“Adormirea Maicii Domnului” Wooden Church, Techirghiol
- Historic monument A category, code LMI CT-II-m-A-02916
- Techirghiol, Ovidiu Street no. 7
- The beginning of the 18th century. Popular craftsmen from the Mureșului Valley (Transilvania)
Adormirea Maicii Domnului Church is the oldest still functional Orthodox place of worship in Dobrogea. The wooden church was initially built in the village of Maiorești (Mureș county), with the patrons saints Petru and Pavel, then moved by King Carol II (1930-1940) in 1934, on the domain of the Royal Sheepfold, at Pelișor (Sinaia). In 1951, at the initiative of the Patriarch Iustinian, the church was dismounted and relocated to Techirghiol, where a priest’s sanatorium was operating since 1928, founded by Patriarch Miron Cristea. SInce 1951 the patron saint of the church is the current one.
Initially, the plan of the wooden church was rectangular shaped, with the Western side polygonate and the altar’s apse unhooked. After the relocation to Techirghiol, the Patriarchy’s sculptor, Grigore Dumitrescu, added a sculpted veranda and a belltower with a pavilion. The entire edifice was heightened on a pedestal made of stone from Techirghiol. The church’s walls are made out of oak beams about 25-30 thick, horizontally overlaid and jointed together without nails, using a technique specific to wooden places of worship from Transilvania, called “swallow’s tail”. The entire ensemble is surrounded by a median waist with the appearance of a knitted rope, symbol of the Christian community. The imperial doors of the church date back to 1750. Since 1976 and until 2011 Arsenie Papacioc lived and served here.
