BOTIZA wooden church, Maramures County, Romania

by Turist prin Romania

Botiza wooden church, general view

The settlement was recorded in 1373.

The wooden church dedicated to Saint Paraschiva, a patron saint borrowed from Moldavia, was brought from Viseu de Jos and set on the place of the former one around 1699. It was reconsecrated in 1899. Dionisie Iuga and his daughter Aurelia, painters from Nicula, painted the church the same year.

The construction is typical, with large porch supported by pillars decorated at their top with a straight and simply decorated corona. The double roof with bell-tower and watch-tower ends with a spire decorated with a wrought iron cross.

The church is surrounde by a twisted wooden rope frieze at window level under the roof brackets connected to the ornamental ropes that are raised and carved in wood; and found on the frame of the entrance door.

The entrance door is painted on both sides; and the frame is decorated with more of the

The inside of the entrance door

raised and twisted wooden rope decoration on the inside. On the exterior, there are geometrical motifs, rosettes and deep carved crosses, which are painted.

The church had an entrance door with access from the south that opened in the nave. Nowadays this door does not exist.

Above the door between the pronaos and the nave, a wooden corona is fixed. Two eagles are carved in a large board. Saint Elijah’s Ascension (sat in a chariot with two horses) is painted on the parapet of the balcony dated 1899.

T ie painting has entirely deteriorated. The Holy Spirit in a three-coloured circle is painted on the ceiling vault of the Sanctuary. In the centre of the vault a three-coloured frieze is still visible. On the back of the entrance door ”Death”, has been painted with his scythe.

Detail of painting on the Iconostasis

The modest Iconostasis was painted later. The Annunciation is painted at its to . The Holy Doors are decorated in the well-known Maramures style.

A cross is painted on bothsides with angels and The Trinity hangs from the vault of the nave. It is decorated with grape vines and candlesticks, its original purpose being that of a chandelier.

The whole of this building is harmonious. The carved elements are original. They impart messages and ideas that enhance the spiritual needs of mankind.

PHOTO GALLERY

ARDUZEL wooden church, near Somes Uileac

The village was first recorded in 1334.

Arduzel wooden church, general view

The wooden church, dedicated to the patron saints The Holy Archangels, was built in 1650, in Gardani. It was moved to the present site, between 1806 and 1815, when it was enlarged with a porch on the  southern side.

This church is a true architectural jewel due to the harmony of its proportions, the slender outline of the tower, the flared folds of the roof and the massive oak steeple. The walls are built simply with three wide beams, joined at their corners in dovetails. The steep roof is held up by brackets cut into straight steps.

The bell-tower has a hidden watchtower. The balcony is shaped in arcades, covered by a flared spire, with four sides, rounded towards the top. A two-arm cross, decorated with a half-moon in the lower part and another one in the upper part, is fixed on the steeple.

The entrance door is on the southern side. It is enclosed by a porch, which is supported by

Detail

eight carved pillars, asymmetrically Joined to a corona of wooden boards by wedges an fixed with wooden nails.

The parapet of the porch, hidden by broad vertical boards, has at its centre a row of engraved crosses. It also has a railing running along its entire length .

The entrance door is simple, with no decorations. But, the door between the pronaos and the nave has

a massive frame, in an arch . The frame is decorated, on the inside, by a row of carvings and zigzags in high relief. The sides, of the frame are rounded in the lower part and completed with carved crosses.

The vault of the nave is supported, at its centre, by a semi-arch decorated with carvings that go downwards to the floor. The separating wall between the pronaos and the nave has four small triangular openings both at the right and at the left of the entrance door, allowing the women to see the service from the nave.

Detail

The fragments of painting reveal the fact that the painter was really experienced and he knew how to use pleasant and harmonious colors, with a preference for red, golden-yellow, green, black and blue.

priestley vestments

Unfortunately, the painting on the walls is almost completely destroyed. It is still reserved in some fragments on the Iconostasis, in the center tier one with Jesus Christ between the Holy Mother and St. John, and the other Apostles. This row was painted in an authentic Byzantine style, the Apostles being dressed in straight folded clothes that enfolded their bodies perfectly.

There are two beautiful, wooden crosses in this church, used during the service. The painting on one of them is really well preserved.

The access to the Sanctuary is through two doors separated by a broad pillar, made of one piece of wood. This is a clear indication that the church is really old.

PHOTO GALLERY