In Valari, Hunedoara County, a nearly 350-year-old wooden church was lifted from the ground with hydraulic jacks.

Not to be moved, but to be saved.

The wooden church "Saint Nicholas", dated 1677, is one of the buildings that preserves the history of the Forest Land, an area where wood, forest and ironworking have shaped the life of communities for centuries.

For the intervention at the base of the church, the entire building was lifted, the old footings were removed, and the foundation was raised by 15 centimeters. Then, the church was placed on the new foundations.

But its story is not only about the restoration technique.

Although services are no longer held here, the people of Valari continued to take care of the church and opposed its relocation to a museum. They wanted it to remain where it was built: in the village.

A few kilometers away, in Dabaca, another wooden structure preserves the memory of a community.

The Isfanon family mill carries the stories of the evenings when people came with sacks to grind, waited their turn, talked and sometimes fell asleep with their heads on the sacks. Today, the mill no longer works, but Anica Dorica Isfanon continues to cross its threshold and preserve its story.

The second episode of the series "Who Listens to a House?" is about two wooden structures and about two ways of preserving the memory of a place. But also about what happens when architects, craftsmen, students, volunteers and local people learn from each other.

With us, at Toplita – Dabaca – Valari:
• Vladimir Obradovici – architect, doctor of architecture, associate professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the Politehnica University of Timisoara, president of the “Wooden Churches” Association
• Alex Puha – student at the “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism
• Ilinca Ghica – student at the Faculty of History, University of Bucharest
• Anica Dorica Isfanon – miller from Dabaca
• Raluca Muresan – assistant architect
• Nicolae Toader – master carpenter

What you see in the episode:
• the story of the wooden Church “Saint Nicholas” from Valari, dated 1677;
• why the entire church was raised with hydraulic jacks and how the foundation was worked on;
• how two old oak shingles, found behind the tower, provided clues about how the roof was made;
• why the community of Valari refused to move the church into a museum;
• the story of the wooden mill in Dabaca and Anica Dorica Isfanon's memories of the people who came here to grind;
• how measurements, drawings and people's testimonies help to understand an old construction;
• how students learn directly from architects, craftsmen and from the wood they have in front of them;
• the projects carried out together with volunteers, from the wooden gate at the entrance to the cemetery to the churchyard.

"May the mill remain, may it live as long as God wants it."

🟡 Tell us in the comments what other monument you would like us to "listen" to in the next episodes.
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Credits & partners
Documentary series produced by the Human Made Art Association, part of the cultural project "Who listens to a house?", 5th Edition, supported by the Order of Architects of Romania from the Architecture Stamp.

Partners: National Institute of Heritage, ASTRA National Museum Complex, "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism, MATEK.

Media partners: Radio Romania Cultural, Zeppelin Magazine, Igloo Magazine.

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