Desesti wooden church, general view
The first documents that mention the village as belonging to GiuIa’s son, Dragos, date from 1360.
The wooden church has as its patron Saint Paraschiva, a patron Saint very frequently found in Moldavia, was built on the place of the old one around 1717 or 1770. The church was painted in 1780 by Radu Munteanu and Alexandru Ponehalschi. In 1865 Antonie Serban repainted it, the church having been restored.
The structure is all aligned and consists of Pronaos, nave and a disconnected Sanctuary with five sides. The access to the Sanctuary is through a door on the west side. The frame of the door is rectangular, made of thick beams carved with geometrical and vegetable motifs, framed by the “twisted rope”.
The framework rests, at its corners, on brackets cut in five steps, the top one being
Desesti wooden church, detail
doubled. This bracket continues with a decoration that surrounds the church from one end to the other.
The bell-tower has an extended watchtower supported by brackets fastened in four side pillars. Their arcades imitate the ones found at the bottom of the porch. The parapet in the watchtower is covered by clapboard bordered by a railing decorated with ‘twisted ropes’.
The iconography is specific to all wooden churches built in Maramures. The scenes are framed in brightly colored friezes decorated with vegetable motifs. The picture scenes from The Old and The New Testament, ”The Passion”, ”The Patriarchs’ Tree”, ” Doomsday”, ”The Parable of the Virgins” and so on.
Desesti wooden church, detail
The Iconostasis has three levels separated by a white frieze inscribed with Slavonic texts, and a floral frieze painted by Al. Ponehalschi, who also painted the principal Icons.
The church from Desesti was subject to extensive restorations in 1996, when the beams were changed, the framework was readapted, the spire was given its original shape. There was also an attempt to restore the front paintings, the first one in Maramures.
The Holy Doors are special because of their use of vine leaves and grapes and the medallions painted in heart-shaped frames, which portray the Four Evangelists and The Annunciation.
This ancient monument is a treasure because of the balance and harmony of the structure and its beautiful joints and detailed decorations.
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