Archangels Wooden Church in Cicău: A Romanian Orthodox Historic Monument
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.8
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Romania
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Habsburg, Hungarian, Principality of Transylvania
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page7 sections
History
The Archangels wooden church in Cicău, Romania, is a Romanian Orthodox church built in 1495 in Transylvania, with Gothic window forms and a history of later alteration. It stands in Cicău village, within Mirăslău commune in Alba County, and is listed as a historic monument under code AB-II-m-A-00203.
Foundation and Early Form
In its first phase, the church consisted of a nave, the main congregational space, and an altar, the sanctuary area. A solid masonry icon screen separated the two spaces. This partition contained two liturgical entrances, an imperial door and a deacon’s door. The church’s early arrangement places it within a group of historic Orthodox buildings whose architectural types have been compared with the Church of Saint George in Lupșa, dated approximately to 1421, and the Church of Saint Paraskeva in Feleac, dated approximately to 1488. Such typological similarity refers to resemblance in architectural form and layout, rather than proof of direct copying.
Western Extension and Later History
After 1700, the nave was enlarged toward the west to form the present narthex, an entrance space at the western end of a church. The original western wall was demolished during this work. Its stone entrance frame was then transferred to the southern side of the new narthex, preserving an element of the earlier building within the altered structure.
By the late twentieth century, the building had reached an advanced state of deterioration. Restoration took place from 1995 to 1998 and was completed in 1998. The work did not include the church’s painted decoration. Before restoration, archaeological investigations inside and outside the church, directed by Gheorghe Petrov of the National Museum of Transylvanian History, revealed 99 graves containing varied funerary goods. These included medieval and modern coins, ornaments, and clothing accessories. The oldest coin was a silver denarius, a small medieval European silver coin, issued between 1479 and 1485 during the reign of Matthias I Corvinus, king of Hungary from 1458 to 1490.
Remains
Plan and Construction
The church is described as a stone-masonry building formed by a nave, an altar, and the westward narthex added after 1700. The altered western end incorporates the earlier stone entrance frame on its southern side. Inside, the masonry icon screen belongs to the church’s original arrangement and separates the main worship space from the altar area.
Windows and Painted Decoration
Six windows illuminate the building, including five Gothic openings with pierced stone frames. The eastern altar window is circular, and its stone tracery, or ornamental framework, creates a quatrefoil, a four-lobed geometric pattern. Four other described Gothic windows are biforate, meaning that each is divided into two vertical openings. Their upper sections close in semicircular forms and contain two or three circular openings.
The interior painting has particular artistic and historical value. The earliest painted layer is especially visible near the altar and dates to the first half of the fifteenth century. A second layer belongs to the eighteenth century and was painted by Ioan Boer of Teiuș. The painted decoration was not included in the restoration completed in 1998.
Burials and Finds
The investigations carried out within and around the church exposed 99 graves. Coins, ornaments, and clothing accessories accompanied some of the burials, providing material evidence connected with the use of the church and its surrounding ground over medieval and modern periods. The silver denarius from the reign of Matthias I Corvinus provides the earliest dated object among these graves, linking the burial evidence to the late fifteenth century.
