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

INVISIBLE FEATURES IN THE DESIGN OF THE TIMBER CHURCHES

OF MARAMUREŞ ‘

Alexandru BABOŞ

During the last two centuries, all over in Maramureş, the growing parishes strove to build ample and lasting stone churches, replacing the admirable but cramped wooden churches of the past. Who would have imagined that, after 1989, a wave of new wooden churches, built “according to the tradition”, would sweep again over Maramureş and, in a few cases, far beyond its borders?' This positive revival, however, raises some imperative questions: Who built the wooden churches in the past and who build them today? Why reviving the old models? And the most intriguing problem is that if everything is so obvious and easy to reproduce, than nothing precious went lost?

Behind all formal patterns, one needs no training to observe that the new wooden churches don’t reach by far the same space quality as before. Unfortunately or not, this failure turns into a clear evidence for the refined but invisible means of creation that, until two centuries ago, played an essential role in the making of a wooden church. The task of this paper is to focuses on the basic features of this architecture. The purpose of this study is to understand and learn how the old master carpenters conceived their buildings, embedding their knowledge in the walls of their constructions.

The relevance of measurements

In order to penetrate the silence of the walls, first of all the main sizes and orientation of the churches must be known. To determine the sizes was evidently one of the most important tasks for a master carpenter, during the

1 A similar but far less ambitious wave of new wooden churches took place in Maramureş at the beginning of the 20th century, after the awakening of the local Orthodoxy when small parishes were established in Săcel, Dragomireşti, Cuhea, Valea Stejarului, Fereşti and in a few other villages. After 1989, the history was repeated when the Uniate Church revived, after five decades of oppression. On the other hand, the present expansion of monastic establishments can be compared only with the period, when the local Orthodox bishops fought against the movement for union with Rome, three centuries ago. One of the most distinguished master carpenters in Maramureş, Ilotico Găvrilă a lu Ilerenta írom leud, build the new parish wooden churches of Vişeul de Sus (1993-1995), Dragomireşti (1997-1998), Ieud-Plopşor (2001) in Maramureş and at Constanţa, Caracas (Venezuela, 1995) and Washington (USA, 1999). Some other local carpenters built the new parish wooden churches of Tisa, Valea Stejarului (1999), Bârsana (1994-1995), Sighet and Călineşti, as well as the wooden monasteries of Bârsana (1993-), Văleni (1993-1995), Valea Scradei (1993), Ieud-Recea (2001), Săpânţa, Budeşti and Botiza (1992). A new wooden church, similar those from Maramureş, was also built at Bucharest.