Explore the sublime beauty of one of the most conventional regions located in the northwestern part of Romania.
Valeni, Maramures
If you ever wonder if there’s a place in the world that fortunately hasn’t experienced the touch of modernism yet, then you’ll have to shift your gaze to Maramures, one of the best kept secrets of Romania.
In Maramures, you’ll be greeted by the most genuine human kindness, the most well-preserved traditions as well as the stark beauty of wooden art. Aside from this, the lovely mountain backdrops, verdant valleys and attractive villages are some of the many things that await you in this Romanian region.
Nick Maes of Daily Mail UK Travel has even made sure that he gets to visit this part of Romania, which is famous for its UNESCO-protected natural reserves like its over a hundred wooden churches (“Romantic Romania: The Country Escape that has Become an Unlikely Celebrity Hotspot”). He visited the HMS Prince of Wales-adopted Breb village as well as the Merry Cemetery, which is one of the most unique cemeteries on the globe.
Below is a snippet of his recent travel to Maramures:
Breb, the tiny village in which I stayed, has 19 mini distilleries - it's patently very self-sufficient. The village also has its own blacksmiths, farriers, and a weaver, whose bright traditional fabrics decorated my comfortable accommodation - vivid wall hangings and cushion covers that made it feel like a gypsy caravan… The building is an authentic cottage made from rough-hewn planks of oak, but the authenticity goes only so far - the loos are modern. The small village of Sapanta is home to this most intriguing of places: in its cemetery brightly painted and elaborately carved wooden grave markers affectionately display the lives of those who have died. The inscriptions are said to be humorous, but they do lose something in translation… Visits to other churches in the region shouldn't be missed; there are some splendid icons and beautiful cool, dark interiors. The tinkling of bells on a Sunday morning is captivating regardless of your religious bent.
