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
medieval stone church of Ciuleşti was documented by archaeological excavations. In addition, several censuses from the last decades of the 18lh century are available.21 As a result, there was possible to reconstruct the whole number of churches and to see how they were correlated to the size of the parishes during this particular period. A special emphasis was put on the last erected constructions. Starting with the general picture of the district, it must be observed, that the parishioners were by far more numerous than the available places inside the churches. For this reason, a great need existed already either for larger church or for the division of the existing parish. Despite this need, the first modern stone-churches were built only at the end of the next century, and in the Coşău valley only after 1989. Entering in the details, it must be noted that some of the churches admitted ail the inhabitants. Around 1760, the old church from Berbeşti, was brought to Vad, providing enough room for this small community. The same thing happened at Hoteni, where the old church of Budeşti Vinţeşti was rebuilt, in 1758. A new adequate church was built at Fereşti with place for the entire community, in 1798. At Călineşti, a new church - capable to take almost the entire community - was completed, after a ravaging fire in 1784. At Budeşti, the new upper church, finished in 1760, complemented well the very large lower church. Not only the new churches, but also those from Comeşti, Sat Şugătag and Sârbi, all built during the 17lh century, had enough room for their communities. On the other side, there were churches that could not admit the entire population of the villages. At Deseşti, the older generation of the believers could take place inside the church, when it was finally erected and painted, in 1780, but not together with the entire young generation. At Berbeşti, the church erected in 1758, supplemented considerably the places of the noble villagers, but the poor ones had to stand still outside. The medieval stone church of Giuleşti, the residence for a lot of archdeans of the district, presents a special case. The crowd problem was eased with the foundation of a small monastery, in 1692, but even so, the parish church was extended with a separate narthex, doubling the number of places inside, in 1768.22 Many villagers, however, continued to attend the services outside. The Timber Churches of Maramureş 1913, 149; Văleni: V. Brătulescu, Biserici din Maramureş, in: Buletinul Comisiunii Monumentelor Istorice (1941), pl. XXIV. 21 The census used here was made between 1767 and 1769. Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Kriegsarchiv, Vienna, Maps Collection, K VII k 18, Topographische Beschreibung des Marmaroscher Comitats anno 1767. Another important census was made under emperor Joseph II, between 1784 and 1787, published in Az első Magyarországi népszámlálás, Budapest 1960, 88-91. 22 Al. Baboş, Mănăstirea Giuleştiului de altădată, in Acta Musei Maramorosiensis (2002). 299
