The Pentecost Wooden Church, Dretea, Cluj County

The church has an irregular polygonal-shaped altar (with six sides), massive soles (ten meters long, 50 centimeters wide and 20 centimeters thick), interesting building techniques (logs joined in swallowtail joints by using big en nails) and an unusually shaped tower (a trapezoidal shape instead a rectangular one, placed 25 centimeters to the north instead of being placed in the middle, as is customary for the majority of the wooden churches). The steeple is eight meters high on top of the one-piece roof, which covers the simple porch with small columns and walls that are set on massive soles whose logs are joined in console in the upper part. The small to medium-sized building is an architectural masterpiece that is embellished even more by the sculptural decorations of the front door. The paintings were applied directly on the wooden logs and the wooden boards that cover the ceiling of the narthex, the nave's arch and altar's cupola in 1672 (with the exception of the iconostasis that was painted on canvass in 1742). They are exceptionally well preserved and with high artistic value. The church was built in a period when most people could not read or write and the spiritual language was Slavic and therefore the church was painted so as to be understood by regular people. The entire interior of the church presents the Holy story, considered to be the Bible of the common man. Their mind and imagination were highly influenced by the images of holy scenes and characters as viewed by the traditional artists. Anonomous artists painted the Dretea church according to the ecclesiastical Herminia that is present in all wooden churches. The narthex was reserved for women and presents themes with female characters: on the western wall are painted the Holy Female Martyrs, on the northern wall the Holy Virgins (the prudes, Mary Magdalene, Martha, Mary, Joana, Salome, and Anna) and on the dividing wall between the nave and the narthex to the left of the door, Jesus's resurrection and to the right of the door the three holy women. The ceiling presents an archaic theme of a starry sky with the sun and the moon, named "cosmic Christianity" by certain scientists. In the main part of the nave there are four main themes: the first one presents scenes from the book of Genesis: Eve's creation, original sin, and the abandonment heaven. To the left of the door are painted the Holy emperors Constantin and Helen, and to the right the holy doctors with no silver coins, Cosma and Damian. The second theme presents, on each arch, scenes of the holy military martyrs with medallions of stories from the Passion Week: washing the apostles' feet, Judas's kiss, Jesus to Anna, Jesus to Caiafa, Jesus to Pilattes, Jesus to Irod, Jesus mocked, and the journey of the Cross. The third theme is presented with medallions containing characters of the sky and the creation: the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mother and Baby Jesus, and Holy Cherubs. The altar screen, the most valuable piece of the painted decorations, has stylized scenes: the Crucifixion and the fleeing of the Apostles, with the Deisis scene in the middle. An inscription is painted on the left side of the iconostasis with the following date and text: „This holy front was brought by Nistor Gheorghe and his sons, Gherman and Nistor and Gavrila and their landlady Maria Patrului and we will mention them for eternity, 1742 Anno Domini”. The altar displays scenes with the Eucharist, Isaac's sacrifice, the theory of the Holy Bishops (Saint Archideacon Stefan, Saint Ioan Gura de Aur, Saint Vasile cel Mare) and, on the seven sides of the irregularly shaped vault, the archangels and angels, holy prorocs, the Virgin Mary, angels singing, Jesus, and the Holy Trinity in the center of the dome.