Visits to the traditional wooden churches

The heart of the community beats in Maramureș, as in most rural civilizations, at the village church. People go there for prayer – but also to meet each other and speak about the rites of the place. Centuries after centuries, the church was the place where the important problems of the community were debated and the crucial decisions were made, the village fields were strategically supervised, and people gathered for happy moments – weddings and baptisms – as well as when troubles, fires and invasions came to happen.

Churches are, as it is natural, like places and communities: some are small, almost unknown – such as the one in the village of Mănăstirea; others are imposing on the outside but intimate and warm on the inside, such as those in the Eco Maramureș area – many of them part of the UNESCO heritage. Both the small ones and the big ones keep a whole world hidden in them, which you can feel and understand only if you get close to it with care, patience and discretion.

Churches part of UNESCO heritage

St. Nicholas Church in Budești-Josani

The coat of armour belonging to Pintea Viteazul, the legendary outlaw – a Robin Hood of the place, mentioned in documents from the end of the 17th century – is preserved here alongside a valuable collection of icons on wood and glass dating back to the 15th and 16th century. The wooden church was raised in 1643 and has celebrated its patron saint on December 6 ever since.

On the inside walls of the church – the height of the tower reaches 26 meters – you can still see the craftsmanship of Alexandru Ponehalschi, probably the most famous artist in 18th-century Maramureș. In most of the paintings made in 1762, his personal mark can be discovered: miniature biblical scenes framed with colourful borders. Under the biblical scenes, a number of church ministers can be noticed: Vasile the Great and John Chrysostom, but also Pope Clement and Pope Leon the Great.

You will also find something else here: an architectural detail not seen in other churches in the area – which served, in other times, as an indication that there was a council of elders in the village. We leave you the joy of discovering it.

How to get here: the church is right in the centre of Budești village, across the street from the school
Visiting fee: 5 lei
Keeper of the key: Anca Vlad, museum curator, at the tourist information centre next to the school, or call 0753926075

Desești Church

Also raised from wood, like most Maramureș churches, the Desești Church (included in UNESCO world heritage) is worth seeing first of all for the beautiful painting in the ante-temple, showing the Last Judgment: Moses leading various ethnic folk to the heavenly throne of Jesus – "jids", "turks", "germans", "tatars" or "frânci", as the documents of the time call them.

The altar stone, dated 1770, is also the subject of an interesting legend: it is said that people tried to raise the church in four other places, but the altar stone kept overturning – and that only here did it remain upright. In the graveyard you will find ancient stone crosses framed in a circle, similar to Celtic ones; historians say these are Dacian crosses, the circle being the symbol of the ritual bread.

How to get here: coming from Baia Mare on DN18, turn left in the centre of Desești village on the street that goes up the hill
Visiting fee: 10 lei
Keeper of the key: parish priest Ioan Ardelean, call 0740980224 / 0730004715

Monument churches

1. Saint Archangels Church in Breb – tower dated 1531, the oldest preserved tower of wooden churches in Romania
2. Church of Budești-Susani – 18th century
3. Assumption of the Virgin Mary Church in Călinești Căieni – 17th-century historical monument with a unique painting of the 12 duties of Heaven
4. Assumption of the Virgin Mary Church in Călinești-Susani – 18th century
5. Saint Nicholas Wooden Church in Cornești – 17th-century historical monument
6. Saint Nicholas Wooden Church in Ferești, dated 1700
7. Nativity of the Virgin Mary Wooden Church in Hărnicești – 18th century
8. Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel Wooden Church in Hoteni – 17th century
9. Saint Paraskeva Wooden Church in Sat Șugatag – 17th century
10. Wooden churches of Saint Nicholas (Josani) and Saint Paraskeva (Susani) in Sârbi – 17th century