In ancient times, people used all their strength and knowledge to build from the materials they were allowed by the authorities, and which they found in nature to build not only places of prayer but symbols of their faith, which they raised to the Heavens. Their houses, churches, clothes and food came from nature, but they did not harm nature. They used as much as they needed for their body and soul and thanked God for everything. In our days an Association from Calinesti Village, Maramures, tries to make people remember their legacy, to learn the young and children old traditional techniques and recipes, songs and stories and to make them proud of their Heritage and to carry on their learnings.

"Once upon a time, a few centuries ago, there stand, each on their hill, two wooden churches, in the village of Călineşti (whose name comes from the Greek  “Kallinikos” – meaning glorious, winner) from the heart of Historical Maramureş. The souls of the two wooden churches were filled with happiness or sadness when they heard young or old voices praying to God on days of celebration or on difficult days with illnesses, famine or pagan attacks. They were welcoming each Sunday or in Christian Religious Holidays the proud villagers dressed in hand-made clothes from wool, hemp or leather, beautifully decorated with glass or coral beads. Their insides were decorated too. Besides the murals with scenes from the Bible, the churches were embelilshed with vegetal colored wool carpets, woven and crocheted towels and the colourfull flowers from the fields around.

Years have passed, people were getting old, other were born and died, laughter, songs and lamentations were heard, festive or mourning clothes woven and sewn by their hard-working hands from the plants or from the animals they raised, were seen in the churchyard. The smell of basil and incense, of warm bread and the smoke from the stoves of the peasants ascends to the towers of the two protectors of the village. In time, other churches were built, the old churches were visited only now and then, the emotions of baptisms, weddings and funerals faded, the ornaments became old and dusty... Now, the people are dressed differently, the songs and crying stop, the silence becomes oppressive, the souls of the old churches go numb.

But suddenly, a voice of a young woman whispering an old and well-known song awakens the two churches from their stupor. She wears the same clothes that beautiful and proud villagers wore hundreds of years ago! Her songs became more powerful each visit, other women and men came along with her, wiping off the dust, laying new carpets, singing old songs, wearing new clothes, but the same as the old ones. On another day, next to the voices, noises of tools are heard, reverberating from one hill to the other. One of the churches does not understand, but the other feels... A new roof that will protect it from the rain and the burning heat of the summer is being prepared. The smell of the warm bread brought by the woman with a warm voice singing the old songs is rising to the tower; the male voices of those repairing the roof and then the songs of joy at the completion of the work filled the souls of the two churches with hope. Young people, children, women are learning to sew, weave, carve, cook the old recipes and sing of joy or pain. They decorate the churches with woolen carpets, they fill it with life. The Ancient Roots of Calinesti tremble with emotion when they feel the revival of traditions and the continuation of honoring the peasant spirit that makes churches, clothes and memories for the budding branches."

Maramures, with its 8 UNESCO heritage churches, with an exceptional natural and cultural landscape, still preserves its traditions unchanged for hundreds of years and the Ancient Roots Association revives customs, techniques for obtaining natural colors, instruments, tools or clothes in household only from natural raw material, which they grow (animals) or cultivate (plants). This people still eat, live and pray in the old fashioned way, and sociologists, anthropologists and historians can study their traditions and even find sources of real history from their stories: the fact that a church was moved from one place to another, common fact in Maramures, is now possible to be proved with archaeological research, modern scanners and satellite images. Old wooden churches and traditions are disappearing all over Europe and preserving them in modern times is a challenge but also an honor.