US Ambassador to Romania Kathleen Kavalec announced a USD 95,000 grant for the restoration of a 16th-century wooden church at the Maramureș Museum in Sighetu Marmației, northwestern Romania. The funds will be used to repair and conserve the wooden church, and to secure and maintain exhibits that promote the region’s multicultural heritage.   

The church was donated to the community of Oncești by the Ruthenian community from Criciova, Transcarpathia, Ukraine, and has become a symbol of regional cooperation and multiculturalism against the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Embassy said. 

“It is a great honor to be here today to announce a new grant to Romania under the aegis of the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP). We will be providing USD 95,000 to preserve this historic church, which was originally donated by the Ruthenian community from Criciova in Transcarpathia, Ukraine. This beautiful church is both a cultural treasure and a symbol of the rich multicultural heritage of Maramureș,” US Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec said.

“There is strength in unity. In coming together, we can find the strength to combat the targeting of religious, cultural, or ethnic groups, as well as threats to self-determination and national independence. This type of unity is all the more important in the face of Russia’s war against Ukraine – a war that seeks to deny some of their cultural identity, destroy shared heritage, and use historical distortion to dehumanize and delegitimize the diverse peoples of the broader region,” she added.

This is the second AFCP grant to the Maramureș Museum. A 2021 grant helped restore the Elie Wiesel Memorial House, another important symbol of cultural and religious diversity highlighting the region’s rich Jewish heritage.  

To date, AFCP has donated more than USD 1.2 million to preserve Romanian national heritage throughout the country, including USD 500,000 to restore a 14th-century fortified church in Alma Vii village, Sibiu county, USD 84,000 to repair fortified churches in the villages of Movile, Agarbiciu, and Daia, in Sibiu and Mures counties, and a nearly USD 130,000 grant to conserve the Former Hinech Neorim Orthodox Synagogue in Oradea, one of the city’s most important and historically valuable synagogues.

At the October 3 opening ceremony of the AFCP project in Sighetu Marmației, US Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec was joined by the director of the Maramureș Museum, Mirela Barz, Sighetu Marmației mayor Vasile Moldovan, and Ukraine’s Ambassador to Romania, Ihor Prokopchuk.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Ro.usembassy.gov; by Mark Varga)