particular beauty.

Although the exact date of its erection is not known, the wooden church "Saint Elijah the Prophet" in Cupșeni dates from the 18th century, observing the classical layout of the churches in this area, with porch, on the western side, narthex, nave and polygonal apsis. As for the interior painting, which is almost completely degraded, the inscription on the altar records the year 1823. The edifice stands out both through the massive bell tower and the staircase that provides access to the tower, whose steps have been carved out of a single tree trunk. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Florin Pop

The wooden church "St. John the Evangelist" dates from 1803 and was built of oak wood, being originally located in the village of Fântânele, and later relocated to the village of Izvoarele, in 1926. Provided with a porch, narthex, nave and altar, the edifice has a roof made of beech shingles and a bell tower whose coif has an iron crescent moon cross on top. The interior walls were painted in 1998. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș

Some sources say about the "Saint Nicholas" wooden church from Bogdan Vodă that it was erected in 1718, on the site of the old church burned by the Tartars, while others mention the year 1754. It is notable for its position, being located in the middle of the village, within the cemetery, and not on the hills, as most of the churches in Maramureș. Another essential feature of the historic monument is its simplicity, the only decorative element of the exterior walls being the carved twisted rope, which surrounds the entire building.  *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Timur Chiș

The wooden church "Saint Nicholas" dates from the 18th century. The monograph of the Lăpuș Archdiocese records the fact that the church was offered as a gift to the faithful people living in Boiereni by those from Suciu de Jos, in 1882. The oak edifice is modest in size, being covered with shingles, and the turret with galvanized sheet metal. Inside, the original painting has been preserved on the vault, in the nave and altar.

Erected in 1760, the wooden church "Saint Nicholas" from Budești Susani is atypical due to its proportions, its narthex being expanded in the 19th century. At the same time, according to the inscriptions on the church doors, the iconostasis is older than the building itself, dating back to 1628. The holy doors preserve paintings in which the influence of Moldovan art can be found. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Karin Lachner

The wooden church "Saint Nicholas" from Cornești dates from 1615, yet dendrochronological research has revealed that the altar was built a century later. It is a classic Maramureș church, first of all because of the two skirts of the roof. The interior is decorated with canvas paintings plastered on wooden walls.

Built in 1870 by the craftsmen Petruț Ioan and Petruț Grigore from Măgoaja, the wooden church "Saint Nicholas" from Costeni has a classical layout, with a porch on the west side, a narthex, a nave and a polygonal altar. The edifice is one of the largest of its kind, with a four-sided roof, a high bell tower with four smaller turrets and a pyramid-shaped coif. On the outside, the walls are decorated at the entrance portal, while inside they are whitewashed in light blue. In 2017, following a powerful storm, the church's spire collapsed. In 2020 the place began to undergo an extensive refurbishment process. 

The wooden church "Saint Nicholas" from Ferești dates from 1798, being built of oak beams. Although its interior is dimly lit, the space surprises with the vivid colors of the paintings that decorate the walls, which went through a restoration process in the first half of the 19th century. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Rada Pavel

The wooden church "Saint Nicholas" in Frâncenii Boiului was built in 1752, the original roof covered with dovetail-shaped double shingles being completely rebuilt in 1830. The exterior walls are decorated with an embossed twist, which accompanies other decorations such as strings of grooves, wolf teeth, semi-alveoli and rosettes. The painting inside is completely degraded, traces of which can only be found in the altar. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș

There are several opinions on the history of the wooden church dedicated to "Saint Nicholas", located in the center of Glod. According to some, it was built around 1700, other opinions placing the building of the church around 1784. The place with Moldavian influences keeps in the altar fragments of the mural painting that is supposed to be the work of the painter Ianoș Opriș. In the patrimony of the church there are extremely valuable icons on wood and glass, crosses, furniture and books. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Timur Chiș

The wooden church "Saint Nicholas" is said to have been rebuilt in 1724, after being destroyed by the Tartar invasion in 1717. It differs from other wooden churches in Maramureș due to the large size of the porch, which is storied and expended, but also due to the positioning of the tower in the middle of the building. The interior of the shrine only has preserved a very small part of the original painting. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Timur Chiș

The wooden church "Saint Nicholas" from Săliștea de Sus, Nistorești, was built of fir wood in 1680 and is currently on the new list of historical monuments. The roof of the building has a double skirt, while the apsis of the altar is rectangular. Inside the church, the mural is partially preserved, and some of the icons can be included in the work of the painter Alexandru Ponehalschi.  *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Timur Chiș

The wooden church "Saint Nicholas" from Sârbi Josani was erected around 1685 from oak on a carved stone foundation. The place belongs to the typology of the Maramureș churches, having a specific partition. The interior of the church still preserves some very old wooden icons, two of them bearing the imprint of the church pilgrim painter, Radu Munteanu. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Rada Pavel

The wooden church "St. Nicholas" in Valea Chioarului dates from the 18th century, being originally erected in Recea locality. From there, the church was moved and rebuilt in Valea Chioarului, during which time it underwent some modifications: the walls were plastered and a brick porch was added. The edifice is an example of Baroque style, having a slender turret with a closed steeple and a tiered coif with a bulb at the base. The original iconostasis has been almost entirely preserved, with only the medallions on the right side missing. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș

Biserica de lemn „Sfinţii Apostoli” din Groape datează din anul 1830 și a fost ridicată inițial în satul Măgureni, fiind strămutată în Groape în jurul anului 1900. Planimetria lăcașului este cea frecventă, având pridvor, pronaos, naos şi altar poligonal decroşat. Atât la exterior cât și la interior pereții sunt tencuiți, fiind pictați doar la nivelul tavanului din pronaos şi a bolţii din naos şi altar. Peste acoperișul din șindrilă a fost pusă tablă de aluminiu, în anul 2009. *Sursă foto: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Florin Pop

Erected between 1809-1819, the wooden church "The Holy Apostles" from Poiana Botizii went through an expansion process in 1920, when a porch was added. The medium-sized shrine, built of oak on a stone foundation, was painted inside in 1906. The roof of the church is covered in shingles, and the tower above the nave consists of a single section covered in planks. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Florin Pop

The wooden church "The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul" in Costeni was built in 1885, having a wooden structure, plastered both on the outside and inside. The coif of the edifice has four turrets and is covered with sheet metal, while the original parietal painting has been replaced in time with a modern one, without preserving the specificity of the time from which the construction dates. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș

At the foot of the Gutâi Mountains, at the intersection of the roads that connect the towns of Baia Sprie and Cavnic, there is a beautiful hilly area, surrounded by mountains. Here, the splendor of nature's harmonies is matched only by the monumental wooden church that rises in this depression. Raised above space and time, the 54-meter tower of the church in Şurdeşti gives the feeling of complete peace between people and nature. The church was built in the middle of the 18th century by the master carpenter Macarie, whose name is preserved in a visible inscription today verandah above the porch. Initially, the place of worship had three rooms: a narthex, a nave and an altar. In the 19th century, a spectacular porch with two rows of arches was added (on the ground floor and upstairs), thus obtaining a harmonious decoration for the western part of the building. A carved belt in the shape of a rope surrounds the monument, and the entrance to the narthex is made through a portal, decorated with the same motif of the rope, but also with solar symbols. In the nave there is another unique architectural element: two columns carved in stone, which support the balcony for the choir. The monumentality of the building is underlined by the way the tower is built. To achieve the astonishing height, the carpenters build a structure with a very generous base, which rests on the wooden walls of the church.  The iconographic appearance of the Greek-Catholic Church in Şurdeşti is similar, stylistically and thematically, to that of the Orthodox Church in Plopiş. The altar was also painted by the painter Ştefan, who uses here in a unique way the theme of the council of the twenty-four elders from the Apocalypse. The nave, it seems, was painted by a certain painter named Stan. The style remains Baroque, and the theme of the semi-cylinder completes the history of the end of the world in the vision of Saint John the Evangelist, so well captured in Plopiş. In addition to the common themes, here one will find the theme of "Jacob's Ladder"; supported by the cloud surrounding the icon of the Trinity, the ladder allows angels to ascend and descend, thus mediating between God and man. The sister churches from Plopiş and Şurdeşti prove over time that the confessional difference, which appeared at the beginning of the 18th century in Maramureş, did not change the way of being of the inhabitants and did not bring radical changes in the architecture of the places of worship or in their iconography.

The wooden church "The Holy Archangels" from Ungureni, a mid-sized place of worship, dates from the 18th century, being built of ash wood, with a specific layout composed of a narthex, a nave and an altar. On the outside, the edge of the roof is decorated with a twisted rope belt. On the southern, western wall and on the entrance door there are traces of the original painting. Inside, the edifice is completely painted, but the painting is very degraded in the area of ​​the narthex. *Photo credit: CJCPCT „Liviu Borlan” Maramureș, Florin Pop