Romania Part 4: Not just your ordinary church

 

As indicated in the post about the history of Romania, the main religion is 'Orthodox'. We've yet to 'Google' Orthodox to more fully understand just what this means. Even the smallest village is likely to have a newly restored or renovated Orthodox church. When asking a ‘city tour’ guide about this work, indicating that the government provides the majority of funds for restoration, and which from her perspective was unwarranted when Romania’s roads, schools and hospitals desperately need funding. Nevertheless, they are outstanding buildings, usually gleaming white with murals decorating some of the outside and much of the inside.

 

 

A selection of Orthodox churches

 

 

 

 

The outside (above) and inside (below)

 

 

 

 

The rich history of the country features wooden churches in the Maramures area. The wooden church was the most important building in the village, always surrounded by the cemetery. Doors were made of oak, often intricately carved, and the windows were very small. Some of these churches still remain from the 17th Century, and are World Heritage sites.

 

Intricate wooden shingles covered the roof

 

 

 

Romania is also famous for its painted churches. Intricately painted on both the interior and the exterior, showing both Biblical scenes and also scenes from contemporary life. These frescoes have survived since their painting in the 15th and 16th century, although the exterior has obviously faded more than the interior. We were not allowed to take photographs inside the churches, but every inch of the walls and ceiling were covered. 

 

 

But wait, there's more!  Much to our astonishment we came upon yet another unique church building - the fortified churches. These are 'Evangelical' churches built after the Reformation (1500's). They are surrounded with strong defence walls, and in case of attack they were equipped to enable the whole village to stay inside its confines and survive siege.

Walls and towers outside provided a strong defence, as well as the portcullis gate (below)

Inside the walls there were enough rooms for the village people to live  as well as rooms for storage of foodstuffs

 

 

We were very surprised to find this Lutheran guy depicted here

 

 

Along the wayside, by village houses and on country roads and highways, one sees many crucifixes such as this one, usually well tended with fresh flowers. We are yet to ascertain their exact origin and significance to the locals.