Wooden Church of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, Gârda de Sus

The wooden Church of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist stands in the village of Gârda de Sus, seat of the commune of the same name, beside the Câmpeni to Arieșeni road, near the centre. Gârda de Sus lies where the Arieș meets the Gârda Seacă and is the starting point for the Scărișoara Ice Cave and Bihor Peak. The church was built in 1792 of fir wood, on a rectangular plan with a recessed five-sided sanctuary and no porch; the walls are plastered outside and the tower has a tall spire. The interior was painted in 1804, and the iconostasis between 1798 and 1804, by the brothers Simion and Gavril Silaghi from Abrud, in Baroque style. The inscription on the iconostasis says the church was painted "at the expense of the people". It was altered in 1863. Visitors can see the carved frame of the west door, the brackets and the ogee windows, the wall paintings preserved in relatively good condition, the painted iconostasis, 19th century icons on wood and a few icons on glass. The small bell was cast in 1874. The church is surrounded by the village cemetery. The church is a listed historic monument (LMI code AB-II-m-A-00228). Did you know that the inscription on the iconostasis records the names of those who made the church? It mentions the painters Simion and Gavril Silaghi from Abrud, the archpriest Gavril Ighian and Petru Purcel, who contributed 80 "numărături" towards the painting, in the reign of Emperor Francis II.