Traditional Villages
This section is courtesy of Travel Lady Magazine
Traditional Villages in Maramures
by Joyce Dalton
From the province of Moldavia, head westward along a good, but
mountainous, road to Romania's most traditional region, Maramures. The
drive takes about five hours with no stops, but this is virtually an
impossibility, especially for photographers. Picturesque villages (notably
Ciocanesti, whose houses covered with painted flowers and geometrics make
it arguably Romania' s prettiest village), spectacular mountain scenery
and a unique museum smack in the middle of nowhere The Museum of the Tree
Roots (Muzeul Radacinilor) with a bizarre exhibit of figures sculpted from
tree roots all beg inspection. Gawking becomes even more demanding once
Maramures is reached. At Mosei, turn left toward Bistrita, then right
after a few miles toward Sacel and Sighetu Marmatiei, the principal town.
(Sighetu also can be reached by continuing straight at Mosei, but the
lower road passes through the region' s most traditional villages.)
From Sacel on, each village offers its share, and more, of wooden houses,
many with sculpted designs on balconies and around entrances. Then, there
are the towering carved wooden gates, attached to fences half their size,
rising before even modest dwellings. Popular motifs include grapevines,
acorns, twisted rope, sun symbols, crosses and forest animals. The
villages of Barsana and Oncesti have, perhaps, the greatest number of
impressive gates.
Maramures is Brigadoon land where the way of
life has changed little over the centuries. In late afternoon, old women
sit outside their gates coaxing coarse wool onto spindles. Many still
favor traditional dress, meaning white frounced blouses, striped woven
panels covering full black skirts, headscarves and ³opinci,² a sort of
leather ballet slipper from which heavy yarn criss-crosses over thick
socks. On Sunday, such dress is practically de rigueur, even for little
girls.
Hardly a village lacks its own small wooden church dating
to the 17th and 18th centuries. These are exquisite, high-steepled jewels
with multiple gabled roofs, all of a pattern yet each distinctly unique.
Seeing at least a few interiors is a must as many frescoes remain in good
condition. If time is limited, the interiors at Ieud, Bogdan Voda and
Poenile Izei are recommended. The latter depicts some highly original
torments for such sins as sleeping in church. Although churches are
usually locked, ask any passerby for the key-keeper by pointing at the
door and saying ³cheia² (pronounced kay-ya), meaning the key. Romanians
are extremely kind and friendly and will be sure to help. While the main
tourist activities in Maramures are gate-, church- and people-viewing, the
town of Sighetu Marmatiei has a few attractions worth visiting. The
outdoor village museum, on the road into town, boasts dozens of homes and
farm buildings assembled from around Maramures county. Even Oncesti s
wooden church has been relocated here.
For a look at Romania s
more recent past, an hour spent at Sighetu' s Museum of Arrested Thought
is instructive. Though only a block or two off the main street, it is not
easy to find. Ask for the ³Muzeul Inchisorii² (pronounced moo zow ool un
kee swah ree), meaning prison museum. Although built in the days of
Austrian-Hungarian rule, the Communist regime utilized the prison for
opposition leaders and intellectuals. Three tiers of cells and various
exhibits may be viewed; an English-speaking guide is available. An old
synagogue (currently under restoration) and the childhood home of author
Elie Wiesel (not open to the public) also are in Sighetul Marmatiei
(Sighet for short).
No trip to Maramures is complete without a look at
the Merry Cemetery of Sapanta, a 20-minute drive from Sighet. Here,
colorful folk art pictures and witty words carved into wooden headstones
immortalize the deceased's foibles, occupations or family problems. No
translations, but the pictures tell much of the story. An old woman bakes
round loaves of bread, a young person bends in scholarly fashion over his
books, one man is shot by soldiers while another tends his flock of
sheep.
Beauty assumes many forms. For most travelers, the enduring
traditions of Maramures and the magnificence of Bucovina's painted
monasteries will define two of them.
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