Church Orlea Santamaria - Hateg - details and images

The village is located in southwestern Haţegului (Hunedoara county), the old Roman road linking Streiului Sarmizegetusa and place output in depression. He was named to the position surrounded by the Great River Water vomit.

His first church because researchers found out about the Roman era (XVIII), and we owe the first description of a Greek-Catholic vicar Stefan Moldovan (1853), the latter has placed an unlikely but a time of early (between ages VIII-XIII). Church is a medieval monument of great value, both through its architecture, and by painting a mural.

Orlea Santamarie church was built in Romanesque style, later to serve a community of Catholic settlers near Hategului, then, for several hundred years - ie until 1555 - it belonged to the Orthodox Christians, who also painted a Byzantine style to documents to indicate, on 8 March 1559, Martin served as a reformed priest here for four years.

Orlea Santamarie Church, built between 1270 and 1280, consists of a rectangular nave ceiling, unhooked the front west tower, tribune wooden poles on the west wall, and a vaulted rectangular altar cross the ribs.

Because there are several Italian Catholic family in the village and have a place of worship, and they use the old church. Brochure that provides some information about the monument says in conclusion that "currently, the church is a place of prayer not only of the reformed religion, but the faithful Calvinists, Catholics, Greek Catholics, Orthodox and Evangelical."

So, a Catholic church, church over a hundred years and which now belongs to the reformed religion. Reform are but very few in the village, only about seven families, and therefore serves the priest only once a month.

Orlea Santamarie Church for hundreds of years belonged to famous families Cande, who later became, during the Reformation, Kendeffi family. They are the ones who added frescoes and Crucifixion Shrine of the Holy Apostles on the east wall and have erected a balcony on the west wall, where religious services assistants.

They are also those who have added a Gothic window on the first floor of the tower, the bifore and trifore, with columns from the upper floors, being of Roman style and belonging to the first phase of construction. Entering the church-type vessel (interior 14.20 per 8.50 meters), with wooden ceiling, is made by a Romanesque portal with obvious influences of early Gothic.

Inside the church are preserved a vast Santamarie Orlea whole wall, an exceptional value, paintings dating back several steps. The vessel wall paintings and combines Italian style with the Byzantine and Orthodox is the oldest general in Romania - the years 1300-1330.

Preserve the nave walls, in the north, east and south, a large mural whole considered among the most valuable in Romania. Inside is an assembly consisting of three layers of wall painting done in three successive phases.

The first layer, comprising consecratie crosses, even belonging to the church building phase, and second, the work of a painter originally from south-western pilgrim Balkan Peninsula, dated by a fragmentary inscription from 1311, that I may be attributed to the paintings in the nave.

The first pictures are even prior to 1311, each consisting of 10 crosses Catholic devotion - probably 12 at home - over which overlapped with the influential Roman-Byzantine frescoes Gothic, painted in red color tone.

Also remarkable are scenes from the life of Virgin Mary, the Last Judgement, or the wonderful Saint Nicholas, but the scene is unprecedented ascension of the Holy Cross: St. Helena and Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem Holy Cross say they pick up a servant in front of a tomb.

On the south wall of the nave has been preserved monumental image of St. Nicholas, who was with the 1311 inscription, preserved only fragmentary and written in beautiful early Gothic capitals in Latin.

Intimately linked to the sphere of Byzantine art Balkan valuable set of mural painting since 1311, has some Italian influences, due to the artist who painted it anonymously, which seems to come from Serbo-Dalmatian atmosphere.

The third layer represented by the paintings of the altar, due, apparently a local painter and those on the walls in the gallery, due to the formation of a Western pilgrim painter, probably dating from 1400s.

The Holy Shrine is remarkable frieze with six Apostles, represented in the feet, hands the Holy Gospels, Acts procession part of the theme, painting belonging to a late Byzantine style of the mid-fifteenth century.

Altar apse was painted after 1447, the Holy Apostles is painted with the Slavonic written charters. So here are found in a tihnitoare coexistence, with inscriptions in Latin letters of the Cyrillic characters filacterelor apostles.

In the narthex, donors and foundations have called for a master of gothic school, this painting showing their talent Orin votive painting, along with Saint Paul of Thebes or hermitic death.

On the right side of the entrance, on the west wall was found a scene depicting the Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, taking care of lepers, and right in a scene from acleeasi holy life, and a composition with a Latin inscription. Elements of painting are visible and outside the church.

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