Bica: Orthodox Wooden Church and Village Museum

In the village of Bica, in the northern part of the municipality of Mănăstireni, stands the Orthodox wooden church “Înălțarea Domnului”. It is part of the Wooden Churches Route and combines a historic wooden structure with remarkable furnishings and details. The church also houses a triptych painted in 1563.

Culture

The wooden church “Înălțarea Domnului” is 13.55 metres long and 5.50 metres wide. Its two bells date from 1770 and 1922. Thus, the building reveals not only its dimensions but also two clearly distinct periods in which individual furnishings were created.

The altar and pronaos paintings were restored in 1998. The church interior contains wooden icons of the Mother of God with the Child, the Three Holy Hierarchs, and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. Together with the 1563 triptych, they create an interior in which paintings, icons and the wooden church’s surviving structural elements are closely interconnected.

Village Character

In the centre of Bica stands a well-preserved and restored traditional Romanian dwelling. Its basic architectural design dates from the interwar period; the building is topped by a tiled roof. The house complements the wooden church with an example of the village’s traditional residential architecture.

Museum and Crafts

The village museum in Mănăstireni preserves various elements of rural everyday life and regional clothing. On display are folk costumes, hand-painted plates and jugs, as well as embroidered cushions. The collection also includes a raised bed, a stove and a dowry chest. Old black boots worn with the folk costume and an iron add further concrete objects from the household and everyday use to the collection.

There is also a preserved insight into traditional crafts: in a documented household in Bica, people practised sewing, making nets and bags from raffia, and weaving on a loom. These three activities each represent different forms of working with textiles, plant fibres and the loom.

Landscape

The municipality of Mănăstireni lies at the transition between the Huedin Depression, the Păniceni Plateau and the Apuseni Mountains. Within this landscape, the Gilău Mountains form the morphological subdivision of the Apuseni Mountains.

The landscape is further divided within the municipality: the northwestern part lies in the Huedin Depression, while the southern part is in the Gilău Mountains. The central and northern parts belong to the Păniceni Plateau. Thus, the municipality encompasses a depression, a plateau and mountains with clearly identified subdivisions.

Cycling Route

The Bánffy K85/95 cycling tour leads to Mănăstireni. At the edge of the village, a road branches off towards Bica. Along this described route, Bica is therefore connected to the municipality via the turn-off at the edge of the village.

More Destinations

Other destinations include Gilău, Jucu de Sus, Moldovenești, Gherla, Cluj-Napoca, Lungești, Muntele Băişorii and Dealu Negru.

For the higher-level travel overview: Cluj-Napoca.