The "Birth of the Virgin Mary" Wooden Church - Corbești

The Wooden Church “Birth of the Virgin Mary” – Corbești, Petriș Commune, Arad County History, Architecture, and Heritage

🏛️ Historical Monument – LMI Code: AR-II-m-A-00597 In the village of Corbești, Petriș Commune, Arad County, stands one of the old wooden churches of the Mureș Valley: the Orthodox church dedicated to the “Birth of the Virgin Mary”, a historical monument registered in the Official List of Historical Monuments under code AR-II-m-A-00597.

Built during a period when rural communities constructed their places of worship using materials gathered from nearby forests, the church in Corbești preserves to this day not only traditional wooden architecture, but also the memory of those times.

In 1755, records note that the village comprised about 15 houses, but the community lacked its own priest and church. Villagers attended services at the church in Petriș.

Local tradition holds the memory of an even older church located on a spot known as “Dâmbul Bisericii” (Church Knoll). This information should be viewed as local folklore, as no documentation confirming the existence and date of that structure has yet been identified.

A key turning point came in 1783, when the Corbești community formally petitioned the authorities for permission to build a church.

A few years later, in 1793, documentary evidence confirms a church in Corbești through an inscription in an old Gospel book. Historical records and research confirm that a church existed in the village no later than the early 1790s.

Official records date the current church to 1789, while other sources and local documents cite dates such as 1793 or 1795. Thus, the current church is documentarily attested no later than 1793.

🏗️ Architecture – Timber, Craftsmanship, and Simplicity The church is constructed from solid sessile oak and oak logs, materials readily sourced from the local forests.

The structure embodies the hallmarks of traditional timber architecture: hand-worked logs, traditional joinery, and a framework tailored to local conditions.

The plan is rectangular, featuring a polygonal altar apse, with the interior divided into narthex, nave, and sanctuary.

Rising above the narthex is the bell tower—standing approximately 12 meters high—which defines the characteristic silhouette of historical wooden churches in this region.

In total, there are seven windows: three in the sanctuary, two in the nave, and two in the narthex.

The building measures approximately 11–12 meters long by 5 meters wide, reflecting the modest proportions suitable for a small rural community.

🎨 Interior Murals – Nicolae of Lupșa Mare One of the church’s most valuable artistic assets is its interior painting.

The murals are attributed to the painter Nicolae of Lupșa Mare, one of the premier master painters of wooden churches across the Apuseni Mountains and Mureș Valley.

The paintings cover the interior walls, vault, and iconostasis, exemplifying the tradition of itinerant painters who traveled from village to village to create sacred art directly inside local churches.

🔨 Repairs and Modifications Over time, the church underwent several alterations.

In 1890, a major intervention took place when master Nicolae Purcarin of Petriș raised the entire building structure by approximately one meter above the original ground level.

In 1903, further repairs were carried out, and the original shingle roof on the tower was replaced with tiles by master Tóth Ernő from Săvârșin.

Despite time and successive interventions, gradual degradation threatened the artwork over the decades.

🛠️ 2025 – Emergency Conservation Intervention In 2025, the Corbești church underwent an emergency conservation intervention carried out through the Ambulanța pentru Monumente (Ambulance for Monuments) program, in collaboration with Asociația Biserici Înlemnite / The Wooden Churches Association.

The issue was severe: structural wooden elements at the base of the tower were heavily degraded, requiring immediate structural stabilization.

The project involved jacking up the tower to replace rotten oak sill beams and damaged rafters. Craftsmen used traditional hand-tool techniques and joinery so that the new timber blended seamlessly with the historical frame.