The Wooden Churches of the Northern Part of the Carpathian Basin
HungaryHungarian Min. of Cultural HeritageSecretariat of the Hungarian Committee of the World Heritage.
Carpathian-Basin area
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Description
The first written data of the wooden constructions of the Carpathian-Basin provide information about the construction work started by King Szent László in Transylvania in 1094. The wooden architecture in the eastern region is especially interesting. The different peoples living there represented different cultures. The Western-European architecture meets the Eastern-European architectural culture with its orthodox influence in this area. Naturally, it is true not only about the wooden architecture but it appears in the wooden architecture in a uniquely characteristic way. The major part of the ecclesiastic buildings origins from the eighteenth century, but we can find earlier relics as well. They constitute a special unity which extends over the borders established after the first and the Second World War They belong to the wooden cultures of the area yet they feed on the inter-relationship of cultures thriving side by side.
In its original place exclusively the church of Tákos with a wooden framework and the newer church in Tiszacsécse are the reminders of bygone days in Hungary. However, a big number of specially constructed wooden bell-towers have survived and here stands the biggest tower of the area, the bell-tower of Nyírbátor which was built in 1640. Further towers of significance: Lónya, Zsurk, Uska, Tiszacsécse, Szamostatárfalva, Márokpapi, Vámosatya, Csaroda, Kölcse, Szalonna, Rásonysápberencs, etc.