Săcălăşeni, 7km further north, has a small church, built in 1442, making it the oldest wooden church in Maramureş. To reach it, turn east at the modern church dominating the village.
Sighetu Marmaţiei
Pop 37,640
The sleepy town known as 'Sighet' has a few sights for a morning's browsing, a pretty square edged by churches, and the Ukrainian border crossing just a few minutes away. The real reason for visiting Maramureş is its rural charm, so you needn't linger long. For centuries Sighet formed a cultural and geographic border between Slav-dominated territories to the north and Hungary and Romania to the south. Its name is derived from the Thracian and Dacian word 'seget' (fortress).
Sighetu Marmaţiei, first documented in 1334, was also an important Jewish settlement until the spring of 1944, when most of the Jews were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After WWII the communist government established one of the country’s most notorious prisons here, for dissidents, intellectuals and anyone else who could challenge the regime. It is now a memorial museum and one of the city’s most important tourist sights.
Sighetu Marmaţiei
1Sights
1Elie Wiesel Memorial HouseD2
2Jewish Community CentreC2
3Maramureş Ethnographic MuseumC2
4Memorial Museum to the Victims of Communism & to the ResistanceC3
5Monument to Holocaust VictimsC3
6Sephardic SynagogueC2
4Sleeping
7Casa Iurca de CălineştiD2
8Cobwobs HostelA2
9Motel BuţiC3
5Eating
10Casa VecheB2
Restaurant Casa Iurca de CălineştiD2
6Drinking & Nightlife
11Old PubB2
1Sights
Piaţa Libertăţii and surrounds are awash in churches of all denominations, including the 1804 Ukrainian Orthodox church, the Hungarian Reformed church, parts of which date to the 12th century, and the 18th-century Roman Catholic church.
Village MuseumMUSEUM
(Muzeul Satului; GOOGLE MAP ; %0262-314 229; www.muzeulmaramuresului.ro; Str Dobăieş 40; adult/child 4/2 lei; h10am-6pm May-Sep, 8am-4pm Oct-Apr; c)
Allow two to three hours to wander through the incredible constructions at the open-air Village Museum, about 2.5km southeast of Sighetu Marmaţiei's centre. Children in particular will love the wooden dwellings, cobbled pathways and 'mini villages'.
Elie Wiesel Memorial HouseHISTORIC BUILDING
(Casa Memorială Elie Wiesel; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.muzeulmaramuresului.ro; Str Tudor Vladimirescu 1; adult/child 4/2 lei; h10am-6pm May-Sep, 8am-4pm Oct-Apr)
The late Jewish writer and 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) was born in and later deported from this house on the corner of Str Dragoş Vodă and Str Tudor Vladimirescu. The museum traces Wiesel's life and work and examines the history of the Jews and Jewish culture in Maramureş. There's a monument (Monumentul Holocaustului; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Str Gheorghe Doja) to the victims of the Holocaust along Str Gheorghe Doja.
Jewish CemeteryCEMETERY
(Cimitirul evreiesc; GOOGLE MAP ; Str Szilagyi Istvan)
Organise visits to the cemetery through the Jewish Community Centre ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0262-311 652, 0743-853 975; Str Bessarabia 8; h10am-4pm Tue-Sun). To reach the cemetery from Str Gheorghe Şincai in the centre follow Str Izei for a couple of blocks south and then turn right into Str Szilagyi Istvan.
Maramureş Ethnographic MuseumMUSEUM
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.muzeulmaramuresului.ro; Piaţa Libertăţii 15; adult/student 4/2 lei; h10am-6pm May-Sep, 8am-4pm Oct-Apr)
One of three branches of the Maramureş Museum – the others are the Elie Wiesel Memorial House and the Village Museum – this ethnographic museum displays colourful folk costumes, rugs and carnival masks.
Sephardic SynagogueSYNAGOGUE
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0743-553 975, 0262-311 652; Str Bessarabia 10; h9am-4pm Mon-Fri, or call ahead)
Sighet’s only remaining synagogue is north of Piaţa Libertăţii. It was built in the Moorish-Renaissance style in 1904. You can look around for free, but it’s customary to leave a donation (10 lei). Before WWII the Jewish community here numbered just over 10,000 people – about 40% of Sighet’s population at the time. Sadly, today the local Jewish community numbers around 200.
Most of the Jews perished at Auschwitz-Birkenau after being shipped there in 1944, when Hungary (which ruled over the area at the time) agreed to surrender its Jews to Nazi Germany. Some 38,000 eventually perished and the majority of the survivors chose to emigrate.
SIGHET PRISON: A SUFFERING NATION
In May 1947, the communist regime slaughtered, imprisoned and tortured thousands of Romanians who could or might oppose the new leadership. While many leading prewar figures were sent to hard-labour camps, the regime’s most feared intellectual opponents were held in Sighet’s maximum-security prison.
Between 1948 and 1952 about 180 members of Romania’s academic and government elite were imprisoned here and some 51 died. The prison, housed in the old courthouse, was closed in 1974. In the early ’90s it reopened as the Memorial Museum to the Victims of Communism & to the Resistance ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0262-319 424; www.memorialsighet.ro; Str Corneliu Coposu 4; adult/child 6/3 lei; h9.30am-6.30pm daily, to 4pm Tue-Sun in winter).
Photographs and objects with short descriptions are displayed in the torture chambers and cells on two levels. There’s also a small bookstore and gift shop. The heart-rending bronze statues in the courtyard, shielding themselves and covering their mouths in horror, are dedicated to those who died. Many of these victims are buried in the Paupers' Cemetery (Cimitirul Săracilor; GOOGLE MAP ; Str Avram Iancu) some 2.5km west of the centre.
2Activities
Teofil IvanciucTOURS
(%0745-944 555; www.maramurestour.com; one-day tours €60-100)
Teofil Ivanciuc is a local writer who works as a fixer with outfits such as National Geographic, and can take you to the mountains to explore remote villages by car or horse cart. Homestays can also be arranged in his traditional wooden Amizadil House (%0745-944 555; www.amizadil.com; Str Mocăniței 51a, Valea Cufundoasă; s/d from €30/40).
4Sleeping
oCobwobs HostelGUESTHOUSE$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0740-635 673; www.facebook.com/cobwobshostel; Str 22 Decembrie 1989 42; dm/d with shared bathroom 40/100 lei; iW)
Friendly Cobwobs sits down a leafy lane in a pleasant house whose garden is so crowded with fruit trees, flowers, chickens and goats that you may forget you're in a town. All-wooden doubles and family rooms are homely and large, all with shared bathrooms. There are also three dorms with between four and six beds.
Outside are tables to read at and bikes for rent (30 lei per day). Owner Lia is charm itself and a great source of local info, especially on transport.
Motel BuţiHOTEL$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0262-311 035; www.hotelbuti.ro; Str Simion Bǎrniuţiu 6; s/d/tr/ste 120/140/180/220 lei; aiW)
The 23 rooms may be a bit on the small side, but considering the Buţi's standard and location, and the rooms' flat-screens, decent furniture and crisp linen, this is very good value. There's a bar and pizzeria downstairs.
oCasa Iurca de CălineştiHOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0262-318 882; www.casaiurca.ro; Str Dragoş Vodă 14; s/d 110/175 lei; paW)
The 22 rooms and suites here are elegant and cool but only a handful are in the fine, old-wood-accented villa, with most in a newer annexe. Expect tasteful furniture, flat-screen TVs, tiled floors, leather chairs and spotless linen for your money. There are also fridges, fans and cable TV. Hands down the most atmospheric digs in town.
Hotel Grădină MoriiHOTEL$$
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0372-721 210; www.hotelmarmatia.ro; Str Mihai Eminescu 97; s 170-195 lei, d 250-300 lei; paW)
A top-to-tail revamp has turned the old Hotel Marmaţia into a comfortable destination hotel called the 'Mill Garden'. It's in an appealing, partially wo
od-clad building, hard by the Iza River at the foot of a nearby mountain and surrounded by parkland. Its 49 international-style rooms are comfortable, and there's a posh lobby and an excellent restaurant.
5Eating & Drinking
Restaurant Casa Iurca de CălineştiROMANIAN$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0371-056 449; www.casaiurca.ro; Str Dragoş Vodă 14; mains 18-38 lei; h9am-11pm; W)
With seating both at rustic wooden tables and in a leafy courtyard, this is the top spot in Sighet for a proper sit-down meal. Dishes include seared pork, skewered lamb and Maramureş stew with polenta (28 lei). There's a bargain three-course set lunch for just 25 lei.
Casa VecheROMANIAN$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0744-110 299; Str Iuliu Maniu 27; mains 15-36 lei; h7am-11pm)
Probably the busiest joint in town, Casa Veche has a bubbly terrace in the evening, and an elegant, high-ceilinged interior dining room. Most punters come for the big pizzas but there are also succulent steaks, salads and all manner of Romanian specialities, including Transylvanian soup with pork (4 lei) and 'Outlaw's Stew' (22 lei) with beef.
Old PubIRISH PUB
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0262-314 231; www.facebook.com/oldpubsighet; Str Iuliu Maniu 5; h8am-10pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-10pm Sat & Sun)
This less-than-raucous Irish-style boozer is not a place to party but rather to enjoy a pint in the courtyard.
8Information
Tourist Information Centre Sighetu MarmaţieiTOURIST INFORMATION
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0371-347 133; www.turismsighet.ro; Piaţa Libertăţii 26; h9am-5pm)
Central and very helpful tourist office down some steps on Piaţa Libertăţii; will assist with general enquiries as well as accommodation, transport and guided tours.
8Getting There & Away
Bus
The bus station ( GOOGLE MAP ; Str Gării) is opposite the train station north of the centre.There are up to five local buses departing daily to Baia Mare (12 lei, 65km) as well as services to Satu Mare (25 lei, 106km), Oradea (45 lei, 240km) and Timişoara (70 lei, 408km). From here you can also reach Borşa (15 lei), Budeşti (7 lei), Călineşti (7 lei), Vişeu de Sus (12 lei) and Săpânţa (5 lei), as well as Bârsana, Botiza, Ieud and Mara (all about 7 lei).
Atlassib ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0751-519 365; Str Bogdan Vodă 5; h9am-1.30pm & 2.30-5pm Mon-Fri) Books bus trips to major destinations in Romania.
Eurolines ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0729-618 009; Str Bogdan Vodă; h9am-6.30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-2pm Sat) Just off Piaţa Libertăţii. Offers Europe-wide long-distance coach services.
Train
There are daily fast trains to Timişoara (100 lei, 12 hours), Bucharest (103 lei, 12 hours), Cluj-Napoca (43 lei, six hours) and Braşov (79 lei, eight hours).
CROSSING OVER TO UKRAINE
There’s a vehicular and foot bridge over the Tisa River to Ukraine just north of the centre of Sighet, making an excursion into Ukraine a snap. EU and US citizens need only fill out some forms and show a passport; nationals from other countries may need to secure a visa beforehand. Formalities on the Romanian side are fast and hassle-free. To reach the 24-hour crossing point from the centre follow Str Nicolae Titulescu northward for about 2km.
Mara Valley
The Mara Valley (Valea Marei), with its beautiful rolling hills, is really the heart of Maramureş. Villages here are famed for their spectacular churches and carved gateways.
Giuleşti & Around
Heading south from Sighetu Marmaţiei on Hwy 18, you first reach the tiny village of Berbeşti, famed for its large, 300-year-old troiţă, a wayside shrine of a roofed carved crucifix with solar symbols. It stands by the roads at the northern end of the village. Traditionally, travellers prayed – or at least blessed themselves – by the cross to ensure a safe journey.
Continuing south you’ll find Giuleşti, the main village in the Mara Valley, notable for its crumbling wooden cottages with ‘pot trees’ in their front yards, upon which a colourful array of pots and pans signify the eligibility of a daughter. It was here in 1918 that the revolutionary Ilie Lazăr summoned delegates from all over Maramureş prior to their signing of Transylvania’s union agreement with Romania. Ilie Lazăr’s simple three-room farmhouse built in 1826 is preserved and open to tourists as a memorial museum (Casa Museum Ilie Lazăr; Giuleşti; adult/child 4/2 lei; hby appointment). During the communist crackdown in the early 1950s, Ilie Lazăr was arrested and imprisoned at Sighet prison.
The village of Deseşti is a few kilometres southwest of Giuleşti on the road to Baia Mare. Its Orthodox church (Deseşti), built in 1770, was struck by lightning in 1925, destroying much of the outer walls and the steeple. Fortunately, its interior paintings, to the right as you enter the porch, have survived. The work of Radu Munteanu, they date from 1780 and feature a harrowing glimpse of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Close to the church is a 400-year-old oak tree measuring almost 5m in diameter. It has been preserved as a monument to the extensive oak forest that once covered the area before people felled the trees to build their homes.
Mara, just a couple of kilometres south of Deseşti, is known for its elaborately carved wooden gates (porţi de lemn). These are a unique architectural feature of the Maramureş region. In more recent times, their spiritual importance has been overridden by the social status attached to them.
WOODEN MARAMUREş CHURCHES & GATEWAYS
Dating back to the 14th century when Orthodox Christian Romanians were forbidden by their Roman Catholic Hungarian rulers to build their churches in stone, the master builders of Maramureş used wood in an architecturally unique way to express the faithful's spirituality. There are eight Unesco-listed churches you can visit today: Bârsana, Budeşti (Budeşti Lower-Dweller Church; %0764-206 302; Budeşti; h9am-1pm & 2-5pm), Deseşti, Ieud (adult/child 2/1 lei; h10am-4pm Tue-Sun), Plopiş, Poienile Izei (%0744-811 899; adult/child 4/2 lei; h9am-1pm & 2-6pm Mon-Sat, noon-4pm Sun), Rogoz and Surdeşti.Of the eight Unesco-listed churches you can visit today, all were built in the 18th and 19th centuries after the Tatar invasions ended in 1717. These churches' weather-beaten exteriors have taken on an eerie, blackened hue, their Gothic-style spires rising austerely to almost needle-like shape. However, inside you'll find them vibrant and cosy, with packed congregations of fervently religious villagers, and walls painted in naive biblical frescoes and representations of traditional rural life. These Orthodox churches are divided into the ante-nave, nave and altar, with towers rising up as high as 50m above. The altar is always at the east end of the church, and a porch leading into the ante-nave may also be present.
Traditionally, homes of the Mara, Cosău and Iza Valleys used oak, while in Bârsana they were built from pine, and this is still largely the case. Roofs are tall and steep, many finished in shingle tiles that look like fish scales, while the oldest ones are covered in thatch.
Immense, intricately carved wooden gates (porţi de lemn) fronting homes are common. Often used to emphasise the social status and wealth of the inhabitants, originally they were built only by royal landowners to guard against the forces of evil. The gates were the symbolic barrier between the safe interior and the unknown outside world, and people placed money, incense and holy water under them for further protection against evil. Gate carvings include the 'tree of life', a snake (guardian against evil), birds (symbols of the human soul) and a face (to protect from spirits). Other common motifs are the sun and a coiled rope (symbols of life and continuity).
Some of the most beautiful wooden gates are found in the villages of Giuleşti, Deseşti, Sârbi, Vadu Izei and, in particular, Bârsana.
Sat-Şugatag & Around
Four kilometres south of Giuleşti is Sat-Şugatag, home to a wooden church (Sat-Şugatag) dating from 1642. The church is famed for its fine, ornately carved wooden gate and 18th-century interior paintings (though they are not very well conserved). Sat-Şugatag was first documented in 1360 as the property of Dragoş of Giuleşti, a voivode and probably Moldavia's first ruler.
Mănăstirea is 1km east of Sat-Şuga
tag. Its tiny church (Mănăstirea), about 150m up the hill from a gravel road and a very rickety bridge, was built by monks in 1633. It was dissolved in 1787 during the reign of Austro-Hungarian Emperor Joseph II. The original monks' cells are on the northern side of the church, which can be seen through the window if the church is closed.
Three kilometres south of Sat-Şugatag is Hărniceşti, home to a marvellous Orthodox church (Hărniceşti) dating from 1770. A footpath from the main road leads through a graveyard to the hillside church.
Four kilometres southwest of the village and resort of Ocna Şugatag, famed for saltwater thermal pools, is Hoteni, known for its folk festival, Tânjaua de pe Mara, held in early May to celebrate the first ploughing.
Budeşti & Around
Heading south on the main road from Sighetu Marmaţiei, bear left onto Hwy 186B at Fereşti, which leads to some of Maramureş' more remote villages. If starting out from Baia Mare, you can approach this area on Hwy 184 through Cavnic and the Neteda Pass (1058m).
Corneşti, the first village along this stretch, has a small 18th-century church (Corneşti) with interior paintings by Hodor Toador. It is about 250m west of the main road and over a very shaky bridge. Călineşti, 4km further south, has two churches; to distinguish them they are called the Susani ('upper-dweller') church and the Josani church ('lower-dweller') church. The Susani church (Călineşti Upper-Dweller Church; %0724-188 163, 0765-126 734; Călineşti) (1683) is on the right side of the road at the end of the village if coming from the north. The Josani church (Călineşti Lower-Dweller Church; Călineşti), built 20 years earlier, is 1km to the east on the road to Bârsana.
Lonely Planet Romania & Bulgaria Page 31
