Romania – Northwest (Oradea, Maramureş, Cluj, Bistriţa, Salaj) May 30-31, 2019
ORADEA
Oradea Trams. Unusually these are pretty modern, not the old “clunkers” so common throughout Romania.
Ady Endre Memorial Museum. In a lovely 2-story Art Nouveau building in the middle of a park, it was undergoing renovation and was closed.
Baroque Palace of Oradea (Moskovits Palace). Sitting on the corner of an intersection of the pedestrianized downtown Oradea, this three-story fairytale building is painted bright blue with white trim an a whole bunch of white stucco ornamentation (vines, flowers and faces). The ground floor holds businesses and the top appear to be apartments. The corner business was a barber shop and I needed a trim of the fuzz on my neck. The older lady sat me down, had it done in 2 minutes and charged me nothing!!
Leaving Oradea at 6am, it was almost 2 hours drive to Satu Mare following the Hungarian border. The landscape was flat agricultural land.
SATU MARE
Like most of Romania, Satu Mare has lots of nice Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture, all painted in great pastels.
Ascension of the Lord Cathedral. This is a lovely single-nave church with all its framed art on the side walls, domes over the apse and ceiling. It has an unusual shape with a huge central dome with round side chapels with elaborate marble altars. All the columns are faux painted marble. You can pray for the beautification of Bishop Janos Ham. Free
The 1½ hour drive from Satu Mare had lots of interest, the wood church in Seini, a parade of young athletes (judo, football, tennis) followed by souped up all terrain vehicles in the streets of Seini. The towns of Neresti-Oas and Certeze had an unusual architecture: hundreds of opulent, huge 3-story houses lining the highway. These people are rich or have all their money invested in their homes. It was then a long tortuous drive up and over a pass (now following the Ukrainian border) with a lovely mature deciduous forest at the top, to arrive at the Happy Cemetery and church in Sapanta and, easily the highlight of my trip through Romania thus far.
MARAMURES
Maramureș is a geographical, historical and cultural region in northern Romania and western Ukraine. It is situated on the northeastern Carpathians, along the upper Tisa River; it covers the Maramureș Depression and the surrounding Carpathian mountains.
Alternatively, the term Maramureș is also used for the Maramureș County of Romania, which contains the southern section of the historical region.
Geography. Maramureș is a valley enclosed by mountains Oaș, Gutâi, Țibleș and Rodnei (northern section of the Inner Eastern Carpathians) to the west and south, Maramureș Mountains and central section of the Outer Eastern Carpathians to the east and north, with a thin opening at Khust. Several dozen small mountain rivers and creeks flow into the river Tisa. It is forested and not easily accessible. Maramureș represents one of the largest depressions in the Carpathians, covering an area of about 10,000 km². Its length from Khust to Prislop Pass is about 150 km and width from North to South is up to 80 km.
The main mountain passes linking Maramureș with the neighboring regions are high and in the past were hardly accessible in the winter. Prislop Pass (1,414 m high) links the region in the east towards Moldavia, Dealul Ștefăniței (1,254 m) in the south towards Transylvania, Pintea Pass (987 m) towards Baia Mare, and Fărgău (587 m) in the west towards Oaș Country, while Frasini Pass (Yasinia; 931 m) links the region in the north to Galicia.
The mountains surrounding this region occupy more than half of the area. A few peaks reach above 2,000 m, such as Pietrosul (2,303 m) in the Rodnei Mountains to the south and Hovârla (2,061 m) in Muntele Negru (Cernahora) to the north.
The heavy forested mountains sustain many protected species of plants, such as yew, larch, Swiss pine, edelweiss; and animals, such as lynx, chamois, alpine marmot and golden eagle.
Several protected areas have been created in Maramureș. Rodnei Mountains National Park was designated in 1930, Maramureș Mountains Natural Park in 2004, and there are many other caves, gorges, cliff formations, and lakes which are officially-protected areas.
History. In ancient times, this area was settled by Celts, Dacians, Sarmatians, and Germanic peoples. In the first century BC, it was part of the Dacian Kingdom under Burebista, while in the early Middle Ages, it was ruled by the Hunnic Empire, the Kingdom of the Gepids, the Kingdom of the Avars, the White Croatia and the Kievan Rus’.
The territory was part of the Kingdom of Hungary from the 11th century. In the 16th century, medieval Kingdom of Hungary was invaded and destroyed by the Ottoman Empire, and area came under administration of the semi-independent Ottoman Principality of Transylvania and later (in the end of the 17th century) under administration of the Habsburg Monarchy (later known as the Austrian Empire).
After the First World War, the region was divided between Romania and Czechoslovakia at the territory of Hutsul Republic, while in 1940 the whole area became part of Hungary again and was controlled during World War II until 1944. After World War II, the southern section remained within the Romanian borders and is now part of Maramureș County; the northern section was incorporated into the Soviet Union and is now part of Zakarpattia Oblast of independent Ukraine.
People. In the southern area, the majority of the population are Romanians. There are also some Hungarians, Rusyns (Ukrainians), Zipser Germans, Jews, and Roma. In the northern area, the majority are Ruthenes, with smaller Romanian, Hungarian and German communities.
In the northern area most people speak the Ruthene language, while in the southern area most speak Romanian, which is why the region was split into two parts. Since the 1940s there have been villages cut in two by the state border. There are some villages in the north (within Ukraine) that have a sizeable Romanian population, as well as some villages in Romania that have a sizeable Ukrainian
WOODEN CHURCHES OF MARAMURES
Eight were listed by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites in 1999, for their religious architecture and timber construction traditions. These are: Bârsana, Budești, Desești, Ieud, Plopiș, Poienile Izei, Rogoz, Șurdești.
They are high timber constructions with characteristic tall, slim bell towers at the western end of the building were built from the 17th century to 19th century in response to the prohibition against the erection of stone Orthodox churches by the Catholic Austro-Hungarian authorities. The churches are made of thick logs and are painted with rather “naïve” Biblical scenes, mostly by local painters. The most characteristic features are the tall tower above the entrance and the massive roof that seems to dwarf the main body of the church.
In Maramureș today almost 100 wooden churches still stand, about one third of their total two centuries ago. The skills, knowledge and experience to build ample log structures with plane, well sealed walls and flush joints were specialised church carpenters who inherited and maintained this advanced knowledge to exclusively build houses of worship.Seini Wooden Church.
Church of St Nicolas, Budesti. Built in 1643 in oak, it is noted for its large size – 18 x 8m, its polygonal apse, the high, semi-circular ceiling in the nave, roof eaves at two levels, and a unusual bell tower with 4 turrets at the base of the spire. The interior wall paintings and some icons date to 1762 but there are also some very old glass icons of 16th century vintage. The church contains a 1684 manuscript and the chain mail shirt worn by the legendary outlaw Pintea the Brave.
The massive logs were joined by metal straps at the corners. An ancient ladder hangs on the side and both sides have a rustic bench seat. The doorframe posts had intricate carving. Unfortunately it was closed when I was there even though it was during the posted hours of opening. I could see in through all 4 windows: there were great rugs on the floor and faded frescoes.
I also saw two much more modern wooden churches. Both had great carved wood arches at the entrance, a common site for many buildings. Both had flat ceilings in the narthex under a balcony. The barrel vaulted ceilings continued for the entire length of the church. The iconostasis was intricately carved wood.
Seini. The preacher let me in to have a look. It was in the process of being painted to completely finish the entire inside with frescoes.
Bala Sprie. This church was open and had a lovely gazebo out front, was surrounded by wood buildings and a woven fence of saplings.
IZA VALLEY VILLAGES. Some of these villages go for kilometres following the narrow highway. I followed a big truck that rarely went over 25kms/hour through most of these. Vehicles were backed up for miles.
SAPANTA
Happy Cemetery (Merry Cemetery), Sapanta. Both the church and surrounding cemetery must be seen to be believed. All the grave markers are fantastic wood painted creations. Topped with a gable roof, each is a narrow rectangle with colourful geometric borders, a long inscription with dates (I wish I could read Romanian to understand what they said) and best of all an intricate folk carving about the deceased – the men usually their occupation (farmer, logger, butcher, military, policemen) and the women, their crafts or daily routine (cooking, knitting, spinning, working at a loom). Most have the reverse side painted similarly. The wood slabs are attached to a cement rectangle with metal cleats. There are hundreds, maybe thousands.
The church is equally fantastic with high stone walls topped by intricate brick surrounding mosaics of saints around the entire building. The white cement buttresses also have mosaics – they use ceramic images for some and tiles. The huge tower terminates in a spike of spire and a lovely cross. The roof of the spire and church is green with multi-coloured tiles. Wow.
The interior of the church was plain white cement but was in the process of being plastered and painted. The apse was full of scaffolding and the back of the apse had been finished with typical frescoes. About 6 men from Bucharest were painting the dome of the apse and side walls. The plan was to paint the entire church – taking two years. The shallow dome in the centre of the nave was a rich mosaic of Mary surrounded by 8 angels. I even watched the guy make the plaster.5 Lei
From the write up at the entrance of the church: On the banks of the Tisa River and dominated by the Carpathian Peaks, Sapanta is a town of 3500. The people are attached to lands, independent spirit and strict respect for customs and traditions, especially the Orthodox religion. At Sunday service, the people wear traditional costumes and forget their quarrels and misunderstandings.
The forest was the basis of the economy and wood is everywhere in the architecture, floral motifs and sun and moon. The Romanian peasant has never been afraid of death, a gateway to eternal rest, a natural event accepted as fate.
The cemetery is the centre of the community with 800 folk art monuments, a true and complex outdoor museum. The cemetery is the lifetime work of the renowned painter, folk sculptor and poet Ion Stan Pâtros and was continued by Dimitru Pop. The crosses are carved from oak, painted in “Sapanta” blue with an epitaph written in short verses of simple lyrics and full of spirit and grace. It includes the name and and what was essential in their life, their thoughts, concerns and feelings, state of mind, virtues, vices, some with a touch of humour. Many relate dramas and tragedies – war, oppression or the death of a loved one.
The painting shows them in important moments of their life. It is an attempt to look at life in a different way. Death is not first but rather the rush of life.
IZA
SIGHETU MARMATIEI
Sighet Prison – Memorial to the Victims of Communism and The Resistance. In the “Dark Side” series, this museum can only be described as “terrible”. Over innumerable prison cells in three tiers and multiple blocks, there is enough detail to write a 1000-page book, most in Romanian with snippets of English. They give you 41-page book in English. Start with a 4-minute audio in an accent that is barely understandable. The cells are each covered in “posters” with enormous detail – so much that you soon stop reading. I left not really understanding anything. 5 Lei
What follows is an excerpt from the “book” (I took it to read later).
Courtyards have a sculpture of 18 figures, plaques of thousands of names of people who died in prisons, camps and deportation centres in Romania (thousands more are in the nearby Pauper’s Cemetery).
History: Sighet Prison was built in 1897 to hold common criminals and political prisoners during WW’s I and II (Polish revolutionaries, priests, and deserters from the Hungarian army).
1948-50: schoolchildren, students and peasants from the Maraumues resistance were imprisoned.
1950-1955: maximum security prison secretly housing 200 politicians, journalists, officers, bishops and priests. 54 died in the prison and were buried in secret, still unidentified graves.
1955-75: prison for common criminals.
1975-present: Closed in 1975 when it became a warehouse and eventually a ruin. In 1993, it became a museum and memorial to what happened under communism in Romania and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Communism in Romania (1945-89). There were more than 250 places of imprisonment in Romania including sorting centres, forced labour camps and deportation camps. In addition there were hundreds of interrogation centres, 15 former psychiatric (re-education centres) and 90 sites of battles, executions and mass graves. Overall more than 2 million people were persecuted. 600,000 were imprisoned and hundreds of thousands imprisoned without trial some for up to 8-10 years. The terror reached its peak in 1948-53 and again in 1958-60 when forced labour camps received the overflow from prisons. Many penitentiaries were death camps where peasants, priests, businessmen, tradesmen, officers, students, minors and women were killed.
After Romania was liberated in Oct 1944, the government was controlled by Soviets. The monarch, Mihai I was forced into excommunication and eventually returned to the country in 1992. The army, police, secret service and judiciary were all completely controlled.
The elections of 1946 were fraudulent where the communists backed by the Red Army prevented opposition candidates from conducting an campaign, controlled the press and made it difficult for peasants to vote. The communists won 70% of the vote with 349 seats versus 55 for the opposition whereas the actual result would have been exactly the opposite. From 1947-8, opposition parties ceased to exist creating a one-party state. Those politicians were arrested.
From 1946, over 2000 priests from all denominations were arrested and died in Sighet, died suspiciously or were put into forced domicile. ⅔ of the monasteries were closed.
Security police used administrative arrest, informers, labour camps, propaganda and censorship to repress all resistance. 60,000 worked on the Danube-Black Sea Channel from 1950-53 and it became known as the “graveyard of the Romanian bourgeoisie”. Ethnic Germans, Bulgarians, Serbians, Hungarians and Jews were persecuted or sent to labour camps on the Baragab Steppe.
96% of all land was seized and became collectives, 800,000 peasants were arrested and 30,000 convicted. All state institutions were Sovietised, all industry nationalized and comrade became the obligatory from of address.
Bassarabia, part of Romania became Soviet territory in 1944 and became Moldava, a centre for deportation, extermination, collectivization and Russification.
Countries of Eastern Europe. Seven countries became the communist bloc from 1945-1989: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic, Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary and Romania.
Elie Wiesel Memorial House (Jewish Museum), Sighet. This was the house Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) was raised in before being sent to Auschwitz in 1944. After being liberated from Buchenwald in 1945, he moved to France, was educated, moved to the US and worked as a journalist and professor in several American universities. Over his life he was a champion of the oppressed around the world and received (besides numerous other awards including 136 honorary doctorates) the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. Life for Jews was described including laws, the ghetto and the 12,849 taken to concentration camps.
Maramures Village Museum. This open-air museum is one of the most interesting with relocated houses and buildings from Maramures. One of the more interesting is the synagogue.
BAIA MARE
Muzeul Satuliu (County Museum of Ethnography and Folklore). This open-air museum has a great collection of log buildings most with thatch roofs and period furniture, traditional costumes and artifacts. 10 Lei
Planetariu. There are great photos of several galaxies and several planets but all is in Romanian. A video in English on our Solar System was very good. The planetarium projects on a dome and the lovely curator gave me a brief view of the usual show – unfortunately the next 2 days were booked with children. They also have several telescopes but there is limited use because of light pollution in the city. 8 Lei
Bargau Valley. This valley is so wide and flat, it is hard calling it a valley. Dikes and canals are common to help drainage.
Jibou Botanical Garden. Roses in bloom, succulents and cacti surrounding a large geodesic dome full of tropical including palms, some very large and then a series of greenhouses. I walked out through the rose and ornamental gardens and found myself on a back road and out of the place. There are great descriptive texts from which I leaned a great deal. 10 Lei, 5 reduced.
Hoia Baciu Forest. In the NM “dark side” series, this 3 sq. km forest is situated to the west of the city of Cluj-Napoca, near the open-air section of the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania. The forest is used as a common recreation destination with a biking park, paintball, airsoft and archery.
According to legend, the Hoia Forest is the location of paranormal phenomena. Many ghost stories and urban legends contribute to its popularity as a tourist attraction. Skeptics say these are just stories for entertainment and lack any testable evidence. The Hoia Forest has been featured in paranormal documentary TV shows, from Ghost Adventures to Destination Truth.
You never really know if Google Maps is taking you to the right place. Here the turn is onto potholed dirt, then a muddy 2m wide track that encounters a huge mudhole. I turned around at this point. There was no particularly promising forest ahead, just a hill side with small trees???
CLUG-NAPOCA (pop 324,000)
Commonly known as Cluj, it is the fourth most populous city in Romania and roughly equidistant from Bucharest (324 kilometres (201 miles)), Budapest (351 km (218 mi)) and Belgrade (322 km (200 mi)). Located in the Someșul Mic river valley, the city is considered the unofficial capital to the historical province of Transylvania.
The city spreads out from St. Michael’s Church in Unirii Square, built in the 14th century and named after the Archangel Michael, the patron saint of Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca experienced a decade of decline during the 1990s, its international reputation suffering from the policies of its mayor at the time, Gheorghe Funar. Today, the city is one of the most important academic, cultural, industrial and business centres in Romania. Among other institutions, it hosts the country’s largest university, Babeș-Bolyai University with 20,000 students, with its botanical garden; and nationally renowned cultural institutions.
Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania. I actually enjoyed the simple displays with traditional items: hunting (carved antler powder horns), fishing, agriculture, leather, silver, gold, blacksmithing, woodworking and personal objects of shepherds. There were photos of wood carving used in Maramures, mostly sun motifs. Finish with the usual traditional dress. 4Lei
A Lego conference for little kids was sit up in front of many of the exhibits.
Hintz House. This house looks permanently closed. It sits on the corner of the main street. There were no signs even about the house.
National Museum of Transylvania. The main exhibit was early photography from the 1880s and early 20th century. Most were posed studio portraits and some were hand coloureed. The second part had many artifacts from the Dacian capital of Sarmizugetisea Regia: pottery, metal, jewelry, tools and weapons. 100 Lei
Banffy Palace. This palace holds the Cluj Art Musuem. I saw an odd exhibit on movie costumes. The palace has a large courtyard. The whole place could use a facelift. Free
Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral. This Catholic church has one aisle and many white/gilt altars holding polychromes and art.
Academic College. In the “modern architecture” series, This is a modern 3-story building with a flat roof, round port-hole windows and a 5 arches with a small courtyard behind. The doors are wrought iron. On the south end is a square 8-story tower. The building holds the Faculty of European studies of Babes-Bolyai University.
Botanical Garden (Alexandru Borza B G)
TURDA
Turda Salt Mine.
Salina Turda is a salt mine in the Durgău-Valea Sărată area of Turda. Opened for tourists in 1992, the Salina Turda was visited by about 618,000 Romanian and foreign tourists just in 2017.
Salt was first extracted here during the antiquity and the mine continuously produced table salt from the Middle Ages, the mine being first mentioned in 1075, to the early–20th century (1932).
The first document that speaks explicitly about the existence of a salt mine in Turda dates from 1 May 1271, being issued by the Hungarian chancellery. Documents preserved from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries that refer to the Turda salt mines mention that salines were arranged in Băile Sărate microdepression and on the south-eastern slope of the Valea Sărată. Operating rooms were placed on the sites of current salt lakes from the perimeters mentioned above. In the seventeenth century has begun first salt mining works on the north-western slope of Valea Valea Sărată, evidenced by shafts in the dome of Terezia room. Shortly after, the Sfântul Anton mine was opened, where mining activity continued until the first half of the twentieth century.
Renovation. Turda salt mine was renovated and it reopened its doors in 2010 after a €5,888,000 investment.
Since 1992, Salina Turda has been a halotherapy center and a popular tourist attraction. In 2008, the salt mine was modernized and improved under the program PHARE 2005 ESC large regional/local infrastructure, worth six million euros. It was reopened to tourism in January 2010.
Iosif mine. The Iosif Mine can be visited through the balconies carved in salt. It is next to the Franz Josef Gallery. This mine is a conical chamber 112 meters deep 67 meters wide at the base. Because of its shape and lack of communication with the other major mining points, this mine has a powerful echo, leading to it being called the “Echoes Room”.
Crivac room. The crivac is one of the main points of interest in the salt mine. The octagonal room hosts a winch called “crivac” or “gepel”, rudimentary machinery used to lift salt rocks on the surface. It dates from 1881. This machine replaced another, smaller in size, that was installed in 1864. It is the only machine of this kind in all salt mines in Romania and probably in Europe that keeps in its original location.
Terezia mine. It is a conical mine (bell mine). Salt mining in this type of room left behind underground halls of impressive dimensions: 90 m height and 87 m diameter. The depth from the mouth of the shafts to the base of the mine is 112 m. A “cascade of salt”, an underground lake, stalactites and salt efflorescences complete the inert equilibrium of the giant bell. The underground lake is between 0.5 and 8 m deep and is extended on about 80 percent of the operating room hearth area. In the center of the lake there is an island formed from residual salt deposited here after 1880, the year when salt mining ended in this room.
Rudolf mine. Forty-two meters deep, 50 meters wide, and 80 meters long, Rudolf mine is the last place where salt was exploited in Turda. Through the compartment of access, 172 steps lead to the mine hearth. On the walls of each of the 13 “floors” is marked the year when the respective level was exploited. On the north-western ceiling formed over the years salt stalactites, some even three meters long. The panoramic elevator offers tourists an overview of the whole mine.
Gizela mine. Gizela mine and technical rooms in the north-eastern extremity of the salt mine are similar to those of Rudolf mine, but much smaller because the salt exploration stopped shortly after the opening of this mine. Currently this mine is equipped as a spa treatment room with natural aerosols. The underground gallery of this mine constitutes a geological reserve, access to tourists being not allowed in this room. It is 15 m above the transport gallery (Franz Josef gallery). Infiltrations of water on the extraction pit determined the deposition of efflorescences and formation of stalactites, and in the lake that partially covers the hearth of the room formed salt crystals. The room has received the tourist name of Crystal Hall.
This is a very popular place with tourists. Pass a gauntlet of 17 knick-knack shops and 18 fast-food outlets. 40 Lei, 20 reduced. Last entrance at 4pm.
Muzeul de Istorie Turda. This has good exhibits that are well presented showing the history of Turda from Neolithic to Romans to Medieval times. Some of the Roman bronzes were very nice. 10 Lei, 5 reduced.
Salina Turda Theme Park. The site is a large underground wonderland with a brightly lit modern art theme park nestled 120 meters below the surface of the Earth inside one of the oldest salt mines ever known. The innovative look of this gargantuan amusement park seems like something out of a science fiction movie. It contains attractions like an amphitheater, an underground lake that may be explored with paddles and rowboats, a Ferris wheel, spa treatment rooms with natural aerosols, bowling alley, mini-golf, sports field, table tennis, pool tables.
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