Romania : Part 10 - Day 12 : Wooden Church Ieud and Poienil, Barsana Monastery, Merry Cemetery

Day 12 of Romanian Drive

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 12. 

26/9 Day 12: Ieud -- Poienil -- Barsana Monastery -- Merry Cemetery -- leave Romania -- Zahorie, Slovakia

We slept in the car.

Must-Incur Costs

(1) Petrol in Satu Mare, Romania - LEI167.30 / EUR37.17 / 33.93 liters

Last filled in Brasov on Day 10.

(2) Entrance fee to Wooden Church, Ieud - LEI4 / EUR0.89
(3) Entrance fee to Merry Cemetery - LEI5 / EUR1.11

Optional Costs 

(1) 26/9 Lunch in Barsana Monastery - Vegetable soup and bread for 2 LEI16/ EUR3.56
(2) 26/9 Snack in Barsana Monastery - Fried bread with cheese LEI3 / EUR0.67,
(3) Tea break in Merry Cemetery - 2 slices of cake LEI8 / EUR1.78

The Story

260916 - Happy birthday to me! Today is my birthday and it is our last day in Romania. The night before, Prof Sweet Tooth has parked in Ieud (pronounced as Ye-Wood) Village, which is very close to our next destination - Wooden Church of Ieud. 

We arrived at the parking spot and could not see anyone. I can tell you, though. Despite the Wooden Church being a UNESCO site, there were no souvenir booths at all - which means no visitors. There were 3 parking spots only. I don't think a tourist bus comes here either. I asked a local - UNESCO church? She pointed to the top of a hill and I could see the cemetery. So, we walked up the hill and saw a small wooden church on top of the hill which is surrounded by a cemetery.

The Wooden churches of Maramureș in the Maramureș region of northern Transylvania are a group of almost one hundred Orthodox churches, and occasionally Greek-Catholic ones, of different architectural solutions from different periods and areas. The Maramureș churches are high timber constructions with characteristic tall, slim bell towers at the western end of the building. They are a particular vernacular expression of the cultural landscape of this mountainous area of northern Romania.

Maramureș is one of the better-known regions of Romania, with autonomous traditions since the Middle Ages - but still not very much visited. 

The wooden churches of the region that still stand were built starting from the 17th century all the way to 19th century. Some were erected on the place of older churches. They were a response to the prohibition against the erection of stone Orthodox churches by the Catholic Austro-Hungarian authorities. The churches are made of thick logs, some are quite small and dark inside but several of them have impressive measures. They 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.

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. Source from Wikipedia.

The Ieud Hill Church (Romanian: Biserica din Ieud Deal), dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin, is a Romanian Orthodox church in Ieud Commune, Maramureș County, Romania. Built in the early 17th century, it is one of eight buildings that make up the wooden churches of Maramureș UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is also listed as a historic monument by the country's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs. Its name comes from the fact that it is located on a hill, and is used to distinguish it from the Ieud Valley Church. Source from Wikipedia.

The church was locked. I have read on the web that one must call the caretaker to open the doors. I can understand why. There are no visitors, hence, no point waiting at the door. Plus, it is cold! I called the number (0763-655-924) on the door and a lady picked up. She could speak English and told us to wait for 10 minutes for the caretaker. In the meantime, we walked around the cemetery.

The caretaker opened the door for us, and it was dark inside. There were no lights at all. The caretaker lent us his torchlight. We tried to appreciate the paintings on the wooden walls and shone at every single painting to spend as much time as possible in the small church. But alas, it took us 15 minutes only. Now, I understand why there were only 3 parking spots and no souvenir booths.

We continued our way to another wooden church in Poienil. It was close by, a 30 minute drive. Also, 3 parking spots and no souvenir booths. 

There were hay being dried inside the cemetery. Prof Sweet Tooth was checking if the hay is dry inside.

Saint Parascheva Church is a Romanian Orthodox church in Poienile Izei Commune, Maramureș County, Romania. Built in 1700, it is one of eight buildings that make up the wooden churches of Maramureș UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is also listed as a historic monument by the country's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs. Source from Wikipedia.

The Church was locked too and one need to call the caretaker. We did not go inside this Church. We peeped through the window and saw its interior closely resemble the one in Ieud. Then, we heard footsteps inside the Church and we ran from the place.. 

The drive continues on to a huge monastery complex which was not in my itinerary but Prof Sweet Tooth decided to divert here. Many parking spaces and some souvenir booths. We had our lunch here and found out this place is Barsana Monastery Complex.

Bârsana is one of Hotels in Maramures the bigger communes in Maramureş, and one of the most important villages in the valley of the Iza River. The church, which now stands on a small hill surrounded by an orchard, is one of the eight churches on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The name bârsan means a shepherd who keeps sheep with thick long wool, and the word became a surname during medieaval times. The village of Bârsana is referred to as the property of kneaz Stanislau, son of Stan Bârsan in documents of 1326 and 1346. 

The monastery had by that time existed for some centuries, for a document of 6 November 1405 mentions a field of the monastery. The church was used for monastic purposes until 1791, when the monastery was abolished. In 1802, the villagers decided to move the unused church to the middle of the community. Source from Romanian Monastery.

The place is beautiful with its blooming flowers and gorgeous landscape.

The journey continues on to Merry Cemetery. The place is more active than the Wooden Church surroundings. 

The Merry Cemetery (Romanian: Cimitirul Vesel pronounced [t͡ʃimiˈtirul ˈvesel]) is a cemetery in the village of Săpânța, Maramureş county, Romania. It is famous for its colourful tombstones with naïve paintings describing, in an original and poetic manner, the people who are buried there as well as scenes from their lives. The Merry Cemetery became an open-air museum and a national tourist attraction.

The unusual feature of this cemetery is that it diverges from the prevalent belief, culturally shared within European societies – a belief that views death as something indelibly solemn. Connections with the local Dacian culture have been made, a culture whose philosophical tenets presumably vouched for the immortality of the soul and the belief that death was a moment filled with joy and anticipation for a better life. Source from Wikipedia.

Of course, neither me nor Prof Sweet Tooth could understand what was written on the tombs. We asked a local to translate one tomb and it did sound funny its description. I like the bright blue colours and its paintings. 

Coincidentally, Merry Cemetery which is located in Sapanta county is close to the Romania-Ukraine border. Prof Sweet Tooth parked by the roadside and we climbed up a slope to check out the Ukraine side. It was beautiful with a river flowing through with sunflowers or maybe daisies planted on its border. Can you see the difference between the 2 countries - Romania side is houses and a road. Ukraine side is a forest. 

At 7.30pm, we reached the border of Romania. We are going to exit the country after 9 days of culture overdose. It has been an eye-opener seeing horse carts on the roads, wells in the houses, beautiful churches and museums, its very affordable food and how appreciative I became of the hot weather in my country. There was not a single day I did not wear my jacket in Romania.  

It was another experience exiting the border. It took us 45 minutes to exit the border because:

(1) We queued at the wrong lane which is the EU lane. Since I am not from EU, we have to queue on the 'All Countries' lane. Prof Sweet Tooth was at the booth and an officer told him that we are in the long lane and have to u-turn to queue the right lane. 

(2) Prof Sweet Tooth did not bring his car registration documents, resulting in the Hungarian border officer (we were at Romania-Hungary border) contemplating to release us. Apparently, in Sweden, a driver is not encouraged to put their vehicle documents in the car in case of theft, but the details can be found on Transport website. Note: Not encouraged but one is allowed to bring. Prof Sweet Tooth did not know he needed to bring them. This was very difficult to be explained to the border control officers due to the language barrier. The officer initially declined our plea and requested us to turn back and wait for a truck to transport the car across the border. But he changed his mind and gave us a warning to not repeat it. I like Romania but I don't want to stay here. I miss being in an English-speaking country.  

We were so relieved to be given the green light to exit the country. Prof Sweet Tooth drove through the night for 8 hours, stopping only in Slovakia at 4am. I don't know where he gets all that stamina.