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Maramures Wooden Churches

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Maramures Festivals

Year built: beginning of the 17th century
Location: Corneşti is situated on the right bank of the Cosău River and is part of the commune of Călineşti.
Summary: Dendrochronological research tells that the present church is one of the oldest churches in Maramureş, built in the beginning of the 17th century. Modifications and repairs have been carried out after building, especially during the 18th century, when the murals were painted.

The church of St. Nicholas seen from west. In the foreground the carved gate of the churchyard.

The church is smaller than many of the other churches in the area, which is a sign of its age, as is the fact that the pronaos doesn’t have any windows. The church has a roof with double eaves, which enables the naos to have a relatively high barrel vault. The roof of the chancel is lower than the roof covering the main body of the building.
Toader Hodor of Vişeul de Mijloc painted the interior walls in 1750. He painted also the church of Bârsana, and was the one to integrate the baroque style into the rural painting style of Maramureş. Again, as usual, the paintings were applied on pieces of textile that were covered with a preparatory layer of limewash. The name of the artist is found in an inscription on the south wall of the naos: “It is me, the humble painter Hodor Toader of Vişeul de Mijloc who painted the church so that God remembers him.”

The Parable of the Five Wise Virgins and the Five Foolish Virgins on the north wall of the pronaos.

The pronaos has a flat ceiling without painting. The walls were painted again during the first half of the 19th century, which destroyed many of the old paintings and disturbed the initial arrangement of the scenes. The space, which was originally reserved for the theme of The Last Judgment, now portrays evangelic scenes next to the figures of saints.
On the south wall, there are on register I parts of The Last Judgment, and on register II The Escape to Egypt, Anointing the Feet of Jesus, and St. Zosima Giving the Eucharist to St. Mary the Egyptian. The west wall displays The Last Judgment with Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob above the entrance door.