**4. The wooden churches**

The wooden Orthodox churches from Lăpuș Land are an example of remarkable heritage with similar architectural features and interior paintings from the same time frame and region. Their overall beauty, the language of interior ornaments, and paintings once again confirm the invaluable value of national and universal heritage, early messages of anonymous peasant artists. We find a vivid portrait of this area through the diversity of paintings, wooden decorations, and craftsmanship expressed in these medium-sized wooden buildings, equipped with a narrow bell tower erected as high as possible and protected with shingled roofs. This is a vernacular expression specific to the cultural landscape of this mountainous region of northern Romania [24].

Most churches are located on high hills, in gardens with trees, having a cemetery around them or in their close vicinity. They are medium-sized construction spanning between 20 m long and 5 m wide. Their roof is covered with *draniţă*, a wooden shingle specially made by local craftsmen. The heights of the towers differ from church to church. The overall assessment of the buildings was made directly, through visual inspection on site, and indirectly, by consulting local chronicles and other sources or discussions with villagers and museum supervisors. A significant input in identifying the structural and decorative elements was Pamfil Bilțiu's book *"Wooden churches in Lăpuș Land"* [25].

The wooden churches addressed in this chapter have been classified as heritage monuments category: Unesco, A, or B [26].

## **5. UNESCO heritage**

#### **5.1 The wooden church of "Saints Archangels Michael and Gabriel" from Rogoz**

Historically dated to the 17th century (1663)

Official registration: **UNESCO**

Rogoz village, lying on a bright plateau of the land of Lăpuș, attracts attention through its uncontested cultural richness.

Set in a small garden, in the middle of a cemetery, the church of *"Saints Archangels Michael and Gabriel"* from Rogoz was built in 1663, according to the inscription engraved on the front door. The church was built shortly after the old church was set on fire by the Tatars in 1661, fact also indicated by the inscription on the front door. The imposing tower is estimated to have been erected during the restoration works that took place in 1785. The most recent restoration took place in 1961 and was conducted by the Romanian Directorate of Historical Monuments. This church is the most representative of the Lăpuș Land, being registered in the Unesco patrimony. Here we come across elements from the Western Gothic, the traditional Romanian Orthodoxy, and the pre-Christian roots of Maramures. The church is built of massive elmwood beams, closed at right angles and reinforced in places with thick wooden dowels.

According to the Cyrillic inscriptions kept on the altar, the church was painted in 1785, *"In 1785 this holy church was painted during the life of the High Emperor* 

*Joseph II ..."*. The painting works began in 1717: *"Since 1717, the painters being Munteanu Radu from Ungureni and Man Niculae from Poiana Porcului"* (inscription in the nave, on the northern wall) and were finalized in 1785: *"It was in 1785, on June 10 we started to paint this holy church and it is September 11 that the painting was completed "* (inscription in the nave, on the southern wall), the painters being Radu Munteanu from Ungureni (neighboring village of Rogoz) and Niculae Man from Poiana Porcului.

Currently, some scenes are fragmented while others are entirely erased. The painting includes scenes from the Old and the New Testament. In the narthex, the dominant theme is that of the *Last Judgment*, where, hordes of pagans condemned to Hell are represented by figures dressed in Western clothes similar to those painted by Radu Munteanu in the wooden church in Desești (**Figure 2**) [24].

The painting has been restored and it is currently in a good state of preservation. Here we can talk about the patina of painting indeed. The fact that the church has received a superior classification, and the attention paid to careful care, lead to long-term preservation.
