Baia Mare

Baia Mare has mined precious metals since the Middle Ages, and the town grew rich enough in the fifteenth century to build the tower that still stands on its old square: Stephen's Tower, some fifty metres high, all that remains of a church otherwise lost. Around it, Piața Libertății keeps a ring of merchant and guild houses, including the Elephant House and the Butchers' Bastion nearby. In the late nineteenth century the town became the seat of an artists' colony that shaped modern Romanian and Hungarian painting, and the county art museum holds work from it. Mining has largely ended and the industrial legacy includes a very tall chimney and contaminated ground on the outskirts, which the town is slowly addressing. For most travellers Baia Mare is the practical base at the western entrance to Maramureș, an hour from the wooden churches and the Merry Cemetery.

What you actually see

• Stephen's Tower - the fifteenth-century belfry on the old square.
• Piața Libertății - the ring of guild and merchant houses around the centre.
• The art museum - work from the Baia Mare painters' colony.
• The mineralogy museum - crystal specimens from the local mines.

When to go

April to October, when the Maramureș roads and villages are at their best and the square has terraces. Autumn colour on the Gutâi is excellent. Winter access to the mountain villages needs care but is possible.

Honest expectations

The city outside the old square is dominated by communist-era housing and the visible traces of heavy industry, and it is not attractive. Museums keep short hours and close on Mondays. Most visitors are here to sleep and drive on, which is a fair use of the place.

Nearby

The Maramureș wooden churches and Breb lie east; Săpânța and the Merry Cemetery are north.