Surdesti Church
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Year built: 1766
Location: Şurdeşti
Summary: The church of Şurdeşti was the tallest wooden church in Europe with its tower of 54 m and a total height of 72 m until a few years back when the new 78 m tall church of the monastery of Peri in Săpânţa was built.
The church is one of the eight wooden churches included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Graeco-Catholic church of the Holy Archangels was built in 1766, proved by an inscription in Cyrillic characters incised above the entrance door. The church, although outside the historical area of Maramureş, is a typical Maramureşean church of the mature period of the style. Although the tower is very tall, the whole is harmonious and nearly reaches aesthetic perfection.
The church is rectangular, with a polygonal chancel apse, as is so usual. The roof has double eaves going all around the church, and the unitary roof covers also the chancel. There is another row of windows between the two eaves. The oak beams of the walls are placed on a foundation of stone.
The tall tower is marked with a ledge about half-way up. There are four small pinnacles at the corners of the roof, in the Lăpuş style.
