Maramures - the "Land that Time Forgot"

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Maramures - undoubtedly
the best kept secret in
Europe today and the best remedy for the stresses of everyday life in our modern, overcrowded cities. You will be welcomed to this beautiful land with open arms by people fiercely proud of their history and traditions.
Ieud - "Church in the Valley"
In the shadows of the majestic Rodna and Maramures mountains you will find an enchanting landscape of rolling hills with clumps of beech and oak where villages, nestled in the valleys, retain a forgotten lifestyle, almost preserved in medieaval isolation.
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Iza Valley
& Sighetu Marmatiei

The ultimate stress-free break: traditional village life amidst idyllic surroundings
Time stands still in the Iza Valley
Rodna Mountains
& the Viseu Valley

Rugged, snowcapped peaks form a backdrop to this trekking and wildlife paradise


Map: Rodnei Mountains
Traditional costumes, blankets and carpets are woven by hand, waterwheels still power flour mills, fulling mills and threshing machines, shepherds tend their flocks and make cheese in the high pastures.
Sãpinta:
"Merry Cemetery"
Above all, this is the realm of the woodcraftsman - everywhere there is wooden architecture of the highest quality imaginable, from inticately carved gateways with their symbols of aspiration and continuity, eaves and verandas, to the famous churches constructed entirely of wood. Although many date from the last Tatar raids in the 18th century this is not a forgotten craft - note the new monastery complex at Birsana for example.
Rodna Mountains
Visit the wooden churches of Ieud, Bogdan Voda, Rozavlea and Barsana in the Iza Valley or the well-preserved villages of Budesti, Sirbi and Calinesti at the foot of the Neteda Pass where the old wooden architecture abounds. At Poienile Izei you will find ancient frescoes of the Devil, Hell and the Last Judgement inside the tiny wooden church. Overshadowed by the ragged outline of the Creasta Cocosului, the "Cocks Comb" at the foot of the Gutâi Pass are another group of traditional villages rich in tradition and wooden architecture - Desesti, Harnicesti, Sat-Sugatag and finally, as you approach Sighet there is Vadu Izei where you will find workshops of artisans - weavers, glass painters, carvers and so on.
Mention should also be made of the tall wooden churches at Plopis and Surdesti on the south side of the passes - the towering spire at Surdesti is tallest wooden church in Europe - a fact contested by the architects at the new monastery of Barsana. These are just a few examples - there are many more waiting to be explored.
Other attractions include the famous "Merry Cemetery" at Sapinta where the head boards to the graves have been carved and painted over the decades with verses and pictures dipicting the life of the deceased - some are witty, some tragic. At Sighet you will find an extensive village museum and a fascinating museum in the former political prison - The "Prison of the Ministers". At Viseu one of the last forestry railways winds along the narrow Vaser valley, home to the German-speaking Zipser people, cutting through tunnels and along ledges high above the torent virtually to the border with the Ukraine. Higher still you find the walking and wildlife paradise of the Rodnas - Bears, wolves, red deer and chamois make their home between the forests and the high meadows filled with rare and endemic plants.
View to the Viseu valley from the Setref Pass