About
The wooden church in Bătești, a village belonging to the town of Făget in Timiș County, was built in the 18th century. It is dedicated to Saint Venerable Parascheva (celebrated on October 14). The church is included in the new list of historical monuments under the code LMI: TM-II-m-A-06179.
History and features
The village of Bătești is located in the valley of the Vădana River, only two kilometers east of the town of Făget. It is documented as early as 1554. The village’s wooden church (the locality also has a newer brick church), dedicated to Saint Parascheva, was brought from the settlement of Veța (now disappeared), near Făget, around the middle of the 18th century.
The church is built from massive oak beams, carved and joined using dovetail joints. The western portal is decorated with carvings featuring solar motifs and the “wolf’s tooth” pattern, while the southern portal is adorned with forged metal nails. The old windows are small, with openings of only 0.35/0.25 m. The newer windows are larger and appeared after the church was extended by 3 meters in 1858. The bell tower above the narthex has two small windows on each side and is topped with a baroque-inspired bulb-shaped dome.
The old painting is preserved only in the altar and on the vault of the nave. It was created by the Banat painter Gheorghe Diaconovici, as shown by the inscription in the nave, written in the Cyrillic alphabet:
“This church was painted in the days of Emperor Joseph II, with the blessing of His Holiness Sofronie of Timișoara, while the protopresbyter was Petru Petrovici of Saraz. And it was adorned at the expense of Mihai Vasiescu and his brother Ianăș Vasiescu, with Pătru Ursulescu first as knez, and later Pătru Drăghicionii, while the priest was Ioan Popovici. And the painters were Gheorghie Diaconovici and Stefan Popovici from Vasiova, November 1, 1783.”
Virtual Tour https://expro360.ro/biserica-de-lemn-din-batesti/
“This church was painted in the days of Emperor Joseph II, with the blessing of His Holiness Sofronie of Timișoara, while the protopresbyter was Petru Petrovici of Saraz. And it was adorned at the expense of Mihai Vasiescu and his brother Ianăș Vasiescu, with Pătru Ursulescu first as knez, and later Pătru Drăghicionii, while the priest was Ioan Popovici. And the painters were Gheorghie Diaconovici and Stefan Popovici from Vasiova, November 1, 1783.”
Virtual Tour https://expro360.ro/biserica-de-lemn-din-batesti/
