# Ieud Hill Wooden Church

[Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) › [Maramureș](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/maramures) › [Maramureș County](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/maramures) › [Ieud](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/locality/ieud)

> The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin on Ieud's rocky hillside, built in 1611–1621, painted inside by Alexandru Ponehalschi and the place where the Ieud Codex was found. A UNESCO site.

[UNESCO World Heritage](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/unesco-heritage)

**At a glance:** Monasteries and churches in Ieud, Maramureș County. Information verified on 7 October 2026.

## Key facts

- **Opening hours:** The church has no fixed visiting hours. Phone the contact person listed by the Maramureș County Council in advance so they can open it for you. The patronal feast is on 8 September.
- **Best season:** May – October — phone ahead
- **Address:** no. 957, on the hill by the DJ186C road, Ieud, Maramureș County
- **Coordinates:** 47.67639, 24.23643
- **Phone:** +40 763 655 924
- **Website:** https://comuna-ieud.ro/2021/04/14/biserica-din-deal/
- **Wikipedia:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ieud_Hill_Church
- **Wikidata:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12722321
- **Categories:** [Monasteries and churches](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/manastiri-si-biserici)

## About Ieud Hill Wooden Church

Ieud is a large village in the valley of the stream of the same name, a few kilometres from the Iza Valley, with two old wooden churches. The older one stands on a rocky slope in the middle of the cemetery, hence its name: the church on the hill. Village tradition, started by the vicar Tit Bud in 1911, dated it to 1364 and linked it to Voivode Balc, lord of Ieud. Dendrochronological analysis carried out in 1997, during the last restoration, showed however that the beams were felled in 1611–1621, when the church was built by the noble Balea family. Even so, it is one of the oldest wooden churches surviving in Maramureș.

From the outside it is austere: a body of spruce logs on oak sills, with no porch, under a tall shingle roof with double eaves and a bell tower above the narthex, repaired in 1827. In 1921 the village priest found the Ieud Codex in its attic, a religious manuscript counted among the oldest texts written in Romanian; its dating is disputed, and the original is kept at the Library of the Romanian Academy. Since 1999 the church has been one of the eight components of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Wooden Churches of Maramureș".

### What you can see

The interior is entirely covered in paintings, attributed to the Maramureș church painter Alexandru Ponehalschi and made in the second half of the 18th century, after the renovation of 1764–1765; they were restored in 2007–2009. In the narthex, where the women stood, the Last Judgement is painted, with sinners consumed by flames, and arched openings in the wall look through to the nave. The nave has a high vault, as tall as the nave is wide, and the sanctuary wall is taken up by the painted iconostasis, with the Crucifixion at the top and rows of apostles and prophets beneath. The church also keeps many old icons, a good number of them also painted by Ponehalschi. Outside, in the cemetery ringed by a stone wall, you can see the wooden bell tower in one corner of the enclosure and the 14 small masonry shrines of the Way of the Cross, from the early 20th century.

### Good to know

The village has a second wooden church with the same dedication, the Ieud Șes (valley) church, built around 1718 about half a kilometre to the west: it is a listed historic monument but not part of the UNESCO site. The church on the hill has no fixed opening hours; it is usually locked, and to visit you phone the contact person in advance.

## Don't miss

- The Last Judgement painted on the narthex walls, with sinners consumed by flames.
- The iconostasis painted by Alexandru Ponehalschi, with the Crucifixion above rows of apostles and prophets.
- The attic where the Ieud Codex was found in 1921.
- The cemetery with its wooden crosses, the separate bell tower and the small masonry shrines of the Way of the Cross.

## Good to know before you go

### Getting there

**By car:** from Sighetu Marmației take the DN18 to Vadu Izei, then the DJ186 up the Iza Valley through Bârsana and Rozavlea; for Ieud you leave the main road before Bogdan Vodă. It is ~45 km (~1 hour). Baia Mare is ~90 km away (~1 hour 45 minutes), over the Gutâi Pass. The church is on the hill above the road through the village.

**Public transport:** the nearest railway station is Sighetu Marmației; we could not confirm a regular connection from there to Ieud, so a taxi or car is the safer option.

### Rules

This is a working parish church: dress modestly and keep quiet during services. Ask the person who opens it whether you may take photos inside.

## Details

- **Construction period:** 1611–1621
- **Founder:** the noble Balea family
- **Dedication:** Nativity of the Virgin
- **Denomination:** Orthodox
- **Architectural style:** Maramureș vernacular

## Frequently asked questions about Ieud Hill Wooden Church

**How do I get to Ieud Hill Wooden Church?**

Ieud Hill Wooden Church is located at no. 957, on the hill by the DJ186C road, Ieud, Maramureș County. By car: from Sighetu Marmației take the DN18 to Vadu Izei, then the DJ186 up the Iza Valley through Bârsana and Rozavlea; for Ieud you leave the main road before Bogdan Vodă. It is ~45 km (~1 hour). Baia Mare is ~90 km away (~1 hour 45 minutes), over the Gutâi Pass. The church is on the hill above the road through the village. Public transport: the nearest railway station is Sighetu Marmației; we could not confirm a regular connection from there to Ieud, so a taxi or car is the safer option.

**When is the best time to visit Ieud Hill Wooden Church?**

The best season for Ieud Hill Wooden Church: May – October (phone ahead).

## Nearby attractions

- [Wooden Church of Poienile Izei](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-poienile-izei) — Monasteries and churches · Poienile Izei, MM · UNESCO World Heritage · 12 km
  An early 17th-century wooden church in the village cemetery, with the best-known depiction of Hell in Maramureș: devils, torments and village sins, painted in 1793–1794.
- [Bârsana Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-barsana) — Monasteries and churches · Bârsana, MM · 30 min · UNESCO World Heritage · 27 km
  Bârsana's old wooden church, dating from 1711, stands on Jbâr Hill in an orchard full of crosses; inside is Toader Hodor's Baroque painting of 1806. A UNESCO site.
- [Budești Josani Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-budesti-josani) — Monasteries and churches · Budești, MM · UNESCO World Heritage · 30 km
  The 1643 Church of Saint Nicholas in the Cosău Valley, with a slender tower framed by four small turrets, paintings by Alexandru Ponehalschi and the chain mail attributed to the outlaw Pintea the Brave. A UNESCO site.
- [Ocna Șugatag](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/ocna-sugatag) — Resorts and thermal baths · Ocna Șugatag, MM · Free · 2½ – 3 hours · 33 km
  A spa resort in Maramureș with salt lakes that formed on the surface above old salt mines, including Lake Gavril, 30 m deep; salt-water bathing happens in the pools of the local complexes.
- [Desești Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-desesti) — Monasteries and churches · Desești, MM · UNESCO World Heritage · 40 km
  A wooden church from 1770 dedicated to Saint Paraskeva, painted in 1780 by Radu Munteanu with a crowded Last Judgement; one of the eight Maramureș churches on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
- [Rogoz Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-rogoz) — Monasteries and churches · Rogoz, MM · UNESCO World Heritage · 43 km
  The Church of the Holy Archangels in Rogoz, built in 1663 and part of the Maramureș UNESCO site, has an asymmetric roof over the 'table of the ancestors', horse-head eaves brackets and paintings from 1785.

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Last updated: 7 October 2026
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