Marcu-Istrate, Daniela - Rusu, Adrian Andrei - Szőcs Péter Levente (szerk.): Arhitectura religioasă medievală din Transilvania 3. (Satu Mare, 2004)
Alexandru Baboş: Invisible features in the Design of the Timber Curches of Maamureş
Alexandru BâBOŞ planning of a construction. In the case of a church - the house of worship - these sizes were presumably not accidental. For this reason the present study is based on measurements and documentation in the field. The question of how to measure has central importance. Especially the choosing of the level, where the measurement is taken, and to set the points from where to where are made the measurements. It took long time to understand that the most important measurements were made at the base of the construction, the place where the builder had to take key decisions concerning the entire construction. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, the level to take measurements was not my first concern and therefore I had to measure the churches again and again, trying different situations, learning from previous mistakes and increasing the accuracy. To reach maximal precision it was even necessary to eliminate the gaps between the ground sills caused by settings. Very often, the opposite ground sills were not equal in sizes and therefore each had to be measured to ensure a reliable documentation. Sometimes, I was hindered to take all the main sizes, creating unwanted breaks or approximations. Such situations were usually produced by the missing original ground sills, covered walls, building parts out of reach, vanished floors and other lost original building parts. Finally, due to diverse circumstances, a few churches were never re-measured and therefore, the first measurements were accepted and presented as approximations. This article focuses on 42 extant wooden churches, built during the 17th and 18th centuries in Maramureş, more precisely in the lowlands of the Tisa Valley, and along its southern tributaries. In this area the churches present a remarkable homogeneity. Another 19 vanished wooden churches from the same area, whose main sizes are partly known from various sources, are also integrated into this study. On the contrary, the wooden churches from Verchovyna and the upper basins of Taras and Tisa rivers, erected mostly at the end of 18th century and during the 19th century, presenting distinct or alien features, are intentionally left apart. The three particular wooden churches, built by Moldavian carpenters at the end of the 18th century, inside of the chosen area, are also excluded from the present study. The main idea of this option is to identify the genuine works of the local carpenters and their. All the extant wooden churches were investigated, and in the case of the 3 vanished churches, the ground-plan was approximated, the using the remains on their site.2 The vanished church of Kobyletska Poliana was measured in a haste, a year before it was dismantled and burned. In the case of the other 15 vanished wooden churches, the sizes were taken from various written records, used here only as approximations. Fortunately, the church of Moisei Josani was partly saved during its third erection in Ruscova Oblaz, though only the sanctuary may still maintain its original sizes. Finally, the 2 In Domneştiul Mare, Domneştiul Mic (Ruske Pole) and Crăciuneşti. 288
