The Wooden Churches of Maramureș

Maramureș is the part of Romania where wooden building was carried furthest. Its churches, eight of which carry a joint UNESCO listing, are built of oak on stone foundations with shingled roofs and slender spires that in some cases pass fifty metres, giving them proportions closer to a needle than a tower. The construction is traditional joinery, and interiors are painted with folk-Byzantine scenes by local hands, often crowded and vividly literal. The region is also known for its carved wooden gates, for the tall haystacks in the fields, and for the Merry Cemetery at Săpânța, where each grave carries a painted blue wooden cross with a naive portrait and a rhyming verse about the deceased, some of them affectionate, some frankly rude.

What you actually see

• Church at Ieud and Bârsana - among the finest of the shingled oak churches with tall spires.
• The Merry Cemetery, Săpânța - painted blue crosses with witty verse epitaphs.
• Carved wooden gates - traditional village gateposts with rope and sun motifs.
• Barsana monastery - a modern complex built entirely in the regional wooden style.

When to go

May to October; the region is green and the roads are good. Haymaking in summer fills the fields with the traditional tall stacks. Winter is beautiful and cold, but some churches are locked and finding a keyholder is harder.

Honest expectations

The churches are spread across many villages on winding roads, and without a car this is very difficult. Several are kept locked, and access means finding the person with the key, which is normal but takes time and a little Romanian or patience. Interiors are dim and photography is often restricted. The Merry Cemetery has become a coach stop and is busiest at midday.

Nearby

The Rodna mountains lie east; the Ukrainian border runs along the Tisza to the north.