EUROPEAN CULTURAL HERITAGE OF MARAMURES

MINORITIES IN EUROPE 2018-2020 ERASMUS+ EUROPEAN CULTURAL HERITAGES MARAMURES COUNTY, ROMANIA

This e-book has been prepared with the contribution of the students: Jenifer Monica Mak (XIA), Maria Pașca (XIA), Iulian Cizmar (XIIA) and Samuel Paștiu (XA) under the guidance and coordination of their teachers Liana Daniela Șimon (school headmaster) and Olivia Pop (project coordinator and English Teacher.)

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The European Year of Cultural Heritage The aim of the European Year of Cultural Heritage is to encourage more people to discover and engage with Europe's cultural heritage, and to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. The slogan for the year is: Our heritage: where the past meets the future.

Cultural heritage shapes our identities and everyday lives. It surrounds us in Europe's towns and cities, natural landscapes and archaeological sites. It is not only found in literature, art and objects, but also in the crafts we learn from our ancestors, the stories we tell to our children, the food we enjoy in company and the films we watch and recognise ourselves in.

Why Cultural Heritage?

Cultural heritage has a universal value for us as individuals, communities and societies. It is important to preserve and pass on to future generations. You may think of heritage as being ‘from the past’ or static, but it actually evolves though our engagement with it. What is more, our heritage has a big role to play in building the future of Europe. That is one reason why we want to reach out to young people in particular during the European Year.

Cultural heritage comes in many shapes and forms.

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Tangible – for example buildings, monuments, artefacts, clothing, artwork, books, machines, historic towns, archaeological sites.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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Intangible – practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills - and the associated instruments, objects and cultural spaces - that people value. This includes language and oral traditions, performing arts, social practices and traditional craftsmanship.

Natural – landscapes, flora and fauna.

Digital – resources that were created in digital form (for example digital art or animation) or that have been digitalised as a way to preserve them (including text, images, video and records).

Through cherishing our cultural heritage, we can discover our diversity and start an intercultural conversation about what we have in common.

At European level, all EU institutions are committed to making the year a success.

The European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, as well as the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee will organise events to celebrate the year and launch activities focusing on cultural heritage.

The objective is to help trigger real change in the way we enjoy, protect and promote heritage, making sure that the European Year benefits citizens in the longer term.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The European Cultural Heritage year in Romania

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 eight 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. The eight ones that were listed by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites in 1999 for their religious architecture and timber construction traditions are: Bârsana, Budești, Desești, Ieud, Plopiș, Poienile Izei, Rogoz, Șurdești.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Barsana Monastery- UNESCO designated WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Barsana Monastery is one of the wooden churches in Maramures, a beautiful synthesis of Eastern and Western European architecture, with Gothic and Byzantine elements, a complex of unique structure built entirely of wood. Barsana is a village in Maramures, on the right bank of the river Iza, located at 22 km southeast of the Sighetu Marmatiei city. Its beauty and uniqueness made it one of the eight churches in the region that UNESCO designated WORLD HERITAGE site.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

The legend says that "Barsan" is a Romanian surname, from medieval times. It means a shepherd with thick long wool. The first church was built in 1720 with a plan that includes: the gate, the narthex and the nave. The exterior reminds of a hall, but the inside is divided into separated walls according to the traditional Orthodox dogmatic. The frescoes are very similar to those of the painted monasteries of Moldavia.

This Wooden Church is the only one with double cornice, the Old Monastery, the tallest wooden building in Europe (62 m tall). The monastery was first celebrated on June 30th 1993, the day of the 12 Saint Apostles, who are now its protectors. Since then, every year on the last day of June, villagers from all over the Mara and Iza Valleys make pilgrimages in order to be present at the religious service here.

The monastery is a working monastery with 16 nuns. Barsana also features a museum opened in 2005.

It is named the Museum Gabriel of Barsana, where tourists can see important collections of icons and old books Nowadays, you can admire the Maramures gate, the church, the summer shire, the house with cells and chapel, the house of the masters, the house of the artists and a more recently arranged museum portraying the Maramures history, culture and civilization.

Barsana is one of the main attractions in Maramures and its included in all of our tours in the Maramures County.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Budesti Monastery - UNESCO designated WORLD HERITAGE SITE

The church of Saint Nicholas in Budești Josani ("Lower Budești") in the village of Budeşti in the region of Maramureș, Cosău valley in Romania is This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

representative of the characteristic wooden churches of MaramureČ™ with double eaves. It is one of eight wooden churches of MaramureČ™ that UNESCO has listed as a World Heritage Site.

Desesti Monastery - UNESCO designated WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Desesti, a small village on the Mara Valley, in Maramures has a fine example of the traditional Maramures wooden church. It is named "Pious Paraschiva" and was built in 1770.

Legend maintains that in 1717, the wooden church of Desesti was set ablaze during a Tatar invasion. The legend continues to say that the location of the current church was chosen by the new altar stone. The consecrated stone was erected in several different places and, each time, it fell over. After five attempts, the stone This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

remained upright, and through its own discovery of stability and peace, determined the site for the church.

According to the inscription on a beam of the pronaos roof, the interior frescoes date from 1780 and were made by the master painter Radu Munteanu from the village Ungureni in the Land of Lapus and of his helper Gheorghe from Desesti.

The cemetery surrounding the church is populated by many Celtic crosses, inscribed in a circle or semicircle and bordered with saw teeth.

Ieud - Monastery -UNESCO designated WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Ieud has two distinctive churches. “The Church on the Hill” was built in 1365 and “The Church on the Plain” was built in 1699. Both were built in the Maramuresan style from pine. These old wooden churches contain paintings on the interior walls as well as glass icons. Ieud has the oldest of all the churches in Maramures and one of the most beautiful. The new church was built after the last Tartar invasion of the region. The paintings (from 1782), show scenes with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob welcoming people in their This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

arms. The Orthodox Church on the Hill was made from fir tree wood, with a double roof and tiny windows.

The wooden churches of Ieud served as the repository for some of Romania’s most important historical documents. “Codicele de la Ieud” (the old manuscripts from Ieud) dates back to 1391. Other religious and historical documents include a breviary written at Targoviste in 1715, a missile written in Iasi in 1759 and a book of prayers written in Bucharest in 1743.

It has the best known paintings of any Maramures church, executed by Alexandru Ponehalski in 1782. The part of the village around the higher church it may be most representative example of the authentic Maramures village.1391 was a reference year for the history of the Romanian culture, being the date of the first text written in the Romanian language -“Codicele de la Ieud” (a manuscript containing old texts).

Buna Vestire Wooden Church is the oldest code of law in Romania written in the Cyrillis alphabet. Ieud is known for the preservation of its traditional customs as well as its traditional architecture. The people here dress and act the same as they did hundreds of years ago.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

PLopis - Monastery - UNESCO designated WORLD HERITAGE SITE

The wooden church of Plopis is also part of UNESCO World Heritage and is devoted to the Saint Archangels Michael and Gabriel, whose celebration every year is held on November the 8th.

The village of PlopiĹ&#x;, situated in the Cavnic Valley, is first mentioned in documents in 1583, as a settlement belonging to the Chioar Fortress.

The inhabitants of Plopis were renowned for their carpentry skills and the fruits of their labors can be found throughout the county. In 1798 the villagers began construction of a new church meant to replace their older house of worship. On the 12th of November 1811, to the joy of the 49 founder-families, the new church was completed.

A document drafted on the occasion of the church's dedication was later found in the abutment of the altar. It was here 49 coins, deposited by each family of the village, were also discovered.

Despite the relatively modest dimensions: 17 m in length, 7 m in breadth and 47 m in height, the church at Plopis is remarkable for its well-balanced proportions, giving credence to the opinion that the church is one of This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

the most united and integrated religious constructions in Maramures. The inscription at the back of the altar icon certifies that the church was painted by Stefan the Painter, in 1811.

Poienile Izei - Monastery- UNESCO designated WORLD HERITAGE SITE

The UNESCO designated wooden church at Poienile Izei, "Pious Paraschiva", is one of the most beautiful and well preserved monuments in all of Maramures.

The church was built in 1604 and is covered on the interior with spectacular frescoes. It contains several scenes of the Last Judgment on its "pranaos" (walls). The scenes depict images of terrible punishments for sins: the liar hanged by his tongue, the witch gored by cows for casting a spell on them, the farmer plowed by two devils This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

for stealing his neighbor's land, the mother forced to swallow her aborted baby, and the person who sleeps while the priest is preaching, is forced to lay on a burning bed and endure the devil's violin.

Rogoz-Monastery - UNESCO designated WORLD HERITAGE SITE

The small village of Rogoz is home to another UNESCO monument.

According to tradition, the church "The Saint Archangels Michael and Gabriel" was built in 1633 from two huge twin trees brought from Dealul Popii (The Priest's Hill). The church seems to have survived the Tartar invasion of 1717 as the Land of Lăpuş was affected less by the danger brought about by the Tartars than the Land of Maramureş.

The uniqueness of the church "Saint Archangels Michael and Gabriel" is given by its southern entrance, This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

asymmetrical roof and horse-head cantilever joints. The ‘Elder's' table covered by the eaves on the northern side of the church has markings corresponding to the families entitled to sit at it. On religious holidays, these families offered meals to the poor in memory of the dead.

Near the "Saint Archaengels Michael and Gabriel" there is another wooden church, called "Saint Paraschiva", which was brought here from the village Suciu de Sus, in 1883.

Surdesti - Monastery - UNESCO designated WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Șurdești wooden church was built in 1721 by carpenter master Makarios, for the Greek Catholic community. It later added a floor porch with two rows arches superimposed. The ship is covered with double eaves, separated by a row of windows.

The construction is distinguished by the high tower of 54 m, ranking among the highest sacral wooden This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

buildings in the world (total 72m). The tower is equipped with gazebo extended outwards, over which rises helmet with four towers. The interior painting was made in 1783 by several painters.

The altar was painted by Stephen of Șișești, the nave by painter Stan and the narthex probably by a pupil of Stan. The narthex retains some scenes on the north wall.

Iconostasis keeps well, but is a more recent, superimposed over the old.

The church is a historical monument, and in 1999 is included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. The church was given back to the Greek Catholics.

This e-book has been prepared with the contribution of the students: Jenifer Monica Mak (XIA), Maria Pașca (XIA), Iulian Cizmar (XIIA) and Samuel Paștiu (XA) under the guidance and coordination of their teachers Liana Daniela Șimon (school headmaster) and Olivia Pop (project coordinator and English Teacher.)

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This e-book reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.