ALL WOODEN CHURCHES OF MARAMURES! LEARN MORE...

The Maramures wooden churches are remarkable examples of well-preserved religious architecture that emerged from the Orthodox traditions and Gothic style influences.

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Description

The Maramures wooden churches are remarkable examples of well-preserved religious architecture that emerged from the Orthodox traditions and Gothic style influences.

The churches show such a high level of artistic maturity and craft skills: they are narrow, tall, timber constructions with characteristic elongated towers single or double-roofed and covered by shingles. The walls of the wooden churches are generally built of oak logs laid horizontally with intricate joints. Because they are an exceptional expression of the cultural heritage of this mountainous area of northern Romania eigth of these churches are included in UNESCO World Heritage List since 1999.

The wooden churches, the nature and the people of Maramures are spiritually connected and have maintained this link to the present day.

Arduzel Church

Year built: 1650
Location: Arduzel is a small village in southern Codru, just beyond the Someş River.
Summary: The church of the Holy Archangels is quite old, as suggested by its simple house-like form and the tall, pitched roof with a single ridge. The Church of the Holy Archangels in Arduzel seen from northeast.Usually, when the entrance is from the south, there is no porch in front of it, or only a small overhang to protect it.
In Maramureş County, full-length porches on the south side are rare, and only here in Arduzel it is enclosed with a rail.
The boards of the rail are decorated with cross-shaped openings.
The interior of the church is very bare, only few traces of the original paintings are visible anymore. A repeating decorative motif is the triangle, which has been used in the small openings on either side of the door between the pronaos and the naos, and on a carved supporting arch of the naos vault.
There are only two doors that lead to the chancel, another indication of the age of the church.

Barsana Church

Year built: 1720

Location: Bârsana, Sighetu Marmaţiei

Summary: Bârsana is one of the bigger communes in Maramureş, and one of the most important villages in the valley of the Iza River. The church is very dark inside. The very small and low pronaos is without any windows at all. The naos is much more spacious, with a high barrel vault, but also here not much light enters. ....see more.

Bicaz Church

Year built: 1723
Location: The village of Bicaz is in the extreme southwest corner of Codru, just before the county road DJ 108 P crosses over to Oaş and Satu Mare County.
Summary: A unitary roof with a single ridge covers the whole structure. The tower with its shingled spire is quite robust and not very tall, but somehow in harmony with the whole.
The entrance to the church is on the south façade. The door itself is made of thick boards, but it is the massive frame that draws the attention.

The interior painting is still partly in quite good condition and the usual compositions can be seen: the horrors of hell in the pronaos, and the life of Jesus in the naos, all painted on a white background.
The doorframe between the pronaos and the naos is worth a mention: it is made of seven different bands painted in red, yellow and green, carved with twisted rope and triangles.

There are two scenes on the south wall of the pronaos, Jesus and the Samaritan Woman, and The Parable of the Rich Fool. The interior walls were painted in 1754 at the request of the founder Pan Vasili Samplonţai of Săpânţa. There is an inscription on the frame of his portrait, which says: “For the forgiveness of his sins and for his deceased parents – in the year 1754 – the noble pan Vasili Samplonţai with his wife Ioana and his seven children”. It is extremely rare to find the portrait of a church founder in a Maramureşean church, while in many other parts of Romania it was the norm already around 1600. Much earlier, as in the 15th and 16th century Painted Churches of Bucovina, the habit had been to paint the ruling prince as the donor of the church, and not necessarily the founder himself.

Year built: 1718

Location: Bogdan Vodă

Summary: The church is one of the most renowned ones in the region, due also to its central position in the valley of Iza, at a crossroads. Unlike most other churches, which stand on hilltops, the church of St. Nicholas is in the middle of the village, in a centre of a flat cemetery yard.   ...see more.

Borsa Church
Year built: 1717
Location: Borşa sits on the upper course of the River Vişeu, 81 km southeast of Sighetu Marmaţiei following the national road DN18.
Summary: The interior was painted by an unknown artist in 1775. The iconographic programme is not very typical for the mural decoration usually found in the historical Country of Maramureş, for the scenes found here are isolated in theme, and there is no logical order to them. A great cultural venue for your First Choice Holidays, Borsa offers preserved beauty at its finest.

Botiza Church
Year built: 1796
Location: Botiza is in the valley of the Botiza River, a branch of the Iza River. It can be reached by following the county road DJ 186 for about 35 km southeast from Sighetu Marmaţiei up to Şieu, and then making a right turn to the DJ 171 A for another 10 km.
Summary: The church itself was built in 1796 in Vişeul de Jos and was transferred in 1899 to Botiza, as the existing church had become too small for the growing parish and she was painted in the fresco technique by Andrei Răileanu between the years 1982 and 1987.  …see more.

Breb Church
Year built: 1531
Location: Breb is a small, secluded village on the banks of a brook called Breboaia, between the valleys of the Mara and Cosău rivers. It is about 25 km south of Sighetu Marmaţiei.
Summary: The Graeco-Catholic church of the Holy Archangels is one of a handful of Maramures churches with a unitary roof that covers the whole building. The impression received is that the church is very long, which is enforced by the rather short tower.

The church was probably built at the end of the 17th century, as its original form with the entrance on the south façade is an indication of its age. Now, in the place of the first door is a window, but the old frame carved with crosses is still in place.
The porch was added in 1845, and the entrance was moved to the west façade.
The enlarged semicircular windows are framed with carved scrolls. The east apse window is unique: four arrowhead-shaped slits pierce one of the logs forming the St. Andrew’s cross.

Budesti Josani Church          
Year built: 1643
Location: Budeşti is situated in the valley of the Cosãu River, 25 km south of Sighetu Marmaţiei, following DN 18 for 12 km and then DJ 109 F.
Summary: The church is famous for objects that belonged to two 18th century freedom fighters against the Austrian Habsburgs: the coat of mail of Pintea the Brave, and the flag of Ferenc II Rákóczi, a Transylvanian nobleman. There are also 15th-17th century icons painted on wood and glass. It is one of the eight churches on the UNESCO World Heritage List. ...see more. 

Budesti Susani Church  
Year built: 1760 
Location: Budeşti is situated in the valley of the Cosău River, 25 km south of Sighetu Marmaţiei, following DN 18 for 12 km and then DJ 109 F.
Summary: The church is rectangular in shape, as usual, with a unitary roof covering the whole building. The roof has double eaves all around. The pronaos was enlarged towards the west during the 19th century, which makes the building longer than most other churches. This also means that the tower is not at the west end, but much closer to the middle of the building. 

Like so many other churches, also the church of St. Nicoară in Budeşti Susani was built on the place of a previous one.
All three were painted around 1550 by an artist that most probably originated from Moldavia.
There are also several icons painted on glass, made in Transylvanian painting centres.
An inscription in a corner of the naos dates the building and painting of the church: “With God’s mercy and the Holy Ghost’s gift, and following the advice of Priest Ionaş, the church was painted by painter Alexandru Ponehalschi, and this holy church was built to praise God and redeem the Christian souls …Year 1760, November, the 10th day”.
The church is rectangular in shape, as usual, with a unitary roof covering the whole building. The roof has double eaves all around. The pronaos was enlarged towards the west during the 19th century, which makes the building longer than most other churches. This also means that the tower is not at the west end, but much closer to the middle of the building.

The original painting was applied on pieces of textile covered with a preparatory layer of limewash. The 19th century paintings were applied on a limewash layer that was spread directly on the wooden logs, and the scenes are not placed in the proper sequence. The original paintings have inscriptions in Slavonic language, while the newer ones have inscriptions in Romanian with Cyrillic letters.
There is no original painting remaining on the naos vault. On register I of the south wall are painted The Last Supper with a horseshoe shaped table in the Hellenistic tradition, The Prayer on the Mount of Olives, The Denial of Peter with a fortress on the background that reminds of Moldavian 15th and 16th century monasteries, The Trial in front of High Priests Annas and Caiaphas, The Mocking of Jesus, and The Crucifixion. On register II are The Crown of Thorn, The Flagellation, The Way of the Cross, and The Hanging of Judas. The other scenes are no longer legible.
The iconostasis is topped with a scene of The Crucifixion. Below it are registers with The Holy Virgin flanked by The Apostles standing in twos holding scrolls in their hands The Great Feasts and the imperial icons.
On the imperial doors is written in Slavonic “These doors were bought by Mariş Vasile with his wife and sons who gave them şto the church] for the forgiveness of their sins. The year 1628”. On the iconostasis are also written the names of the painter Alexandru Ponehalschi and of the founders “Priest Ionaş with his wife Măricuţa and their sons Vasile and Toader and Grigore”.

Calinesti Caieni Church
Year built: 1630
Location: Călineşti is situated in the valley of the Cosău River, at the foot of Gutâi Mountains, south of Sighetu Marmaţiei.
Summary: The wooden church dedicated to the Birth of the Holy Virgin is in Căieni, the eastern side of the village. It stands on a cemetery hill, in a relatively isolated position with an open view towards the village.

Each wall is built with only five oak beams, but the section of each beam is nearly half a metre. The beams are tied with wooden pegs and the corners are joined in an old technique.
Initially, the plan of the church was the traditional one: rectangular pronaos and naos with a polygonal chancel. At the beginning of the 19th century, the church was modified drastically. The whole north wall of the building was moved further north by three metres, which resulted in the lopsided silhouette of today. The new wall was made of fir beams, and naturally the wall paintings of the 18th century were destroyed. At the same time, the unusually large porch was added in front of the entrance on the south façade. The massive entrance door is impressive due to its size and proportions. A cross carved on the lintel is its only decoration.
A roof with single eaves covers the whole structure, but both the chancel and the porch have their own slightly lower roofs. The tower seems very short, although originally it was well-proportioned. The widening of the body of the church meant also that the roof ridge was raised, and now it starts right under the small tower balcony. The original proportions are visible on the west and south sides.

The original floor of the church was made of trodden clay, but the present floor is made of wooden planks for the pronaos and most of the naos. The chancel and the area just in front of the iconostasis, used by the priests, are paved with stone slabs. The slabs are slightly raised and form a platform that delimits that sacred space from the laic space in front of it. Above the platform, two beams also mark the same separation.
There are only decorative motifs and some Seraphs visible on the vault of the chancel. On the walls, on register I are the standing figures of The Holy Hierarchs holding books in their hands, against architectural background. Just above the east window is The Descent from the Cross.
The naos is topped with a tall barrel vault. On it is painted God the Father, with one Seraph above his head and another one at his feet, which is the way the Trinity was initially represented.Up on register I, on the south side of the vault are five scenes from Genesis, some of which are legible, such as The Creation of Adam, The Tree of Good and Evil, and The Banishment from the Garden of Eden. On the north side of the vault are scenes from the Old Testament, Lamech Speaking to His Women, Cain Killing Abel, Eve Spinning Wool, Adam Tilling the Earth, God Speaking to Adam, and Lamech Killing Cain.
The iconostasis was painted by the famous local painter of wooden churches, Alexandru Ponehalschi, in 1764, as were all the original mural paintings inside the whole church. The frontal perspective of the scenes, and the simple architectural backgrounds that simply suggest volumes, show a style that was adapted to small surfaces. It almost reminds of miniatures made for manuscripts. The iconostasis has two nicely carved imperial doors and only one deacon’s door. This is an archaic and smaller form of the structure, but fits well in these small churches.

Calinesti Susani Church

Year built: 1784
Location:Călineşti is situated in the valley of the Cosău River, at the foot of Gutâi Mountains, south of Sighetu Marmaţiei.
Summary: The ground plan of the church is exceptional: its triconch plan shows obvious influence from Moldavia, where this type is the dominant one. In a triconch plan there are three apses at the east end of a church, not only the usual eastern chancel apse, but also the naos has two lateral apses, one on the north side and one on the south.
The access to the church is on the south facade, not on the west one, as is common for most churches in Maramureş. The wide frame is decorated with twisting vines on the vertical posts, and a cross and the date 1784 on the lintel.
The roof has double eaves all around the church, and only the ridge of the chancel is slightly lower than the main roof.
The original mural painting was applied on pieces of textile that had been covered with a preparatory layer of limewash. Unfortunately these paintings were removed from the walls at some point in time, and only a small piece remaining is proof of former existence.
The iconostasis is signed by Nicolae Cepschin and is dated to 1788. Its arrangement is usual. Up on top is the figure of the crucified Jesus, with the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist on either side. Then follow quite rare themes, at least for this location, Archangel Michael and the four Evangelists on one side, while on the other is Cain Killing Abel. Then follow the central figure of the Holy Virgin flanked by Prophets and below her Jesus Christ High Priest in the middle of the standing figures of the Twelve Apostles.

Coas Church
Year built: 1730
Location: The village of Coaş is in the Land of Chioar, about 20 km south of Baia Mare by the county road DJ 182 B.
Summary: Whitewashed walls are made of stone, it has the form of a wooden church with a tall, rather massive, tower and a steep shingled roof.
The church is polygonal from both ends: the west end, where the entrance door is, has three facets, while the recessed east apse has five. It is most probable that the church was enlarged at some point, for on the south façade there are the carved blocks of the frame of a former door.
The interior walls of the church are also plain white, although there are some traces of paintings on the naos vault.

Cornesti Church
Year built: beginning of the 17th century
Location: Corneşti is situated on the right bank of the Cosău River and is part of the commune of Călineşti.
Summary: Dendrochronological research tells that the present church is one of the oldest churches in Maramureş, built in the beginning of the 17th century. Modifications and repairs have been carried out after building, especially during the 18th century, when the murals were painted.

The church is smaller than many of the other churches in the area, which is a sign of its age, as is the fact that the pronaos doesn’t have any windows. The church has a roof with double eaves, which enables the naos to have a relatively high barrel vault. The roof of the chancel is lower than the roof covering the main body of the building.
Toader Hodor of Vişeul de Mijloc painted the interior walls in 1750. He painted also the church of Bârsana, and was the one to integrate the baroque style into the rural painting style of Maramureş. Again, as usual, the paintings were applied on pieces of textile that were covered with a preparatory layer of limewash. The name of the artist is found in an inscription on the south wall of the naos: “It is me, the humble painter Hodor Toader of Vişeul de Mijloc who painted the church so that God remembers him.”

The pronaos has a flat ceiling without painting. The walls were painted again during the first half of the 19th century, which destroyed many of the old paintings and disturbed the initial arrangement of the scenes. The space, which was originally reserved for the theme of The Last Judgment, now portrays evangelic scenes next to the figures of saints.
On the south wall, there are on register I parts of The Last Judgment, and on register II The Escape to Egypt, Anointing the Feet of Jesus, and St. Zosima Giving the Eucharist to St. Mary the Egyptian. The west wall displays The Last Judgment with Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob above the entrance door.

Coruia Church
Year built: 1794
Location: Coruia is in the middle of the Land of Chioar, about 15 km south of Baia Mare taking the county road DJ 182 B.
Summary: The church of St. Anne – the only church dedicated to this patron saint in Maramureş County – is found right by the roadside, surrounded by a cemetery. The roof and the tall spire have been covered with plate metal, which rather spoils the whole.
The solid tower has midway up a band that divides it in two parts, and the very low arcade at the top has a total of five small arches on each side. There are four small turrets at the base of the spire.
The building is made from thick oak beams that are reinforced with pillars along the walls and on the corners, a rather unusual practice. A twisted rope, carved in relief goes around the whole structure.
The interior walls were painted in the beginning of the 19th century, and again 100 years later. The paintings are rather deteriorated, and mostly the walls are covered with framed icons and embroidered towels.

Culcea Church
Year built: 1720
Location: The village of Culcea is about 15 km south of Baia Mare by the county road DJ 182 B. Just south of Săcălăşeni, a small road turns to the right that leads to the village.
Summary: The church looks from far as if it were a stone church, as the wooden walls have been whitewashed. Very originally, they have been decorated with diagonal cross-hatching.
A unitary roof covers the whole rectangular structure, while the ridge over the chancel is slightly lower. At each end of the ridge, there is a small spirelet with a cross.
The entrance to the church is through a porch on the west façade. The four porch pillars are each made from a massive squared log, which are tripartite in the middle. The heavy beam above is carved with a cross and rosettes.
The interior walls are bare and not much remains of the mural paintings. The floor is made with smooth large slabs of stone.

Cupseni Holy Archangels Church, 

Year built: 1732
Location: Cupşeni, is situated 20 km north of the town of Târgu Lăpuş.
Summary: The church is very small, and the whole structure is covered with a unitary roof with only one set of eaves, as is usual for Lăpuş.
The tower is much more imposing than that of the nearby church of St. Elijah, the tall conical roof rising to a surprising height. At the base of the roof are four small pinnacles, also typical for Lăpuş churches.
In front of the west façade and the entrance is a small porch. The six pillars that support the roof and their oblique carved struts form an arcade. A simple archaic ladder carved from a tree trunk leads up to the belfry in the tower.
A fragmentary inscription found inside the church dates the interior paintings to 1823. The iconography of the paintings is similar to the murals of churches of the Cosău River valley.

Cupseni St. Elijah Church
Year built: 1732
Location: Cupşeni, is situated 20 km north of the town of Târgu Lăpuş.
Summary: The church of St. Elijah sits by the main road of the village. It is an extremely small construction, without a porch, with the entrance on the south façade, a short unimposing tower, and a steep roof with only one set of eaves that covers the whole structure.
All these structural features include it in the group of churches that were built after the Tatar invasion of 1717, but before 1733. It was brought from another village and rebuilt in Cupşeni around 1848, by a few families.
The interior of the church is very dark, for the pronaos doesn’t have any windows, and even the naos gets light only from two small openings. The interior murals were painted in 1848 and are well preserved.
The iconography follows that of the nearby Cosău valley churches, but the style of painting brings to mind the Transylvanian icons painted on glass.

Desesti Church
Year built: 1770
Location: Deseşti is in the valley of the Mara River, 41 km northeast of Baia Mare and 26 km south of Sighetu Marmaţiei.
Summary: Due to the harmonious whole and the well-preserved paintings, the church of St. Parasceva has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. ...see more.

Dobricu Lapusului Church
Year built: before 1700
Location: Dobricu Lăpuşului is a small village some kilometres north of the town of Târgu Lăpuş, on the road that leads to Cupşeni.
Summary: The church is polygonal from both the east and the west ends, and the entrance is on the south façade.
The doorframe is rectangular, but on the lintel there is a sharply pointed narrow arch that is surrounded with a carved twisted rope, as are the jambs. At the base of the jambs there are carved rosettes. Another twisted rope goes all around the church façades just under the window level.
The interior painting is not very well preserved, but what can be seen is painted in a charmingly naïve style, influenced by the local painter Radu Munteanu who was active at the end of the 18th century.

Feresti Church
Year built: 1798
Location: Fereşti is situated 15 km south of Sighetu Marmaţiei, at the confluence of the Mara and Cosău rivers.
Summary: The church is an example of the period when the Maramureş style had reached its full maturity. The church is very well preserved compared to many other churches: only the lowest set of logs and the stone floors have been replaced. ...see more.

Glod Church
Year built: 1700
Location: The village of Glod is found by the Slătioara River, up in the foothills of the Lăpuş Mountains, about 8 km from the Iza River Valley.
Summary: The church form is somewhat different from the other churches, for both its chancel apse and its porch are pentagonal.
A wide roof, faceted from both ends, seems to flow around the whole building. The solid walls seem very dark, as the wide rectangular window frames are painted white, and the west façade is whitewashed. The parapet is decorated with hearts in fretwork, as is the low wall of the porch.
The original interior paintings are no longer visible for the church walls are whitewashed.

Harnicesti Church
Year built: during the 17th century
Location: Hărniceşti belongs to the commune of Deseşti. It is situated 44 km northeast of Baia Mare, and 22 km south of Sighetu Marmaţiei.
Summary: Just as in the case of other churches, the construction has been modified in time so that its original aspect has been preserved only in part.
The church was much enlarged in 1893, when a new pronaos was added. The wall between the old pronaos and the naos was removed, enlarging thus also the naos.
In 1911 a porch was added on the south side, in front of the entrance. The old entrance portal, fully decorated with carvings and colours, was moved to the naos entrance. In 1942 the interior was repainted and the old iconostasis replaced with a larger one. In 1972, the tower was moved on the new pronaos.
The church owns some very valuable icons, like The Entrance into Jerusalem, The Ascension of Christ and The Annunciation.
The construction of this church, as well as its modifications, show clearly the nearly scientific attitude that is held here towards the composing of church volumes.
The church was restored in 1999 – 2000, preserving some of the added elements, such as the porch.

Ieud Deal Church
Year built: second half of the 17th century
Location: Ieud Deal
Summary: For a long time it was thought that the present church is that more than 600 year-old edifice, which made it the most famous church in region. It is now known that marauding Tatars set the initial church on fire in the 17th century, and it was totally destroyed. Two 16th century books found in the present church are a proof of the existence of an older church in this place.

The well-preserved architecture, repaired and slightly modified during the 18th century, together with the interior paintings that were made at the end of the same century, meant that the church was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The roof of the main body of the church has large double eaves, while the slightly lower roof of the chancel has only one set of eaves. Above the pronaos rises the solid square tower with a square balcony and a tall conical spire. Eight pillars and eight arches support the spire. The church was quite big for the 17th century, which indicates that the parish was quite large.
The church stands on a small hill on the opposite side of the river from the larger church of Ieud Ses. The interior paintings of the church form one of the best-preserved entities of post-Byzantine mural painting in Maramureş. The paintings were made on pieces of textile that were treated with a preparatory layer of limewash and were then stuck to the wooden logs. The iconographic programme is particularly rich and impressive. The scenes are arranged in registers and each painting is related to the neighboring ones. Not one corner of the church has been left unpainted. The inscriptions are in Romanian written with Cyrillic letters.
Alexandru Ponehalschi, a famous church and icon painter who created an artistic school in Maramureş, painted the church in 1782. He was deeply rooted in the traditions of the Byzantine art, combining the spontaneity of folk art with elements of western baroque. Out of these seemingly conflicting influences Ponehalschi managed to create his own style, and the murals of Ieud Deal are generally considered the apex of his career.
The interior paintings of the church form one of the best-preserved entities of post-Byzantine mural painting in Maramureş. The paintings were made on pieces of textile that were treated with a preparatory layer of lime wash and were then stuck to the wooden logs. The iconographic program is particularly rich and impressive. The scenes are arranged in registers and each painting is related to the neighbouring ones.

Ieud Ses Church
Anul construcţiei: 1718
Locaţia: Ieud Şes se află pe valea Izei, satul însuşi fiind limitat la nord de munţii Ţibleş.
Sumar: Biserica „Adormirea Maicii Domnului” nu este una ortodoxă, ci greco-catolică. Nu a fost niciodată pictată în interior, dar aici este adăpostită o frumoasă colecţie de icoane pe sticlă, făcute în centre cunoscute ale pictorilor de icoane din părţile nordice ale Transilvaniei, multe din ele în centrul lui Necula.
The first mention of the village is in a document of 2 February 1365 that lists gifts of land from the Hungarian King Louis the Great to the local voivode Balc, son of Sas, and his brothers Dragomir and Ştefan. This text specifies places such as Cuhea and Ieud, lands that had been confiscated from Bogdan, the voivode who fled Maramureş, crossed the Carpathians and founded the State of Moldavia. Another mention of the village of Ieud is in a document of 3 December 1419.
One of the most beautiful examples of religious wooden architecture, the church of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin, surrounded by a large cemetery, is placed at the foot of a hill, in the centre of the village.

The church, built in 1718, follows the usual features of such a construction, its plan and structure being quite similar to the church in Ieud Deal. The tower, though, of an appreciable stature, the apparent massiveness of the roof slopes, and the well thought composition of the volumes stress the height of the edifice. These are all features of what has been named as the Gothic of Maramureş, and indeed the church is quite frequently referred to as “the wooden cathedral of Maramureş”.
Apart from icons, there are also pieces of religious furniture and old books made in Râmnic, Blaj, Buzãu, Bucharest, and Iaşi.
It was never painted inside, but there is a beautiful collection of icons on glass, made in famous centres of icon painters in the northern parts of Transylvania, many in the centre of Necula.

Lapus Church
Year built: 1697
Location: Lăpuş
Summary: Documents mention the existence of the church already in 1733, while books and icons belonging to the church are inscribed with 1697, which is the agreed date of construction. Also the constructive typology of the church supports this earlier date.

The dimensions of the church are small. The main body is rectangular, and the polygonal apse continues the line of the naos walls. The entrance door is on the south façade, not on the usual west one. There is also a porch on the south side that runs the full length of the church. From this type of plan follows that the roof is asymmetric, leaning strongly towards south. Under the large eave, on a floor of stone slabs, is placed a long table for commemorative food.
On the south façade there are several carved and painted wooden crosses with a text in Slavonic, dated to the 18th and the 19th centuries. They belonged to the graves of priests deceased in this parish.

An interesting cemetery surrounds the church, with stone crosses from the beginning of the 20th century.
The entrance door to the church is simple in itself, but the flamboyant ironmongery of the hinges decorates it. The doorframe is incised with triangles that form a wide band and several crosses around the door. The lintel is in the shape of three small arches. The frame of the entrance into the naos is another masterpiece of local woodcarvers. The main motif is the solar rosette, which shows traces of polychrome painting.
The painting of the interior walls is visible only in the pronaos in the scenes of The Last Judgment. The painting is made in a graphic style, with features of miniature art.

Laschia Church
Year built: 1857
Location: Lăschia is a village 16 km south of the town of Cavnic along the county road DJ 182 C, by the Cavnic River.
Summary: It was still built in the same local style, although it is larger and the façades are faced with vertical boards. Its most striking feature is the tall, heavy tower with a nearly outsized bulbous top.
Towers influenced by Baroque are quite common in the western parts of Transylvania, but here in Chioar there is only one other, in Valea Chioarului.
The entrance to the church is from the west, where there is a porch that has a very tall rail, almost giving the impression of a closed façade. On the west wall, there are rare exterior paintings, of Sts. Peter and Paul against a white background.
The interior was painted in a naïve style at the end of the 19th century

Manastirea Church
Year built: 1777
Location: Mănăstirea is in the commune of Giuleşti, 16 km south of Sighetu Marmaţiei and 49 km northeast of Baia Mare.
Summary: The roof is one of the few ones in the Country of Maramureş to have only a single set of eaves. There is an inscription carved on the exterior wall of the chancel that says that Priest Pătru founded the church.

The church of the Holy Archangels is the church of the former monastery of Giuleşti. It was built before 1653, when it is mentioned in some documents, and one of the bells was cast in 1679. Dendrochronological research had dated the cutting of the logs to 1609. An inscription on an icon proves that the monastery still existed in 1777. After 1809 the monastery was closed, but the church continued as a parish church for the small community that had grown around the monastery (= mănăstirea).

The church is on a small terrace above the River Mara, with a view over the village. It is built of such thick trunks of oak that each wall is built only with four massive logs. The main body is rectangular and the chancel polygonal. The pronaos has been enlarged, closing in the former open porch.
The church was painted soon after the completion of the construction work, and it was repainted in 1783. There are still some fragments of the initial painting visible in the naos. The repainting is also of high quality, the figures and volumes drawn with finesse. Touches of white were used to highlight the bright areas in the composition. The repainting shows some similarities with the few fragments of murals that are still preserved in the church of Breb.

On the vault of the naos, three are scenes from The Genesis and from The Cycles of Christ’s Life and Christ’s Passion, such as The Good Samaritan, and The Prodigal Son. Unfortunately, many of the scenes are illegible. On the walls the theme continues, and there are such scenes as The Samaritan Woman by the Well, The Resurrection of the Son of the Widow in Nain, The Pious Women at the Tomb, and Jesus Revealing Himself to the Apostles.
On the chancel vault, there is The Virgin Mary with Jesus, with the Child Jesus depicted in a medallion at her breast.

Oncesti Church
Year built: beginning of the 17th century
Location: The church of the Holy Archangels was moved from the village of Onceşti in the Iza River valley to the Ethnographic Museum of Sighetu Marmaţiei nearly 30 years ago.
Summary: The church is a fine example of the typical Maramure[ style, with its rectangular shape, tall shingled roof and soaring tower.
The roof covers the whole church, including the chancel apse, and below it is a narrow skirt roof that also goes around the whole church.
The apse is square, which is an indication of its age, but also of its northern origins, as this type of apse was mostly dominant north of the Tisa River. South of the river, polygonal apses were more common.
The interior painting is not the original, as the church has been moved twice, and in any case it is mostly very damaged.

Plopis Church
Year built: between 1796 and 1798
Location: Plopiş village is situated in the valley of the River Cavnic.
Summary: The walls of thick square-cut oak beams stand on a low foundation made of big blocks of stone. The technique of execution, the harmonious proportions, the carved and painted decoration, and the setting in the village environment justified the inclusion of the church on the World Heritage List... See more

Poienile de sub Munte Church
Year built: 1788
Location: Poienile de sub Munte is situated on the county road DJ 187, 16 km northeast from the national road linking Vişeul de Sus and Sighetu Marmaţiei.
Summary: The church of the Transfiguration was built in a mixture of two traditional styles: most of the building looks very much like the traditional wooden churches of Maramureş do. But, the widely flaring single eaves and especially the bell-shaped roof of the tower show Ruthenian influences.
Together with Ruscova and Repedea, it has one of the biggest communities of Ukrainians in Maramureş. In 1948, the Government decided to abolish the Graeco-Catholic Church and most Ukrainians adopted the Orthodox religion. They had their own Vicariate in Sighetu Marmaţiei until 1952, when it was transformed into a Protopopiate based in Poienile de sub Munte.
The church is rectangular in shape with a pentagonal chancel apse at the east end. The chancel is covered by a lower roof than the rest of the church. There is an open porch on the west façade. Also the position of the church, placed in the middle of an open yard, on flat land, is quite uncommon.

Poienile Izei Church
Year built: 1604-1632
Location: Poienile Izei
Summary: The church was built with fir beams. The square chancel is narrower than the rectangular plan of the main body of the church, as is typical for the older churches. From constructional details it has been deduced that the original church was much lower, and that it was made higher in the 18th century. The church is one of the eight churches on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
A roof with double eaves covers the church, although the chancel has its own slightly lower roof, as is usual. The porch, which was added at a later date, is covered with its own protruding roofing. A tall tower with a conical roof crowns the church.
Gheorghe of Dragomireşti painted the church in the post-Byzantine tradition in 1794. The paintings are very well preserved, and include big scenes in simple frames. The colours is more important for the unity of the paintings than the actual composition of the scenes. The painted inscriptions are full of information on the period when the Habsburg Emperor Francis ruled.

The entrance to the church is through beautifully painted double doors, whose upper part shows the figures of Saints Peter and Paul, and the lower parts climbing vines. Also the very wide doorframe is decorated with climbing plants and an angel on each side of the door.
The main theme of the pronaos is The Last Judgment, one of the most complex renderings of this theme in Maramure[. Various groups are shown facing the judgment, as usual many foreigners among the damned, such as Turks, Tatars, Arabs and Gypsies, and dishonest people, such as liars, cheaters and the covetous. The scene covers not only the west wall, but also the north and south ones. At some point in time, openings were cut into the wall between the pronaos and the naos to allow everyone in the church to attend the ceremonies.

The interior space of the naos is extremely high. The barrel vault has been narrowed by the use of beams on either side. On the vault there is the representation of The Holy Trinity. On the walls there are the usual New Testament scenes depicting The Life and Passion of Christ. There are also numerous scenes from the Old Testament. A scene, which is unique in the area, represents Jesus as a pelican that feeds its small with his heart’s blood.

Remetea Chioarului Church
Year built: End of the 18th century
Location: Remetea Chioarului is a commune about 20 km south of Baia Mare on the county road DJ 182 B.
Summary: The church is a beautiful example of the classical Maramureş church with its tall, imposing tower.
On the west façade there is a porch that has four solid pillars. The beam above, and the struts that support it, are carved with triple grooves that emphasize the curved arches. Just above the entrance to the porch there is a conical extra roof that projects out of the main roof. The same feature can be seen, for example, in the churches of Coruia and Culcea.
The interior painting, which follows the usual iconography, is quite badly damaged, but still visible in part.

Razoare Church
Year built: 1740
Location: Răzoare is a small village on the banks of the Lăpuş River just 5 km west of the town of Târgu Lăpuş by the county road DJ 109 F.
Summary: The small porch on the west façade was added afterwards, and the entrance to it is uncommonly from the north side.
The slender tower is faced with long boards all along its length, and not with the usual shingles. There are four rather large turrets at the base of the spire.
The interior painting is no longer in good condition. The general feeling is quite light, as the scenes are painted on a white background.

Rogoz Church
Year built: 1663
Location: Rogoz
Summary: The church is famous for its intricate “horse head” consoles that support the roof, and for the woodcarvings on the façades. There is a twisted rope motif that goes around the church, with a circle forming a cross on the façades.
In 1883 it was transferred to Rogoz, to the site of an already existing church, St. Parasceva, built in 1701. On the lintel of the entrance door there is an inscription that refers to the time it was built: “of the period when Transylvania was occupied”.
The church is not the usual rectangle as its western end is polygonal. The chancel is much narrower than the main body of the church, and it is also polygonal. The entrance door is on the south façade. The roof is wide and asymmetrical.
The doorframe is decorated with a twisted rope and its shape is an elegant pointed ogee arch. At the base of the doorframe are incised rosettes.
A single-eaved wide roof covers the whole structure of the church, also the chancel. The tower roof is tall and conical, and there are four miniature pinnacles at the corners of the tower, as is usual for Lăpuş. On the tower, there is a band that is made with overlapping layers of shingles, and on the conical roof itself, there are two of these decorative bands.
The twisted rope decoration is also found inside, on the beam that marks the springing of the vault, as well as on the main beam, where it is combined with circles. The western end of the main beam is decorated by an aurochs head with a star on the forehead and incisions on the neck. The horizontal beams that support the roof are decorated with notches and incisions. The iconostasis, a painted wooden chest used as a prothesis for storing the religious objects, and a wooden chandelier with carved bird-shaped ornaments, add to the interior decorations of the church. The mural paintings are only partly preserved. Two local painters, Radu Munteanu and Nicolae Man, made them in 1785, as documented in an inscription. Another such mural writing mentions “the terrifying year 1717 of the time of the Tatars”.

Rona de Jos Church
Year built: 1639
Location: Rona de Jos is situated in the valley of the Ronişoara river branch, 12 km east of Sighetu Marmaţiei by the national road DN 18.
Summary: The church of Rona de Jos is the oldest in a series of similar churches in the valley of the Tisa River, three of them in Maramureş, two others in Transcarpathia, on the other side of the river. The main similarity is the nearly closed porch with narrow half-circular openings, but also the building technique and the small number of windows.

Rozavlea Church
Year built: 1720
Location: Rozavlea is situated about halfway between Borşa and Sighetu Marmaţiei along the county road DJ 186.
Summary: The church gives the impression of monumentality with its tall tower and its sharply pitched roof with double eaves. The polygonal chancel apse is covered with its own slightly lower roof.
The entrance to the church is through an open porch on the west façade. Here is found an extremely rare exterior painting, The Beheading of St. John the Baptist.

Sacalaseni Church
Year built: 17th century
Location: The commune of Săcălăşeni is in the broad Lăpuş River valley, about 13 km south of Baia Mare by the county road DJ 182 B.
Summary: The church resembles a house, with its entrance on the south façade and its unitary tall roof. Only the tall graceful tower and the polygonal east apse reveal its function.
A twisted rope carved in relief encircles the structure, and the wide doorframe is abundantly decorated. The lintel is shaped like an ogee arch, with a carved cross on top of it.
The interior was painted in 1865 by Paul Weisz of Baia Mare, but the paintings are not in a very good condition and they have suffered from leaks of rain water.

Salistea de Sus Church
Year built: 1736
Location: Săliştea de Sus is situated on the middle course of the Iza River, about 50 km southeast of Sighetu Marmaţiei and 25 km west of Borşa taking the county road DJ 186.
Summary: The presence of two towers in a wooden church is unique, and from far gives the impression of two small churches built side by side.
The church has a rectangular plan and a square apse, and the roof has double eaves. There used to be a small porch with pillars on the west façade, but after the Second World War a much larger porch was built in front of the church. This porch is a square structure with pillars, and a second, lower, tower on top of it.
On the wide frame of the entrance door there are still traces of paintings that depict the archangels Michael and Gabriel.

Sarbi Josani Church
Year built: 1665
Location: Sârbi is situated in the valley of the Cosău River, 27 km south of Sighetu Marmaţiei, between the equally famous villages of Călineşti and Budeşti.
Summary: The church was built of massive oak beams of more than half a metre thick in the usual style of Maramureş churches of the 17th century.
Dendrochronological research confirmed a note written by hand on one of the oldest books kept in the church.

Sat Sugatag Church
Year built: 1753
Location: Sat Şugatag is in the valley of the Mara River, 46 km northeast of Baia Mare and 20 km south of Sighetu Marmaţiei, following the national road DN 18.
Summary: Among the wooden churches of Maramureş, the church of St. Parasceva is one of the most monumental ones. The rectangular church plan is covered with a tall roof with double eaves.
he polygonal chancel has a roof with just single eaves. The heavy roof is supported by carved consoles, formed by the crossing ends of the uppermost beams of the walls. The church is an example of the peak of wooden architecture, built in the most creative period of this phenomenon.

Sieu Church
Year built: 1760
Location: Şieu is 37 km southeast of Sighetu Marmaţiei on the county road DJ 186, between the communes of Rozavlea and Ieud. It sits by the Şieu River, a branch of the Iza River.
Summary: The original mural paintings have been dated to the second half of the 18th century, but they were largely overpainted during the first half of the 19th century. They were applied on pieces of textile material that were attached to the walls.
The church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Holy Virgin, was built in 1760, in the place of a previous church, as so often in Maramures.

Stramtura Church
Year built: 1771
Location: Strâmtura is a village in the middle course of the Iza River, 26 km southeast of Sighetu Marma]iei following the county road DJ 186.
Summary: Its aspect is not of the typical Maramureşean wooden church, and it differs from the “standard” in many ways.
The walls of the church are wooden, but they have been rendered and painted white, which gives it the air of a masonry building.
The roof is not steeply pitched, although still covered with shingles. The church seems very long and low, which is accentuated by the even lower roof of the chancel apse.
The tower is also totally different: it is rather low, and doesn’t have a parapet on top of the shaft and a tall spire, as is usual. Instead, the tower is faced with vertical boards, and the balcony is behind vertical shutters.

Surdesti Church

Year built: 1766
Location: Şurdeşti
Summary: The church of Şurdeşti was the tallest wooden church in Europe with its tower of 54 m and a total height of 72 m until a few years back when the new 78 m tall church of the monastery of Peri in Săpânţa was built.
The church is one of the eight wooden churches included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Graeco-Catholic church of the Holy Archangels was built in 1766, proved by an inscription in Cyrillic characters incised above the entrance door. The church, although outside the historical area of Maramureş, is a typical Maramureşean church of the mature period of the style. Although the tower is very tall, the whole is harmonious and nearly reaches aesthetic perfection.
The church is rectangular, with a polygonal chancel apse, as is so usual. The roof has double eaves going all around the church, and the unitary roof covers also the chancel. There is another row of windows between the two eaves. The oak beams of the walls are placed on a foundation of stone.
The tall tower is marked with a ledge about half-way up. There are four small pinnacles at the corners of the roof, in the Lăpuş style.

Valea Stejarului Church

Year built: 1630
Location: Valea Stejarului (Valley of the Oak) it is about 10 km from Sighetu Marmaţiei and 5 km from Vadu Izei by a small local road, in the valley of a small branch of the Iza River, the Valea Porcului.
Summary: The church of St. Parasceva is a smallest (4 m wide and 8 m long ) and the oldest church that exist in Maramureş.
The shape of the church was modified, though, around 1780. Originally, the chancel apse was rectangular, and a continuation of the main body of the church, but at that point it was remade as polygonal and narrower than before.

Valenii Somcutei Church

Year built: 17th century
Location: The village of Vălenii Şomcutei is about 30 km south of Baia Mare taking the E58 to Somcuta Mare and a small country road towards southwest from there.
Summary: The church of the Holy Archangels is in the middle of the village, surrounded by a cemetery.

The church was probably built at the end of the 17th century, as its original form with the entrance on the south façade is an indication of its age.
Now, in the place of the first door is a window, but the old frame carved with crosses is still in place. The porch was added in 1845, and the entrance was moved to the west façade.
The enlarged semicircular windows are framed with carved scrolls. The east apse window is unique: four arrowhead-shaped slits pierce one of the logs forming the St. Andrew’s cross.