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| 2726 Wooden churches of Maramureş: 1. Poienile Izei; 2. Şurdeşti; 3. Ieud; 4. Plopiş; 5. Bârsana; 6. Rogoz. |
Posted on 24.03.2013, 01.09.2016
In the entire Carpathian area which stretching from Maramureş (Romania) to Southern Lesser Poland, through Zakarpattia (Ukraine) and Eastern Slovakia, the locals developed over time the craft of building wooden churches. This craft transcends not only the countries borders (which have changed many times throughout history) but also the ethnic affiliation and religious beliefs, such churches being built by Romanians, Ukrainians, Rusyns, Hutsuls, Slovaks and Poles, be they Orthodox, Catholics, Greek Catholics or Protestants. They represented a viable alternative for rural area of the stone churches built in cities.  |
| 0572 The wooden Church in Plopiş |
UNESCO recognized the importance of these churches, including no less than four sites among World Heritage Sites: Wooden Churches of Maramureş (1999) from Romania, Wooden churches of Southern Małopolska (2003) from Poland, Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area (2008), and Wooden Tserkvas (Churches) of Carpathian Region in Ukraine and Poland (2013). All these churches are divided into three parts (the narthex, the nave, and the sanctuary) and include an iconostasis (a wall of icons). The outer shape is often cruciform, but will always include a central dome.
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| 0573 The wooden Church in Rogoz |
The historical Romanian region of Maramureş, partitioned between Romania and Sub-Carpathian Ukraine after the WWII, is situated along the upper Tisza River, covering the Maramureş Depression and the surrounding Carpathian mountains, and had autonomous traditions since the Middle Ages. Its wooden villages and churches, its traditional lifestyle and music, and the local colourful dresses still in use make Maramureş a living museum. The almost 100 wooden churches extant today (about one third of their total two centuries ago), reveal the existence during the 17th and 18th centuries of at least two main family schools of church carpenters.
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