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TOURIST ATTRACTIONS:
Borsa town is a starting
point for visiting Maramures.
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Maramures county, a small and unique location
in northern Romania, has carefully and distinctively preserved the culture,
traditions and lifestyle of a medieval peasant past. Situated in the northwest
of Romania, the region occupies an area of 6304 square kilometers, borders
Ukraine and also the counties of Suceva,
Bistrita Nasaud, Cluj Napoca, Salaj and Satu
Mare.Almost 50% of the region is considered mountainous and has a temperate
continental climate, with a yearly average temperature of +9.4 ºC.
The
Gutai, Tibles and Rodna Mountains, running northwest to east, separate
Historical Maramures from the rest of the region, while the Maramures
Mountains form a natural and political boundary with Ukraine in the northeast.
Maramures is considered by many to be the heart and soul of rural Romania.
With its picturesque countryside of small villages, rolling hills, pastures
and meadows full of wildflowers, Maramures epitomizes all that the rural
lifestyle encompasses. Visitors to Maramures have a unique opportunity to step
back in time and bear witness to simpler times and simpler lives.
Distinctive wooden architecture clearly distinguishes Maramures from other
regions of Romania. In particular, ornately carved wooden gates convey an
undeniable local identity to this land. Maramures is also home to many wooden
churches which have been visited and admired by people from all over the
world. These special monuments, particularly the 8 UNESCO World Heritage
churches can be admired if you take a trip along the Iza Valley.
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In Borsa Tourist Complex, those fond of
winter sports can enjoy skiing for all ability levels. People can ski from
December to April on all four ski slopes; there are also two ski jumps 113 m high, chair
lift (2 km long) and rope tow (2.9 km long). Hikers and mountain trekkers can enjoy Maramures’ breathtaking
landscapes accessible through a large network of trails.
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Pietrosul Rodnei Natural Reservation
, housing the highest peak in Eastern Carpathians, is biosphere
reservation and part of the UNESCO reservations system. The protected
territory covers an area of over 3,000 ha. Various species of plants and
animals are protected here. Among the rare species of plants that are to be
found here are: the edelweiss, “the bear's honey” and “the dove's crop”. The
protected fauna includes the chamois, the marmot, the lynx, the rock eagle,
the birch cock and the mountain cock. The reservation also includes an
especially beautiful natural scenery untouched by the man.
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Sighetu Marmatiei offers the tourist a wide
palette of architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque and Eclectic. The
building at no. 1, Bogdan Voda Street, houses the Ethnographic Museum of
Maramures which displys a wide variety of objects
related to folk culture: icons, agricultural objects, traditional furniture
and costumes, rugs, ceramics, masks and architectural elements. Tourists eager
to learn more about traditional wooden architecture of Maramures are invited
to visit the open-air section of the museum called the Village Museum.
Other museums of interest in Sighetu
Marmatiei include: The History and Archeology Museum and the Museum
of Natural Sciences (15, Libertatii Square).
The Memorial of the Victims of
Communism and of the Resistance, popularly known as The Prison Museum, is
located in the former political prison, right next to the civic centre of the
town.
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Less than 20 km far from Sighet is the
town of Sapanta, famous for its truly unique "Merry Cemetery", a
must-see for anyone visiting Maramures. The cemetery owes its name from the
vivid colours of the headboards on which naively painted scenes narrate the
biography of the deceased. The rhymes are deprived of usual clichés
and remain fresh and original.
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Very close to
Sapanta is the Peri Monastery, home to the tallest wooden church in the
world, with a spire reaching 78 m. The monastery, built in the Maramures
architectural style, is situated beautifully in the middle of a forest.
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After visiting the
Peri Monasteri, the trail returns to Sighet continuing along the road south
into Vadu Izei where you will turn left and begin the journey along the Iza
Valley, through a series of small villages and hamlets set amidst rolling
hills. 20 km far from Sighet lies Barsana, one of the largest villages
in the Iza Valley. The signposted wooden church at Barsana, known as the
Holy Mother's Entrance, was originally built in 1711 and later moved to
its present location on Jbar Hill in 1806. The interior frescoes were painted
in the Baroque style. the side walls of the naos depict scenes from both the
Old and New Testament. Of particular beauty are the flocks of angels.
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The village of
Ieud was first mentioned in documents in 1364. You shouldn't miss the
wooden church on the Hill, inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage List, made of
fir tree wood and considered to be the oldest wooden structure in Europe. In
the attic of this church, a document dating from 1391 known as The Codex of
Ieud was found, generally considered to be the firs example of written
Romania.
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About midway
through the village of Dragomiresti you will see a quaint house
museum focusing on the life of the Romanian peasant in Maramures. On
display there are traditional costumes including wedding costumes, textiles,
pottery and wood carvings.
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The wooden
church of Surdesti, devoted
to the Saint Archangels Michael and Gabriel, was built in 1712 under the
direction of Toma Macarie. The church steeple is claimed to be the tallest old
wooden structure in the world, measuring 54 m. In the past, people believed
that the taller the church tower was, the easier their prayers could reach up
to heaven.
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Mocanita
Forestry Steam train ,
Viseu de Sus.
You are on one of the last
railway lines in Europe where more than 90 years old steam engines still
operate. A wonderful trip in the romantic wild landscape of Maramures Vasser
Valley lies ahead of you. Vasser Valley deep forests became part of the
forestry economy only by the end of the 17th century, while Maramures was
under the rule of Austro-Hungarian Empire.Until the appearance of the railway
the tree trunks were transported up to the wood factory using rafting on Vaser
river. The works on the narrow (769 mm) gauge have started in 1032, but a
little time before the Second World War they stopped. When going up in the
mountains, Mocanita pulled both wagons for workers and empty ones; when the
train returned to the village, the weight of the transported wood was used as
pushing force for the engine all the way back to the wood factory. In Romania,
until 1976, the total length of forestry railways covered approximately 6000
km. After this year, because of devastating floods in all country regions,
forestry railways were one by one replaced by roads, and Mocanita trains were
replaced by forestry tractors. Viseu de Sus forestry railway line is the only
one still in operation in Romania and it is not just a museum as many other
similar lines in Europe. Over the last years the old Mocanita trains have been
restored in order to transport both the necessary wood for the factory works,
and the tourists eager to enjoy the traditions and the natural beauties found
in Maramures Mountains National Park. The train departs from CFF Viseu station
(at 8:30) up to Faina station.
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The Blue Spring
of the Iza Natural Reservation, near the area of Sacel village, is made of a
karstic intermittent spring, unique in point of flow and beauty and a cave,
with a total length of 2500 m.
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