Maramures is a legendary land located in the north of Romania, surrounded by hills and mountains. The hallmark of this beautiful region is the excellent craftsmanship and the rich cultural life of the local population. It is believed that of all the Romanian provinces in Maramures and Bukovina, you can best feel the spiritual life; interesting ancient rituals and customs are very well preserved here. The age-old traditions of ancestors are part of everyday life here. Local residents still dress in national clothes and wear unusual local traditional hats.
There is a continuous tradition of wooden architecture in Maramures. The amazing Maramureshan wood carving has long gained well-deserved fame and impresses the guests of this region. Almost every courtyard, every residential house of local peasants is a part of the picturesque and ancient museum of the village. Everything is decorated with ornaments: a gate, a gate, fence, house, outbuildings, trinity at crossroads. The peak of the art of Maramureshan masters is one of the most interesting religious buildings in the world - wooden churches. 8 wooden churches of the Maramures region are included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. All were built in the 17th and 18th centuries, but they differ somewhat in their architectural style.
Let's find out more about them …
Maramures is called the soul of the Romanian village. With picturesque villages, green hills and flowering meadows, Maramures is the epitome of Romanian rural life. Visitors to this beautiful land are given the chance to travel back in time, witness a completely different era, a different way of life. Life here is simple and much that is artificial and unnecessary, without which it often seems to us that we cannot live, disappears.
Maramures, a unique destination. For a century, the culture, traditions and way of life of the peasants from the past have been carefully preserved here. Maramures is a kind of testament to tradition, the romantic era of simplicity and moral values about which today we only read or hear from our grandfathers.
Few customs have changed over the past centuries in Maramures. Families stay in the same villages as their ancestors. Crafts and traditions are passed down from generation to generation. Folk clothes are handmade and worn with pride. The church continues to be the soul of the village. Neighbors know each other and help each other.
Life in the Maramures region seems to be shrouded in mystery. Guests of Maramures pass mountain passes, descend into lively valleys where village traditions open up before them like a resurrected museum, landscapes that will appeal to even the most capricious travelers.
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Currently, the province of Maramures is divided into 2 parts: the northern Maramures belongs to Ukraine and the southern Maramures to Romania. Archaeological excavations have shown that this area was inhabited during the Neolithic period. Two thousand years ago, Maramures belonged to the Dacians, the ancestors of the Romanian people. The remains of Dacian fortresses were found in many settlements: Siget, Oncesti, Slatina, Barsana. In the 2nd century AD, the Romans conquered Dacia and their capital Sarmizegetusa, but the Romans did not reach Maramuresh, the tribes of free Dacians remained here. Fleeing from the Roman occupation, many Dacians from western and central Dacia come to Maramures.
The Maramures region is surrounded on all sides by mountains and forests, and this helped the locals to preserve their identity in the era of migrations of the Goths, Huns, Vandals, Slavs and other peoples. It is argued that it is the traditions preserved in the Maramures region that are most associated with the cultural heritage of the Dacians. In the 20th century, Romanian ethnographers, while traveling through the province of Maramures, were surprised to discover that “the Dacians descended from Trajan's column” and live here.
- Maramures is documented for the first time in 1199. At that time, the expansion of the Hungarians into Transylvania had already begun. In Maramures, there were small principalities led by local governors.
- At the end of the 14th century, Maramures was completely conquered by the Hungarian Kingdom.
- In 1353, the Maramureshan voivode Dragos, a military commander subordinate to the Hungarian king Louis I, crossed the mountains and founded the Moldavian Principality, a vassal of Hungary.
- In 1359, another voivode from Maramures, Bogdan from the Kuja area, attacked the heirs of Dragos and became the new ruler of the Moldavian Principality. He rebelled against the Hungarian king and was able to whitewash the Hungarian army. Thus, the voivode from the Maramures region went down in history as the first leader of the already independent Moldavian Principality. His daughter Margareta received the nickname Mushata (beautiful in the old Romanian language), married the voivode Kostya, and it is from here that the Mushatin dynasty, famous in the history of the Moldavian Principality, begins, the greatest representative of this dynasty, Stephen the Great (he is now considered the greatest Romanian in history of this people).
- In 1538, after the defeat of the Hungarians at the Battle of Mohacs, Maramures became part of Transylvania, an autonomous principate, a vassal of the Turkish Empire.
- Beginning in 1688, Maramures already became part of the Habsburg Empire.
- After the peace treaty in Paris (1919), the northern part of Maramures goes to Czechoslovakia, in 1939 to Hungary, 1945 to the Soviet Union and since 1991 to Ukraine.
- Currently, about 40 thousand Romanians live in northern Maramures in Ukraine.
The border separating northern Maramures (Ukraine) and southern Maramures (Romania) runs along the Tisza River.
- In 1968 the neighboring districts were added to the “old” Maramures region: Baia Mare, Tara Chioarului, Tara Lapusului and Tara Codrului
Maramures County has an abundance of cultural, natural and historical attractions.
Maramures is famous in Romania for folk clothes, carpets, wood products, traditional hay hats, carol masks, ceramics, icons painted on glass and wood, chorinka (moonshine from plums), folk dances, folklore festivals and the hospitality of the inhabitants.
The isolated location of the region has contributed to the preservation of ancient traditions. National dress is the pride of Moroshan (an inhabitant of the Maramures provinces).
Preserved pure and sincere faith, sacred customs during the holidays, rituals inherited from their ancestors. Together with Bukovina (the land of painted monasteries), Maramures are considered the most archaic and authentic Romanian provinces. During Easter and Christmas holidays, many Romanians travel to the north for their holidays, to Maramures and neighboring Bukovina.
Maramures has always been famous for its skillful artisans, especially master woodcarvers. There is a continuous tradition of wooden architecture here. Maramureshan wood carvings and old wooden churches are famous all over the world.
What are the famous Maramureshan gates! Real masterpieces of art!
Traveling around Maramuresh, I want to stop in every village, in front of peasant houses and admire the ornaments of houses and the mysterious Maramureshan gates, richly decorated with traditional motives and Christian symbolism.
The wooden churches of Maramures are famous all over the world and are the spiritual treasures of the locals.
8 wooden churches of Maramures are included in the World Heritage List (Unesco): Budesti, Desesti, Barsana, Poienile Izei, Ieud Deal, Surdesti, Plopis, Rogoz.
The wooden churches of Maramures under the auspices of UNESCO represent a unique and highly significant architectural ensemble.
These 8 monuments join the remaining 85 wooden churches in Maramures County, most of them built in the 17th and 18th centuries. The original architecture of the churches is associated with a mixture of elements of Byzantine and Western European architecture, a Byzantine plan with a Gothic expression in which the building material - wood - depicts the skill and skill of local folk craftsmen. The interior murals are also very valuable. The wooden churches of Maramures are open as a museum, but they are active, and services are still held in them.
The wooden church of the old monastery of Barsan is dedicated to “the entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the church” and was built in 1711 in a place called “monk's hair” (Părul Călugărului) by a local priest, together with his sons and villagers, to thank God for protection during the plague … Around 1739, the church was moved to the valley of the Iza River to a cemetery that appeared in 1717 after the battle with the Tatars. The second time the church was moved in 1795 to the center of the cemetery of those killed during the plague in 1742.
Then the interior of the church was painted under the influence of Baroque and Rococo styles by the artist Hodor Toader. Here you can see scenes from the Bible, the Last Judgment, the Old Testament and the Passion of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, some of the paintings were badly damaged and have not survived to this day. But still, now we can see what we managed to save.
But the rich carved decorations of the church are perfectly preserved.
The decoration of the church, its external and internal design, everything that has survived over the centuries, testifies to the genius of artisans and artists who created all this beauty.
The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin was built in the village of Yehud by local craftsmen at the beginning of the 18th century. This is one of the most beautiful wooden churches in Romania. Despite its rather austere architectural style, the church is very elegant.
The 1782 frescoes by Alexandru Ponehalschi cover almost the entire interior of the church, including the doors.
In 1925, an ancient manuscript was discovered in the attic of the church, dated 1391-1392, believed to be the oldest manuscript in Romanian in Cyrillic letters. This manuscript is now kept in the library of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest.
The church of St. Nicholas in Budesti was built by local residents in 1643. It has been preserved almost in its original form. This church is the most striking example of a typical Maramures church and is striking in its monumentality. This is the largest church in the history of Maramures.
Not only artists worked to create this beauty, but also the best wood carvers. For example, the front door.
And of course the painting on the walls and ceiling. The interior of the church is impressive.
There is a large collection of wooden icons of the 17th-18th centuries and even older, and a very valuable collection of icons on glass.
The oldest wooden church in Maramures The church of St. Paraskeva in Poienile Isea was built in 1604.
The interior of the church was expanded in the 18th century, and it was completely painted in 1794.
The doomsday theme dominates the western and northern walls.
The church has always been a place where people gathered for prayer, as well as a place where village sages met to make decisions during difficult times. From the church tower it was possible to watch the enemies, and the church bell warned people about fires, floods and other misfortunes approaching the village. The dead were buried around the temple according to the hierarchy. Many churches have preserved sacred books and manuscripts, priceless icons, and battle flags. For centuries, lovers were crowned in these churches, children were baptized, funerals for the dead and the brightest holidays were celebrated … the whole life of many generations of Maramures residents was somehow connected with the church.