Maramures short break

Maramures, a valley in Northern Transylvania, totally surrounded by mountains, is probably the most traditional area of Romania. It’s said to be “one of the last places where rural European medieval life remains intact”. I have been thinking a lot before writing this, and I would have loved to agree, to add to its reputation of remote villages steeped in customs and history.  We used to joke that nothing has changed here in the last hundred of years. Not anymore. Today it is a land of contrasts, a combination of modern and traditional, a mix of novel and primitive.

This picturesque area’s earliest inhabitants were the Tracian tribes called Getae-Dacians, who settled around 1000BC; the Roman emperor Trajan later conquered what is today Romania, but his army never made it over the mountains and forests to the Maramures villages.  This is why, today’s inhabitants still see themselves as descendants of the Dacians tribes, whilst the rest of Romanians are descendants of Rome.

We planned to go to Maramures for a short break between Christmas and New Year and we chose Baia Sprie for our stay, as there was a particular bed and breakfast we liked. Actually, we liked the look of it, as we only saw their website before booking. I always dreamt of staying in a traditional sort of cottage as those ones you see when visiting a village museum, still get the comfort we’re used to nowadays, sit around a dinner table lit by oil lamps, but have a hot shower in the morning.  Also, I wished there was wine, good music and an artsy feel to the place. Yes, I am one of those demanding women.

We thought Casa Olarului (Potter’s House) in Baia Sprie might live up to these expectations, so we left Satu Mare soon after lunch intending to arrive in Baia Sprie before dark. We did not quite manage to, as we somehow got lost – not saying whose fault it is. I expected to see villages steeped in history, peasants still wearing traditional local costumes, but what I had to do was to count the horrible plastic Santas hanging on all the houses (old and new) all the way to Baia Sprie. Hundreds of them, I wish they were banned!

Having arrived I was extremely happy to notice there weren’t any Santa hanging on Casa Olarului (Potter’s House). Yay! The owners Daniel and Daniela Les were not in town, but their administrator came to meet us, let us in through a spacious courtyard with lots of decorative ceramic pots, opened the B&B for us, put some music on, food on the table, showed us where the wine was, stayed for a small chat, then off he went leaving us to do whatever we fancied. Luckily we didn’t fancy emptying the whole house that night!

Casa Olarului is a brilliant place to stay, I thoroughly recommend it! It’s not like staying in a B&B, but more like being a guest in someone’s house. Daniel and Daniela cooked and had breakfast with us in a cozy dining room with wooden tables and traditional rustic wall hangings, and yes, we did compliment our morning with a shot of palinka. I know you don’t really believe the story of shots for breakfast, but trust me, it’s not just a legend to demonstrate that Romanians and Hungarians tend to drink a lot, it has long been a way to start the day for hardworking men, and it nearly reached a medicine status. Daniel and Daniela told us more about what they do, about the summer art camps they organise for children, their projects and plans to save Maramures from the plastic horrible Santa invasion. I got very excited hearing about their plan to save old traditional wooden houses – disassemble them for relocation and then reassemble once they are moved to what they wanted to become a lived-in traditional village museum, a village where not only the potter, but all craftsmen have their own houses, and where to host a medieval festival.

They offered lots of information on the area, maps and books (one of which I lost, sorry), traditional clothes to wear for the day and an invite for dinner. It was a very cold but sunny day, beautiful rural scenery, and we visited Sighet – the heart of Maramures, whose people are considered the most independent-minded and strong willed of all the Romanians and stopped on the way to see traditional villages and to admire their old wooden houses and ornate gates. The last stop was in the village of Sapanta, a short drive west of Sighet, to see the Merry Cemetery where all the wooden crosses are carved with short witty or satirical poems to reconstruct the identity of the deceased and with images from their lives. Some are sad, telling of lives tragically ended by accidents or illnesses, some are funny, but the vivid blue of the crosses makes this cemetery a lively place.

We returned very late, after a long and interesting day, I won’t go into details now, I’ll only say that you might like to drive an off road car if you want to be back early in time for dinner.  There was warm homemade food and mulled wine for us when you got back, lots of plans for the following day, including the pottery demonstration.

We all know Maramures is a land of wood, but if you choose to stay at Casa Olarului, you get 2 pottery lessons free, the chance to make and paint your own pottery piece – a great souvenir from your holiday! Lots to do, as they also organise trips to the nearby villages, walks, skiing trips and horse-drawn sleigh rides in winter (horse-drawn hay wagons tours in the summer), big camp fires, music nights and don’t forget about the climbing, caving, paragliding and kayaking opportunities!

photos by Vlad Mereuta

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