Wooden Maramureș, Romania
Wooden houses. Thousands of beautifully sculpted gates. Soaring church towers that seems too high. Amazing nature. Extremely nice people. All that can be found in Maramureș which for me is the top region in Europe for rest and chill out but also for nice rides and off-road for car or motorcycle.
When I first entered Maramureș I had a feeling I am going back in time. Every village is full of wooden, very old houses. People still live here with no modernity. To work in a field they use the power of their muscles and animals. During harvest you can see many people walking around with rakes and scythes and riding a wagon pulled by a horse. They dress in traditional clothes and during festival time you will find amazing atmosphere in here.
The best is to go off main roads and take the “white” ones on the map. I marked the road below which I took 2 times already. We were given this advice from one guy we met on a camping site in Borsa. Perfect advice as we saw all the interesting sites and villages on the way. We drove through great villages with beautiful churches and took roads with an amazing view of the valleys and mountains.
Barsana
It is said that Barsana Monastery is the most beautiful one in Romania. I haven’t seen them all, but its worth stopping here for sure. It has been constructed in 1994 but with the spirit of tradition of the region. On the top of the hill, hidden in between the trees you will find an old and very small Church of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple built in 1720. This one is a part of the Wooden churches of Maramures protected by UNESCO. The new church was manually carved by the most talented craftsmen from Maramures. They didn’t use any power tools or nails and it is the tallest wooden building in Europe (62 m tall). The name bârsan means a shepherd who keeps sheep with thick long wool.
Sighetu Marmatei
In the city of Sighetu Marmatei is one of its kind museum dedicated to Communist Victims. It’s located in the former prison of Sighet that was built in 1857. If you never had a chance to feel how it is to be in prison, you can get the feeling here. In each cell there is an exhibition which shows the events, famous heros and days of the totalitarian system in Romania as well as other countires. Mainly intelectual class of Romania was imprisoned here. In the years of 1950-55 about 200 ministers, journalists, bishops and eastern-catholic priests were brought there in secrecy.
In the inner courtyard there is a chapel designed in the style of early Christian catacombs. The walls leading to it have 8000 names of people who died in prisons and camps in Romania. It took 10 years to collect these names. 
Next to it there is a symbol of the museum, a sculpture of eighteen nude figures with arms in direction of the wall, which like the comunism, hides the horizon.
After visiting monasteries and calm villages surrounded by beautiful mountains, a visit to the prison is like a bad dream or even a nightmare. However, it is worth taking the trouble, if you want to know the recent history of Romania.
Sapanta
It’s an obligatory site to check while you are in the region of Maramures. Most probably the most touristic place in entire Maramures but also an amazing experience. It’s known mainly for Merry Cemetery for which I dedicated separated post. Click here.
In Sapanta there is also a nice wooden church to visit within Peri Monastery.
Budesti, Calinesti, Surdesti (road 186B and 109F)
Riding thorough these villages will take you back in time. The entire sites seems like open air museum and in fact it is. In Budesti you can visit the 17th century wooden church of St. Nicholas. In Surdesti for a change you will find the church with one of the highest wooden tower in Europe (I guess Barsana is the first one). Both of these churches are listed under eight Wooden Churches of Maramures under protection of UNESCO. In one of the villages by the road side you can find a museum of old wooden tools that are still in use during the season for harvest time. Planting, hay making, harvesting, ploughing are all done by manual labor.
Wooden Church in Surdesti
Exhibition of wooden tools still in use
