
There is a local legend about the wooden church in Poienile Izei due to the presence of a metal crescent under the crucifix that crowns the tower of the church. The legend says that the crescent was added by one of the locals to keep the church from being desecrated by the Turkish and Tatar Muslims. The legend was reinforced by the fact that during the Tatar invasion in 1717, the church in Poienile Izei was one of the few that escaped undamaged. But in reality the crescent moon that generated this legend is not a Muslim symbol, but Byzantine.