The wooden churches of Maramureș in the Maramureș region of northern Transylvania are a group of almost one hundred Orthodox churches, and occasionally Greek-Catholic ones, of different architectural solutions from different periods and areas. The Maramureș churches are high timber constructions with characteristic tall, slim bell towers at the western end of the building. They are a particular vernacular expression of the cultural landscape of this mountainous area of northern Romania.
As of September 2023, there are a total of 1,199 World Heritage Sites located across 168 countries, of which 933 are cultural, 227 are natural, and 39 are mixed properties. The countries have been divided by the World Heritage Committee into five geographic zones: Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean. With 59 selected areas, Italy is the country with the most sites; followed by China with 57, then France and Germany with 52 each.
The wooden churches of southern Lesser Poland of the UNESCO inscription are located in Binarowa, Blizne, Dębno, Haczów, Lipnica Murowana, and Sękowa. There are in fact many others of the region which fit the description: "The wooden churches of southern Little Poland represent outstanding examples of the different aspects of medieval church-building traditions in Roman Catholic culture. Built using the horizontal log technique, common in eastern and northern Europe since the Middle Ages..."
Protected areas of Poland include the following categories, as defined by the Act on Protection of Nature of 16 April 2004, by the Polish Parliament:
Carpathian Wooden Churches is the name of a UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of nine wooden religious buildings constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries in eight different locations in Slovakia. They include two Roman Catholic, three Protestant and three Greek Catholic churches plus one belfry in Hronsek. In addition to these churches there are about 50 more wooden churches in the territory of present-day Slovakia mainly in the northern and eastern part of the Prešov Region.
St. George's Church in Drohobych is one of the oldest and best preserved timber churches of Galicia. The church is a monument of Galician wooden architecture of the late 15th – early 16th centuries, one of the best preserved and one of the best monuments of ancient Ukrainian sacral architecture. Built in the 15th century, it has been rebuilt several times and given the final architectural forms by the talented Ukrainian architect Hryhoriy Tesla from Drohobych. The church is part of the wooden architecture department of the Museum of Drohobych region.
Wooden church architecture in Ukraine dates from the beginning of Christianity in the area and comprises a set of unique styles and forms specific to many sub-regions of the country. As a form of vernacular culture, construction of the churches in specific styles is passed on to subsequent generations. The architectural styles vary from very simple to complicated, involving a highly skilled carpentry and exceptional artistry in wood-cutting.
The Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine are a group of wooden Orthodox churches located in Poland and Ukraine which were inscribed in 2013 on the UNESCO World Heritage List which explains:
built of horizontal wooden logs between the 16th and 19th centuries by communities of Orthodox and Greek Catholic faiths. The tserkvas bear testimony to a distinct building tradition rooted in Orthodox ecclesiastic design interwoven with elements of local tradition, and symbolic references to their communities’ cosmogony. — World Heritage Centre
Wooden Holy Trinity Church was built in suburb of Zhovkva, Ukraine in 1720 on the place of a church that burned down in 1717. The structure consists of three wooden naves and a brick sacristy.
St. Michael Church was built in suburb of Uzhok, Ukraine in 1745. The structure consists of three wooden naves and a brick sacristy.
Matkiv is a village (selo) in Stryi Raion, Lviv Oblast, in south-west Ukraine. It belongs to Kozova rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.
Mother of God Church in Chotyniec is a Gothic wooden church located in the village of Chotyniec from the seventeenth-century, which together with different tserkvas is designated as part of the UNESCO Wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine.
Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Church in Owczary is a Gothic, wooden church located in the village of Owczary from the seventeenth century, which together with different tserkvas is designated as part of the UNESCO Wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine.
St. James Church is a Gothic, wooden church located in the village of Powroźnik, southern Poland. It dates from the seventeenth or eighteenth-century. Together with different tserkvas it is designated as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine".
St. Michael Archangel's Church in Smolnik - a Gothic, wooden church located in the village of Smolnik from the eighteenth-century, which together with different tserkvas is designated as part of the UNESCO Wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine.
St. Michael Archangel's Church in Turzańsk ( - a Gothic, wooden church located in the village of Turzańsk from the nineteenth-century, which together with different tserkvas is designated as part of the UNESCO Wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine.
St. Paraskevi Church in Kwiatoń - a Gothic, wooden church located in the village of Kwiatoń from the nineteenth-century, which together with different tserkvas is designated as part of the UNESCO Wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine.
Interior
Interior
Belltower
Belltower
Riverside
