The wooden church "Holy Apostles Peter and Paul" in Leurda

If you will travel to Bistrita lands, you have the opportunity to meet one of the traveling churches in our country. Over time, the wooden church "Saints Peter and Paul" traveled between the Cluj towns of Cășeiu, Chiuiești and Leurda and stopped in the courtyard of the Bistrița-Năsăud Museum Complex.

You will notice it immediately, because it stands out through the decoration carved with the motifs of Romanian folk art. Small and delicate, it preserves the traces of the painting made by the famous painters from Nicula in the 18th century.

The entrance to the church is through the porch, the south wall sheltering the door. The massive door edging was decorated with incised geometric motifs: rosettes inscribed in a polygon, twisted rope, zig-zags and wolf-tooth incisions.

It seems that it defended herself from the ravages of time and succeeded, so she can still welcome you into her heart today!  

Reduced in size, the ecclesiastical monument is raised on a river stone foundation, with walls made of oak beams, which join at the corners in a "dovetail". The carving inside the holy place features traditional decorative motifs such as the twisted rope or the sun motif.

The transition from the nave to the semi-cylindrical vaulted nave is through a beautifully ornamented entrance. Three other entrances lead to the altar, where the royal doors once stood. They can be admired today at the Transylvanian History Museum in Cluj-Napoca.

Just above the pronaos is the church tower, which stands out through the parapet gallery and the decorative turrets located in the four corners of the tower's base. 

The painting of the church dates from the 18th century, when it was masterfully done by the painters from Nicula. Unfortunately, time has left its mark on it, today it is preserved only in small portions.

However, it was possible to identify some scenes, including the scene of Original Sin, the Crucifixion, the Last Judgment, the Holy Trinity, the Mother of God, as well as the 12 Apostles framing Jesus. 

The city of Bistriţa is a remarkable tourist destination for its impressive number of historical monuments, but also for its offer of cultural events.

The Bistrita-Năsăud Museum Complex, housed in the former Habsburg barracks built at the end of the 19th century, welcomes you with permanent exhibitions of history, archaeology, ethnography, natural sciences. Apart from the wooden Church of Leurda, in the inner courtyard you can also visit the traditional houses of Şanț and Archiud.

Among the tourist attractions that you should not miss when you are staying in Bistrita, we mention only a few: the Evangelical C.A. Church, the "Sirul Sugălete" Ensemble, the Walls of the Medieval Fortress and the Dogari Tower, the Minorite Church and Monastery, the Dominican Monastery and Square, the Roman-Catholic Church "Holy Trinity", Synagogue, Silversmith House.