The Church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel (Biserica Sfinţii Arhangheli Mihail şi Gavril) is a wooden church in Șurdești, Maramureș County. It is one of the eight wooden churches of Maramureș that are together listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The wooden church of Șurdești (biserica de lemn din Șurdești) was built in 1721 by the Greek-Catholic community of the village with the help of the craftsman Ion Macarie. Oak trees from the surrounding woods were used to construct the church, which stands out for its imposing proportions. The structure has a height of 72 meters, making it one of the tallest wooden churches in Europe. The main tower has a height of 54 meters and is flanked by 4 smaller turrets indicating that the village had its own council for judgement.
The church has a lot of architectural similarities with the nearby wooden church of Plopiș from 1796 and both churches are also dedicated to the same Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel. The wooden church of Șurdești has a rectangular plan with a polygonal apse, a two-level porch, and a double-eaved roof.
The interior of the church is paved with large stone slabs and the walls are full of beautiful colorful paintings. Most of the mural paintings date from the end of the 18th century and are the works of the painter Ștefan Zugravul from Șurdești and other artists from the region. The works depict biblical scenes including “Universal Judgement”, “The Watchman”, and “Doubting Thomas” in the porch, and the Holy Trinity and characters from the Apocalypse of Saint John on the vault of the nave.
In the cemetery around the church you can see several Romanesque tomb stones in the shape of a sarcophagus. There is also a legendary story about the icon of the church. According to this story, a German soldier fired a shot at the icon during World War II, but the icon rebounced the bullet causing it to go straight into his head.
