Tracing a Sacred Building Tradition. Wooden Churches, Carpenters and Founders in Maramures until the Turn of the 18th Century
type: CreativeWork
description: The increasing interest in the European historical log construction has heightened the need for comprehensive studies in different parts of the continent to view both the common features and the particular ones. The advanced Scandinavian research has revealed the problems of studying in depth and maintaining the log heritage when links to traditional carpentry are lost. One of the fortunate places where the log building was not interrupted and where a rich heritage in wood survives is the historical region of Maramures, today partitioned between Ukraine and Romania. The main purpose of this work is to trace the tradition of building wooden churches in central and southern Maramures from the beginning of the 16th century to the turn of the 18th century. Since the knowledge used to build the local wooden churches circulated throughout the European continent their understanding is of high interest long outside the region. For the present work the main sources of information are the 42 extant wooden churches, about one third of their total two centuries ago, and the outcome highly relies on their intimate reading. Another major source of knowledge is still saved by a decreasing number of practicing senior carpenters with relevant knowledge and skills in traditional carpentry. The present research was naturally concentrated on the fieldwork, where the investigation of all the extant wooden churches was complemented by interviews with active craftsmen. In search for the main sizes with relevance for their characteristic design, of central importance was to measure at the very base of each construction, the place where the builder evidently had to take key decisions. The present work is arranged in a triangle with the intention to approach the wooden churches from the following three perspectives: the local vernacular architecture, the builders and the commissioners. The first chapter is primarily concerned with the individuality of the wooden churches within the local ver…
abstract: The increasing interest in the European historical log construction has heightened the need for comprehensive studies in different parts of the continent to view both the common features and the particular ones. The advanced Scandinavian research has revealed the problems of studying in depth and maintaining the log heritage when links to traditional carpentry are lost. One of the fortunate places where the log building was not interrupted and where a rich heritage in wood survives is the historical region of Maramures, today partitioned between Ukraine and Romania. The main purpose of this work is to trace the tradition of building wooden churches in central and southern Maramures from the beginning of the 16th century to the turn of the 18th century. Since the knowledge used to build the local wooden churches circulated throughout the European continent their understanding is of high interest long outside the region. For the present work the main sources of information are the 42 extant wooden churches, about one third of their total two centuries ago, and the outcome highly relies on their intimate reading. Another major source of knowledge is still saved by a decreasing number of practicing senior carpenters with relevant knowledge and skills in traditional carpentry. The present research was naturally concentrated on the fieldwork, where the investigation of all the extant wooden churches was complemented by interviews with active craftsmen. In search for the main sizes with relevance for their characteristic design, of central importance was to measure at the very base of each construction, the place where the builder evidently had to take key decisions. The present work is arranged in a triangle with the intention to approach the wooden churches from the following three perspectives: the local vernacular architecture, the builders and the commissioners. The first chapter is primarily concerned with the individuality of the wooden churches within the local ver…
author: Alexandru, Babos
language: eng
keywords: Architecture, vernacular architecture in Maramureº, European log building, church carpenters, founders, sacred building tradition and regional identity., wooden churches, inredningsarkitektur, Arkitektur, interior design
date published: 2004
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:00:02Z
provider: University of Lund
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: History of Architecture