Vernacular architecture of the Carpathians

The vernacular architecture of the Carpathians draws on environmental and cultural sources to create unique designs.

Vernacular architecture refers to non-professional, folk architecture, including that of the peasants. In the Carpathian Mountains and the surrounding foothills, wood and clay are the primary traditional building materials.

Because most Ukrainian, Rusyn, and Romanian people are Eastern Christians, their building techniques have traditionally incorporated religious considerations into their buildings that are distinct from their Western Christian and Jewish neighbours.

Firstly all churches are divided into three parts (the narthex, the nave, and the sanctuary) and include an iconostasis (a wall of icons). The outer shape is often cruciform (cross shaped), but will always include a central dome and often several other domes. Parishioners face east during worship and there are no pews.

The main door and windows of the home face south (as in passive solar design), and icons and other religious paraphernalia are displayed in a special icon corner, usually on the east wall.

East-Central European synagogues are noted for their unique all-wooden design.

Details vary from locale to locale but the majority of homes in this area have traditionally been a single-storey rectangular plan; one or two rooms; a central chimney; a gable, hipped-gable or hipped roof; and plastered and limewashed exteriors.

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