# Tourist attractions in Maramureș [Romania](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/attractions) Maramureș is the region in the north of the country, enclosed by the Rodna, Gutâi, Țibleș and Maramureș Mountains, with the Tisza as its border with Ukraine. The historical part, the Maramureș country, is the basin crossed by the Iza, the Mara and the Vișeu, where villages have kept their carved gates, their wooden churches with tall spires and a calendar of festivals that is still alive. Baia Mare, a mining town turned county seat, Sighetu Marmației, on the Tisza, Borșa and Vișeu de Sus are the main towns; to the west, Satu Mare County adds the Someș plain and the Oaș country. The places to visit in Maramureș are, above all, those tied to wood and tradition. Eight wooden churches are listed by UNESCO, among them [Bârsana](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-barsana), [Ieud Deal](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-ieud-deal) and [Șurdești](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-surdesti). In Săpânța, the [Merry Cemetery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cimitirul-vesel) is known for its painted crosses, while in Sighet the [Memorial of the Victims of Communism](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/memorialul-sighet) occupies the former prison. Towards the mountains, the [Horses' Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cascada-cailor) and the Prislop Pass open the way to Bukovina, and the Vaser valley forestry railway climbs from Vișeu de Sus. In [Satu Mare](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/satu-mare), the castle in Carei is the main stop. ## Tourist attractions 18 attractions - [Merry Cemetery](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cimitirul-vesel) — Monuments and historic sites · Săpânța, MM · 10 lei · ½ – 1 hours · Top 20 The cemetery in Săpânța with over 800 oak crosses painted blue, showing naive scenes from the lives of those buried there and witty epitaphs in verse; begun in 1935 by the craftsman Stan Ioan Pătraș. - [Sighet Memorial](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/memorialul-sighet) — Museums and memorial houses · Sighetu Marmației, MM · 25 lei · 2 – 2½ hours · Top 100 The former Sighet prison, where the political elite of interwar Romania died, turned by Ana Blandiana and Romulus Rusan into the first museum of communism in Eastern Europe; over 50 cells made into exhibition rooms. - [Cailor Waterfall](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/cascada-cailor) — Waterfalls · Borșa, MM · Free · 2 – 2½ hours · Top 100 A roughly 90 m waterfall that drops in several tiers down a limestone wall in the Rodna Mountains, above the resort of Borșa; reached by chairlift and a short forest walk. - [Károlyi Castle](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/castelul-karolyi-carei) — Castles and palaces · Carei, SM · 40 lei · 1 – 1½ hours · Top 100 Eclectic castle with towers and a moat, rebuilt in 1894–1896 by the Károlyi family in the middle of a three-century-old dendrological park; inside, period interiors, wax figures and African trophies. - [Prislop Pass](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pasul-prislop) — Scenic roads · Maramureș County · Free · 1½ – 2 hours · Top 100 The highest pass in the Eastern Carpathians: the DN18 climbs from Borșa to 1,416 m between the Rodna and Maramureș Mountains and drops down the Golden Bistrița valley to Cârlibaba, from Maramureș into Bukovina. - [Gutâi Pass](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/pasul-gutai) — Scenic roads · Maramureș County · Free · 1 – 1½ hours The pass where the DN18 climbs in hairpins from Baia Sprie to 987 m between the Igniș and Gutâi Mountains, then drops towards Mara and the Maramureș Land, an hour from Baia Mare. - [Ascension Cathedral (Roman Catholic Cathedral)](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/catedrala-romano-catolica-satu-mare) — Monasteries and churches · Satu Mare, SM · Free · 30 min The Cathedral of the Ascension, rebuilt in neoclassical style between 1830 and 1837: a portico of six Corinthian columns and two towers dominate Piața Libertății, and inside lies the tomb of a martyr bishop. - [Bârsana Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-barsana) — Monasteries and churches · Bârsana, MM · 30 min · UNESCO World Heritage Bârsana's old wooden church, dating from 1711, stands on Jbâr Hill in an orchard full of crosses; inside is Toader Hodor's Baroque painting of 1806. A UNESCO site. - [Budești Josani Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-budesti-josani) — Monasteries and churches · Budești, MM · UNESCO World Heritage The 1643 Church of Saint Nicholas in the Cosău Valley, with a slender tower framed by four small turrets, paintings by Alexandru Ponehalschi and the chain mail attributed to the outlaw Pintea the Brave. A UNESCO site. - [Dacia Hotel](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/hotelul-dacia-satu-mare) — Monuments and historic sites · Satu Mare, SM · Free · 15 min The former Pannonia Hotel, built in 1901–1902 in Liberty Square to plans by Zoltán Bálint and Lajos Jámbor, is one of the finest Secession buildings in Satu Mare. It can only be seen from outside: it is under restoration. - [Desești Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-desesti) — Monasteries and churches · Desești, MM · UNESCO World Heritage A wooden church from 1770 dedicated to Saint Paraskeva, painted in 1780 by Radu Munteanu with a crowded Last Judgement; one of the eight Maramureș churches on the UNESCO World Heritage List. - [Ieud Hill Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-ieud-deal) — Monasteries and churches · Ieud, MM · UNESCO World Heritage The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin on Ieud's rocky hillside, built in 1611–1621, painted inside by Alexandru Ponehalschi and the place where the Ieud Codex was found. A UNESCO site. - [Lake Mogoșa](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/lacul-mogosa) — Lakes · Baia Sprie, MM · Free · 1 – 1½ hours A 4-hectare reservoir at 731 m in the forests of the Gutâi Mountains above the town of Baia Sprie, with a lakeside path, terrace, beach and kayaks for hire in summer, 18 km from Baia Mare. - [Ocna Șugatag](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/ocna-sugatag) — Resorts and thermal baths · Ocna Șugatag, MM · Free · 2½ – 3 hours A spa resort in Maramureș with salt lakes that formed on the surface above old salt mines, including Lake Gavril, 30 m deep; salt-water bathing happens in the pools of the local complexes. - [Rogoz Wooden Church](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-rogoz) — Monasteries and churches · Rogoz, MM · UNESCO World Heritage The Church of the Holy Archangels in Rogoz, built in 1663 and part of the Maramureș UNESCO site, has an asymmetric roof over the 'table of the ancestors', horse-head eaves brackets and paintings from 1785. - [Wooden Church of Plopiș](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-plopis) — Monasteries and churches · Plopiș, MM · Free · UNESCO World Heritage An oak church built by the village's 49 families at the end of the 18th century, with a slender tower of almost 47 m and a trefoil vault unique among wooden churches, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. - [Wooden Church of Poienile Izei](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-poienile-izei) — Monasteries and churches · Poienile Izei, MM · UNESCO World Heritage An early 17th-century wooden church in the village cemetery, with the best-known depiction of Hell in Maramureș: devils, torments and village sins, painted in 1793–1794. - [Wooden Church of Șurdești](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/biserica-de-lemn-surdesti) — Monasteries and churches · Șurdești, MM · UNESCO World Heritage The oak-built Greek Catholic church of Șurdești village, with a 54-metre tower and a total height of 72 metres, one of the tallest old timber buildings in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage monument. ## Counties - [Maramureș](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/maramures) - [Satu Mare](https://peplaiuri.ro/en/county/satu-mare) --- Full page: https://peplaiuri.ro/en/region/maramures Other languages: Română: https://peplaiuri.ro/regiune/maramures.md · Deutsch: https://peplaiuri.ro/de/region/maramures.md · Italiano: https://peplaiuri.ro/it/regione/maramures.md Source: Pe Plaiuri (https://peplaiuri.ro/en) — Guide to tourist attractions in Romania