Wooden churches in the Carpathian Basin
The wooden churches in the Carpathians have a building tradition
which is over 1000 years old and which extends into our
own time. On the territory of Ukraine alone there are over
1,800 properties which in their diversity and typology reflect
the history of the different ethnic groups who live there.
Anyone who has ever been to the Carpathians will know what the wooden churches mean for the landscape of this wooded mountain range which forms a wide curve stretching through six countries in South-eastern Europe: the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Rumania and the Ukraine. The unmistakable impression of these examples of folk architecture with their staggered groups of towers, intricate shingle roofs and galleries for the protection of the walls is not easily forgotten. In spite of all their variety, which is the result of differing regional traditions and liturgical requirements, they all have something in common: the use of wood as a building material and the resulting structural opportunities and limits.
In contrast to the Norwegian stave churches for example,
in which all supporting parts of the structure are in a
vertical position, in the Carpathian churches the beams
are usually laid over one another in log-cabin style, i.e.
horizontally. This implies limits for the size of the rooms,
a restriction which is overcome by interconnecting several
rooms and assigning different liturgical purposes to them.
This ‘suite of rooms’ gives the outer structure
the picturesque appearance of a group structure the parts
of which were formed and accentuated differently depending
on the tradition according to which the church in question
was built.
Since the 19th century, wooden structures have been increasingly
on the defensive with regard to stone structures in Eastern
Europe too. More and more of these characteristic little
churches are being abandoned, left to rot or even demolished.
Economic difficulties usually leave the state very little
leeway for securing and preserving them as architectural
monuments independently of the use to which they are put.
Churches in which services are still held often suffer from
the effects of well-meaning but inexpert modernisation.
Taking up a recommendation of ICOMOS (International Council
on Monuments and Sites, expert advisory organ of the World
Heritage Committee), the German World Heritage Foundation
and experts of the Polytechnic University of L’viv
have agreed on the surveying and scientific examination
of six churches located in the Ukrainian part of the Carpathian
Mountains. They have already been entered into the tentative
list of examples of Ukrainian natural and cultural heritage
to be nominated to UNESCO for inclusion in the World Heritage
List.