Barsana Church Monastery Maramures
Barsana is one of the biggest Maramures communes and one of the most famous villages in the valley of the Iza River. Maramures is the area in northwest of Romania whose name is of the Romanian origin and means „Large Mures“. The Orthodox Barsana Monastery is a popular pilgrimage site in Maramures. The Barsana monastic church plan comes as the unique combination of the Byzantine plan and the Gothic forms and includes the entrance gate, the narthex and the nave of a rectangular form, adding the altar’s apse; the exterior seems like a hall, but the inside is divided into separated walls according to the traditional Orthodox ritual. The narthex is very narrow, with low ceiling and with flats over the girders. It is separated by a central door, having no windows.
The church in Barsana village is one of the eight churches on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Built in 1720, the wooden church in the village of Barsana (tracing its name to barsani, the local shepherds who breed long-haired sheep) features some impressive interior frescoes with Baroque and Rococo influences painted by Toader Hodor in 1806. Originally part of the Barsana monastic complex was closed down in 1791 and the church was moved to its present location at the beginning of the 19th century. The outstanding Barsana church boasts an impressive collection of icons painted on glass and old religious books. The Old Barsana Monastery features the 62 meters high steeples which makes it the tallest wooden building in Europe.
