Page 10 - Transylvania : The Wooden Church Reghin 1725

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE
Parish Priest ilie damian
MICHAEL AND GABRIEL
PATROL ANGELS CHURCH
PETRU MAIOR’S HISTORICAL MONUMENT
IN THE TOWN OF REGHIN, MURES COUNTY
people of Reghin call their community the
The “Town of Violins,” a quintessential name
for a truly beautiful municipality. The Town of Violins is
situated in the vicinity of Bistrita, Cluj-Napoca or Toplita,
thirty-two kilometres from Tîrgu-Mures at the place
where the Mures and Gurghiu rivers converge as they flow
down from the Cãlimanului and Gurghiului Mountains.
Documentation from the year 1228 indicates that the
town was originally incorporated during the reign of Saint
Louis, sometime between the years 1077 and 1095 A.D,
using the name ‘Saxon-Reghin.’ The earliest population
was of Saxon-German descent. However, an influx of
Hungarian and Romanian workers to the region increased
the size of the town significantly as these newcomers
settled on the outskirts of the municipality in areas that
came to be known as “The Maiers.” It was here, at the
margins of the newfound settlements that the Romanian
population of Reghin built a small church for themselves
in 1725. They named their new building the, “Michael
and Gabriel Patrol Angels Church.” The Romanians were
10
assisted in this endeavour by a group of merchants from
Macedonia. One can clearly see Macedonian influence
Reghin
in the construction and style of the Michael and Gabriel
The
Patrol Angels Church, which is markedly different from
Wooden
that of other Romanian churches of the same period. The
ChuRCh
layout is in the shape of a cross, a typical Macedonian
‘Tri-conical’ plan. The construction is of pinewood joists
with an oak-wood sleeper. There is no plaster coating over
the exterior wooden structure. The roof is comprised of a
single, shingled unit. The original church did not have a
porch, tower, or bell but in 1791, Petru Maior, the scholarly
Dean who was serving as Parish Priest at that time, had a
portico and bell-tower constructed, additions that survive
to this day.
The interior of the church consists of a vaulted nave that
measures ten metres by six metres. The ribs of the vault
terminate in the form of the arched apse. Each apse is
three metres by two metres in size. There is a polygonal
altar built across the width of the nave. The altar is a
seven-sided structure with the north and south perimeters
running parallel and built wider than the other sides,
resulting in a spacious interior. The inclusive dimension
of the altar is four metres by four metres. The joints of the
altar and the apses are carved with the greatest of artistry
by anonymous joiners and woodworking craftsmen.
Toader Zugravul, an artist working in the Reghin
vicinity and thereabouts in 1789, painted the artworks on
the altar of the Church. His paintings are done directly on
the wood, with the decoration extending over the