Biserica ortodoxa din Ieud deal.
Some scholars dated this church as early as 1364, whereas others claimed it had been built after the Tartar invasion of 1717, as was the case with most wooden churches of Maramureş. The most commonly accepted theory, however, states it was built in the XVII century and underwent various restoration and improvement works in the XVIII century.
Today it is accepted that this Orthodox Church, called the church of Ieud Deal (“Ieud Hill”) to differentiate it from the Greek-Catholic one in the lower part of the village, was probably built around 1620 by the local noblemen of the Balea family. This date easily makes the wooden church of Ieud Deal the oldest one in Maramureş, which is but one of the many reasons it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Another important reason is its architectural beauty and harmony. It is a large church, measuring 7.15 m in width and 11.87 m in length.
Inside, mural paintings cover the entire surface of the church. While there is no actual signature of the painter, scholars have attributed them to the renowned Alexandru Ponehalschi. Controversy exists in this respect too, as some claim that, while he did paint some of the icons in the church, probably around 1782, the actual paintings on the wall date back to about 1765, when Mihai Balea, a local squire, commissioned a complete restoration of the church, which might have included either re-painting it or painting it for the first time to complete it. One particularity of the paintings is that the ones in the aisle include texts in Romanian written with Cyrillic characters, containing advice for the faithful.
From west to east the church is composed of the ante-temple (the women’s hall), the aisle (the men’s church), and the altar. The aisle is the main room of the church, as indicated by its high ceiling. Remarkably, the height of the aisle equals its length, which is a feature specific to many other churches erected in Maramureş at the beginning of the XVII century. Also specific is the lack of a verandah; while many old wooden churches have had this added long after they had been built, the one of Ieud Deal was left without.
Biserica ortodoxa din Ieud deal.
Some scholars dated this church as early as 1364, whereas others claimed it had been built after the Tartar invasion of 1717, as was the case with most wooden churches of Maramureş. The most commonly accepted theory, however, states it was built in the XVII century and underwent various restoration and improvement works in the XVIII century.
Today it is accepted that this Orthodox Church, called the church of Ieud Deal (“Ieud Hill”) to differentiate it from the Greek-Catholic one in the lower part of the village, was probably built around 1620 by the local noblemen of the Balea family. This date easily makes the wooden church of Ieud Deal the oldest one in Maramureş, which is but one of the many reasons it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Another important reason is its architectural beauty and harmony. It is a large church, measuring 7.15 m in width and 11.87 m in length.
Inside, mural paintings cover the entire surface of the church. While there is no actual signature of the painter, scholars have attributed them to the renowned Alexandru Ponehalschi. Controversy exists in this respect too, as some claim that, while he did paint some of the icons in the church, probably around 1782, the actual paintings on the wall date back to about 1765, when Mihai Balea, a local squire, commissioned a complete restoration of the church, which might have included either re-painting it or painting it for the first time to complete it. One particularity of the paintings is that the ones in the aisle include texts in Romanian written with Cyrillic characters, containing advice for the faithful.
From west to east the church is composed of the ante-temple (the women’s hall), the aisle (the men’s church), and the altar. The aisle is the main room of the church, as indicated by its high ceiling. Remarkably, the height of the aisle equals its length, which is a feature specific to many other churches erected in Maramureş at the beginning of the XVII century. Also specific is the lack of a verandah; while many old wooden churches have had this added long after they had been built, the one of Ieud Deal was left without.