Maramureș

Cristian and I went to Maramureș a few weeks ago and it was hands down the most beautiful place in Romania. Everything is nicer there. The people are extremely hard working, the teens don't yell random crap at you, the garbage was actually in the garbage bins, there are hardly any stray dogs, even the mosquito bites were almost itch free!! The scenery was amazing with rolling hills, valleys and mountains. Maramureș is famous for its wooden churches and even has 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Baia Mare- This is the capital of Maramureș and it was first documented in 1329. Baia Mare, which means Big Mine, developed as a gold mining town in the 14th century. Baia Mare gained notoriety during Ceausescu's regime as home to two metallurgic factories which released more than five billion cubic meters of residual gases into the atmosphere each year, smothering the town with a permanent sulfur powder smog. In the early 90s, a new smoke stack was built in an attempt to alleviate air pollution. The town had another problem in 2000, when a poisonous spill from the gold mine caused one of Europe's worst environmental disasters. A dam burst, causing cyanide contaminated water to leak, contaminating the rivers and affecting six neighboring countries. The mine has since reopened despite protests.

Turnul Stefan - is a 14th century gothic tower.
WWI Romanian Soldier's Monument

Space for Rent...If you are brave

Cathedral of Holy Trinity

Hotel Mara where we stayed

This is a HUGE church being built near the hotel

Views from our balconyHUGE bug with pinchers and all. These bugs were smacking into the buildings in the center and falling all over the place as well as flying cockroaches. It made for an interesting yet freakishly scary night walk.

Imaging this falling on your head. It was so hot out but I had to keep my hoody on in fear.

Amazing views in Maramures

The people here work in the fields. They walk miles each day back and forth with their tools.

They wear these hand made baskets like backpacks. The old people here are so hard working and tough.

Storks were everywhere. If they make a nest in front of your house you are blessed.

Maramures is famous for intricately carved gates. Most gates have a symbol of the sign: birth and fertility, a rope: a belt to keep the family/community together, grapes: prosperity and teeth of the wolf: courage.

This sign says: "If you knew a begger made 5000 lei (about 2000$) a month would you give them more money?" Begging is a huge problem in Romania with the Rroma population. The grocery stores have shopping carts that you put 50 cents in to unlock and then get your coin back when you are done. The beggers thrive at these stores and harrass you to no end to get your cart. This store Plus recently stopped using coins because it was getting dangerous. The sign is even sponsored by the government and children's NGOs.

This is when I got us lost. The GPS doesnt recognize a lot of streets here because they are so small so I thought this tiny dirt road was the right direction. Boy was I wrong. At least we got to see the sheep.

A pig!!

A tree decorated with pots and pans means that there is a girl available for marriage living there. There were a lot of these.

Baia Sprie - is a small mining town with copper, lead and zinc. Political prisoners died in the mine during the communist purges in 1950-1956. During this time, an estimated 180,000 people were interned in hard labor camps. St. Peters church was built by Vasile Lucaciu, a parish priest. It is modeled after St. Peters in Rome.

Bârsana Monastery - is one of the most beautiful ones in Romania that I have seen. It was created in post-Communist years on the site of the UNESCO church abandoned in 1790. Its 180 feet spire church is reputedly the tallest wooden structure in Europe. No power tools or metal nails were used in the construction.

The nuns have small deer fenced in that they rescued from the streets after car accidents.

Cupșeni - We came to this small village because they were having a traditional festival. The kids were all in traditional costumes. It was so amazingly cute!The outfits are traditional for Maramures. They are different in each region and town in the country.

They packed so many kids on the stage for the first show. First, they sang and then the danced which was really funny because there wasn't enough room for all of them. They were smacking into each other the whole time. The little girl on the far right even stopped half way through to fix her tights without success so she lifted up her whole dress to fix them as the crowd laughed really hard. It was so cute and she had no idea she was showing us her butt.

The kids came with money and all the little boys bought plastic guns. They were shooting plastic pellets all over the place....especially on a Rroma man who was selling crap. A bit sad. Kids should never be able to play with guns.These are the traditional ginger cookie-cakes that you can buy at any festival. They are really yummy and cheap.

Poor Kid

The village was really nice

Most of the towns here were all building huge new cement churches. I don't know why they let the old ones go to ruin.

Peștera cu Oase - Bone Cave. This cave was carved in Jurassic limestone and is named after the discovery of fossil remains of a cave bear. It was supposed to be 800 meters from the road but was waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy farther than that! We had to hike almost on a straight up incline and turned around before reaching the cave. It was really scary and we were afraid there were bears.

We did get to see many critters which made the journey ok. These were the biggest snails I have ever seen in my life! They were the size of a large fist and we had to watch the ground as we walked. It was a nice hike and we laughed the whole time wondering if we were ever going to make it. Needless to say, neither of us regretted turning around.

Bogdan Vodă - Some of the interior paintings in the church from 1718 were done in the traditional method of painting on linen.Beautiful Wooden Church...Ugly Cement Church

Women are often seen praying outside

Borșa - Ore has been mined here since the 14th century. The area was colonized in 1777 by German miners from Slovakia. The day we were there was a religious holiday so all of the women were wearing traditional outfits.

They were even walking around in the traditional leather shoes.

Women were even at the pub drinking pints of beer which is not usual in Romania. In fact, women in Maramures were drinking in each city we went. It is nice to see because it is a bad stereotype in Romania for women to be out drinking in public with other women.

Cheese. The cheese here is so good and different that in America. It is similar to feta but there are many tastes and textures. They also don't have cheddar.

A house done in wooden shingles. This is also very popular in rural parts of Romania. So pretty.

Desești - The St. Parasceva church was built in 1770 and was struck by lightning in 1925, destroying much of the outer walls and the steeple. It has since been repaired and now has a lightning conductor. The church is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its well preserved paintings.There is a legend that says the original church was set ablaze during a Tatar attack in 1717, during which many villagers died trying to save the church. The new church was to be built on a new altar stone but it was erected in several different places and each time fell over. After five attempts, the stone remained upright.
Giulești - is the main village in the Mara Valley. The two stone churches in the village were erected in 1509 and 1888.

Ieud - is a UNESCO site and was built in pine. The interior paintings in the church are some of the best preserved in Maramures. The paintings were made on pieces of textile that were treated with a layer of limewash and then stuck to the wooden logs. Not one corner of the church was left unpainted.

A document from 1391 was found in the attic of the church that is considered the first example of written Romanian.

Mănăstirea - The monastery here was built by monks in 1633. By 1787 just one monk and four servants remained. The roof is one of the few ones in Maramures to have only a single set of eaves. The logs used to build the church are so thick that each wall is only built with 4 massive logs.

Budești - This church dates from 1643 and was built on the site of another church and is also a UNESCO Site. The church has a collection of icons painted on glass and wood dating back to 1766. The prized piece is the 18th century painting of the Last Judgement, preserved in its entirety.The church is famous for being home to the shirt worn by Grigore (my cats name) Pintea Viteazul who was the local Robin Hood from the 17th century. The outlaw was a nobleman by birth who accumulated his wealth by robbing the poor. He was so heartbroken after the death of his simple peasant love and gave away all of his riches. He then stole only from the rich and gave to the poor. In 1701, a reward was offered for him dead or alive and was finally killed in 1703 after being shot by bullets made from a gold coin cut into quarters.

Sat Șugatag - The church dates back to 1642.The cemeteries are populated by many Celtic crosses. Each of these crosses is inscribed in a circle or semicircle and bordered with saw teeth of the wolf.

Săpânța Monastery - is new and still under construction.Funny Little Guy

These were the trees used to build the church.

Rohia Monastery - founded in 1923. We went there because Cristian knew of the monastery because of a famous bishop that lived there. It was pretty disappointing though. The monastery was full of huge beautiful buildings but they are greedy and tearing out the mountain to build more even though they don't need it. The Orthodox church should be spending this money on building hospitals or orphanages. Cheese hanging up to dry

Rogoz - the village dates back to 1488 and was an estate that once belonged to Stefan the Great and other Moldovan princes. This Catholic church is what you first see but there is a UNESCO wooden church hiding behind it dating back to 1661.

The church is unique for its southern entrance, asymmetrical roof and horse head joints.

The Elder's Table is covered by the eaves of the roof and has markings representing the families who were entitled to sit at it. On religious holidays, these families offered meals to the poor in memory of the dead. Now the table is used after funerals when the family gathers for a meal.

The famous horse heads holding up the eaves.

Surdești - Built in 1766, the church was the tallest wooden church in Europe until a few years ago. This church is also a UNESCO site. You can see a thick twisted carved rope on the bottom that wraps around the whole church symbolizing the limit between earth and heaven. The Priest and his wife live in this house next to the church. The whole bottom under the house was stacked full of wood. The wife was very nice and welcoming.These are painted right on the outside of the house. These murals are all over Romania in villages.

Poienile Izei - Is said to have the most dramatic frescoes of hell you are ever likely to encounter. The church was built in 1604 and is a UNESCO Site because it is one of the most beautiful and well preserved in the region.

Plopiș - was built in 1796 and is a UNESCO Site. A document was created commemorating the dedication of the church and was hidden with 49 coins in one of the legs of the altar table. The coins were added by each of the founding 49 families of the church.

Mara Valley - lies in the heart of Maramures. The sign is for hunting wild animals.