Maramures - About Romania!

Maramures
Places to visit
Traditional food
Traditional houses

Quick Facts

Capital:

Bucharest

Government:

Republic

Currency:

leu (RON)

Area:

237,500 sq km

Population:

22,317,730 (July 2002 est.)

Language:

Romanian

Electricity:

220V/50Hz (European plug)

Calling Code:

+40

Time Zone:

UTC +2

Traditional Costume from Maramures

Maramures

Maramures is home to many villages where century-old traditions are still part of daily life. The inhabitants of this area have preserved, to an amazing extent, the rural culture and crafts of their Dacian ancestors. Maramures villages are distinguished by their unique wooden churches with tall spires and shingled roofs. Elaborate woodcarvings decorate the entryways and the houses. The local handiwork is also seen in the hand-woven carpets and intricate embroidery that adorns folk dresses still worn by the locals.
The local craftsmanship can be best observed in the monumental Maramures gates, guarding the entry to the houses.The gates have traditional ornamental motifs, including the sun and the twisted rope, both symbols of life and continuity.

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Places to visit in Maramures

Places to visit in Maramures:

In Maramures you can visit the wooden architecture and rural lifestyle of the traditional villages in the Mara Valley,the Rodnei Mountains National Park, a natural reserve filled with a rich diversity of flora and fauna, has been awarded biosphere status by UNESCO.

If you want a one of a kind experience , you can take the narrow-gauge steam train from the small logging town of Viseu de Sus, the steam railway runs along a scenic road for about 30 miles, chugging behind an old steam engine. The train provides the only access other than walking to settlements higher up in the valley. During stops, you can watch workers load firewood and take on water from clear mountain streams. On the trip back down in the evening, the engine driver whistles for brakemen to stop the train - sometimes to pick up or drop off passengers, sometimes to stop to pick wild mountain mushrooms.

Also you can visit the unique Merry Cemetery in Sapanta with its colorfully decorated wooden crosses and the Wooden Churches and the traditional villages in the Iza Valley: Barsana, Bogdan Voda, Botiza, Budesti, Calinesti, Desesti, Ieud, Moisei, Plopis, Poienile Izei, Rogoz and Surdesti.

Traditional food from Maramures

Traditional food from Maramures:

A very tasty dish in Maramures is bulz, oven baked and mixed with ewe’s milk cheese or cheese fermented in special wooden or clay pots and served alongside warm polenta.
In Maramures people welcome travelers and guests with homemade breads and a small glass of horinca.Horinca is a traditional triple-distilled local plum or other fruit brandy. Other local specialties are smoked sausages, bacon and fresh ewe’s milk cheese.
For Easter, baskets covered with towels adorned with flowers containing red painted eggs, pasca, knot-shaped bread, pies, and braised lamb,are blessed at the local churches before the traditional Easter lunch.Pasca is a sweet cheese cream cake.
Here's a version of the cream of wheat with milk recipe. I hope you will enjoy it. This recipe is incredibly simple and yet very tasty.

Ingredients for 2 servings:
2 mugs (200ml) of milk
semolina/cream of wheat, 6 teaspoons
sugar, 4 teaspoons
grated lemon rind (1 lemon)

If you are using a larger mug, increase the quantities of cream of wheat and sugar accordingly (e.g., 8 and 6 spoons).

Traditional houses

Traditional houses from Maramures:

Dragomiresti Church, Maramures, 1722:

• The interior was painted by local painters, according to the Byzantine religious culture, but they preserved various aspects of social life and political life.Some elements like the local arhitecture ,scenes of work and traditional clothing were immortalized.

Ieud House, Maramures, 1890:

• The monumental gate of oak, with the shingle roof, richly ornamented with Carving is the distinctive sign of a social class, the free villagers. The house is surrounded on three sides by a porch.

Berbesti House, Maramures, 1775:

• Berbesti household with the construction and inventory of tools and objects, reveals the main occupations of the people: agriculture, forest work, and various activities. The living room is equipped with a hearth with oven.