The Authentic Villages of Maramureș

Maramureș is one of the last regions in Europe where rural tradition is not a show for tourists but daily life. Massive carved wooden gates, churches with sharp spires, haystacks and people who still wear traditional dress on feast days — all of it is real, not reconstructed.

The UNESCO wooden churches

Eight wooden churches in Maramureș are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. They are tall structures with slender spires, raised without nails, with expressive, naive interior paintings. Among the best known: Ieud, Bârsana, Budești, Poienile Izei and Șurdești (with one of the tallest wooden church towers in the world).

Bârsana Monastery

Bârsana is the most-photographed new monastery in Maramureș — a wooden ensemble built in the traditional style, with tended gardens. It is not medieval, but it shows that the woodworking craft is alive.

The Merry Cemetery at Săpânța

At Săpânța, the Merry Cemetery is unique in the world: brightly painted wooden crosses, each with a naive portrait and a rhyming, often humorous epitaph about the life of the person buried there. It is a serene, ironic approach to death, begun by the craftsman Stan Ioan Pătraș.

The Vaser Valley steam train

From Vișeu de Sus departs the mocănița, a narrow-gauge steam forestry train that climbs the Vaser Valley through wild scenery. It is one of the last steam forestry railways in Europe still running for passengers. Check the schedule and book ahead in season.

How to visit

• Good base: Sighetu Marmației, Vișeu de Sus, or a guesthouse in a village along the Iza Valley.
• Rent a car — the villages are scattered and public transport is limited.
• Respect the rhythm of the place: enter churches in modest dress, ask before photographing people.
• Taste the home cooking: cheeses, pies, horincă (the local plum brandy).

Maramureș is not to be rushed. Give yourself at least two days to feel the calm of this world.