SITE LOG, 1 0 YEARS OF RESTORATION

Episode Two. Support Events

Much of the ten years of work at the wood church in Urși took place according to
the strategy of the Pro Patrimonio Foundation for awareness and community-level
activation/activation within community of the importance and responsibility
towards the architectural and cultural heritage. As a result, emergency or
conservation/preservation work was combined with events (concerts, exhibitions,
working holidays workshops for volunteers, etc.), coordinated by
specialists/professionals, which aimed to highlight/cast light on the small wooden
church and to revive the interest of the parish in patrimony.

2009 and 2014. Small Churches at a Great Festival

The first participation with an impact for public awareness regarding the
magnitude of the degradation phenomenon of wooden churches began at the Street
Delivery event dedicated to urban architecture and culture, in Bucharest in June
2009 (an alarm signal) and June 2014 (an exhibition).

2012. We planted oaks for the future. We protected the church In Urși

It was in 2012 that most widespread intervention was possible: the church was
erected, the foundations were built, and the damaged beams were replaced and
completed. For this purpose, the Astra Museum recommended a team of craftsmen
from Maramures with whom most volunteers worked: 6 series of 8 volunteers (in
addition to craftsmen). For the soles on which the church was placed, 10 oaks were
brought from Botosani, as the local area couldn’t provide the oak to the required
size. For this reason, in the following autumn, an oak planting campaign was
launched attended by the volunteers having worked during summer. 50 oaks were
planted in the schoolyard and in the church neighborhood so that there should be
local raw material in 300 years time.

Moreover, 2012 wsa the year when the Pro Patrimonio Foundation team took the
necessary steps to introduce the Church in Ursi to the World Monuments Fund -
Watch List program The World Monuments Fund international organization
included the wooden churches in Northern Oltenia and Southern Transylvania in
the Watch 2014 program as recognition of the imminent danger threatening these
heritage buildings and in recognition of their cultural and economic value for the
sustainable development of communities .

2013. Heritage Stradivarius for the heritage church

In August 2013, a charity concert followed, generously offered by violinist

Alexandru Tomescu in the very interior of the church at the construction site to
raise funds for restoration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfztXhRxwQY

In addition, in 2013, an exhibition and a lecture were organized at Casa

Mincu/Micu Residence, which highlighted, with the support of architect Mariana
Celac (†), the importance of direct involvement in the rescue process.

2014. Watch Day at the church in Ursi. We inaugurated the local museum

In 2014, with the support of the World Monuments Fund, the international event
dedicated to historical monuments Watch Day took place , a biennial festivity
which celebrated cultural heritage, and was an occasion for gatherings around
dozens of historical sites around the world. In 2014 the wooden churches in
Southern Transylvania and Northern Oltenia were included on the list of the most
threatened 7 heritage sites in Europe .

On this occasion, the Pro Patrimonio Foundation organized a Watch Day event in
the village of Urşi, Valcea County, to draw attention to a little-known architectural
patrimony. Thus, the Museum of the Wooden Church was inaugurated in the
village of Ursi, accompanied by the exhibition: “The Wooden Church in Ursi
Reestablished in the Community".

The Museum, inaugurated in 2014 on the Watch Day, is located in a chamber, in

the village kindergarten and contains damaged items previously replaced, images
taken during the restoration work, explanations on technique, painting and the
church value. The involvement of the local community was remarkable, and the
local priest and the Mayor gave great support to the project.
2016. We wrote a guide for common church maintenance work. Our
Europe/Europe Nostra helped us

The Pro Patrimonio Foundation considered it necessary and useful to draw up a

manual for the rural communities in Romania who want to use and maintain the
wooden churches in their villages properly. Thus, with the support of Europa
Nostra/Our Europe and the European Investment Bank Institute, a guide for
repairing wooden churches in Romanian and English was published and offered
free to priests and local administration. The example of the wood church in Ursi
wass presented as a case study in the chapter on examples of use and maintenance.

Our colleague Raluca Munteanu, an architect, coordinator of the “60 Wood

Churches” Program within the Pro Patrimonio Foundation, was the author of the
book published in Romanian and English.

Biserici de lemn. Ghid pentru lucrări obișnuite de întreținere și reparații, 2016

http://propatrimonio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/1-Ghid-biserici-de-lemn-
2017-r.pdf

Wooden Churches. Guide for common maintenance and repairs, 2017

http://propatrimonio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2-Guide-Wooden-Churches-
2017-r.pdf

Romania is a forested country with a long tradition of wooden constructions,

especially for buildings with religious purpose. These include many remarkable
and well-known monasteries and churches, as well as small wooden churches in
villages, built by traditional means, most of which are neglected and in a poor state
nowadays.

In this context, it was not surprising that the proposal to rescue small wooden
churches in Southern Transylvania and Northern Olternia had selected as part of
the Seven Most Endangered Sites in Europe - 2014 (The Most Endangered Seven
Sites in Europe - 2014 ) developed by the (Our Europe) Europa Nostra / European
Investment Bank Institute / EIBI. The application for recommendation was drawn
by the Pro Patrimonio Foundation under the signature of the Vice President, the
architect Şerban Sturdza.
Following the acceptance of the proposal, a technical mission visited the indicated
site to understand the context and issues before developing an action plan. The
churches included in this program were in different physical states/stages, from
those that could be virtually restored to others that were almost totally collapsing.
In some situations in the latter case, the damage took place in an instant, although
strong resistance structures had been on place not long before.

“I would like to thank and congratulate all those involved in its

realization/implementation, especially the Pro Patrimonio Foundation, through the
Vice President Şerban Sturdza and the architect Raluca Munteanu who coordinated
the whole work.

We hope the practical handbook will help preserve and improve the physical
condition/state of many of these small wooden churches, which are an important
national and even European heritage. We also hope that the guide will contribute to
an exchange of views, encouraging the interest in improving the care of historic
wooden buildings, in general. It could also help encourage sponsors and donors to
support the restoration of wooden churches in Romania as a significant example of
rural cultural heritage. "

Peter Bond, member of the Europa NostraOur Europe delegation in Romania,

consultant for the Institute of the European Investment Bank, Wooden Churches.
Guide for Common Maintenance and Repair Works, Pro Patrimonio, 2016,
extracted from "Postfront")

2012-2018. About fresco restoration workshops. With volunteers everything

seems easier

The process of preserving and restoring the fresco in Ursi was laborious and
complex, taking place on several levels. On the one hand, the restoration of the
painting on the church vault took place at the National Art University of Bucharest
in 2012-2015 with the contribution of the professionals in the restoration
department.

On the other hand, on the site of the Ursi church, ,30-40 volunteers, on average,
were involved each year, from June to October, in groups of 7-8 restorers and
students who worked on conservation of the frescoes, restoration of the exterior
painting and interior painting of the shrine.

In 2017, for the first time, the foundation dedicated a week to volunteers from
abroad so as to encourage cultural tourism and to promote the exceptional value of
the church and the cultural landscape of the area. Seven volunteers of The
National Trust UK, with various ages and backgrounds, helped for a week to
preserve the interior frescoes under the guidance of Ana Chiricuţă, assisted by
Andrei Dumitrescu, painting restorers.

“I went to the church in Ursi in 2015 for the first time. That summer I had an
impressive experience while filling the vault. I felt we had to be cautious about
combining new wood with hundreds of years old wood. The carpenter assembled
the beams with practical intelligence, and if there was a problem, he solved it due
to his expertise and ingenuity. And when this vault was completed, I felt each and
every human who had passed through the church over the years. And that's what
moved my heart mostly. Supported by all the joy, gratitude and cooperation of the
villagers, this project is a much more comprehensive idea that goes far beyond the
actual restoration process. It is not the deeds or the results that move the mind of a
person, but the passion that transcends the human being. It is these encounters and
impressions that have the very power to change my life. Thank you."

(Yumi Nakajima, Japanese volunteer on the site barricades in Ursi)