Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hungarian food. You'll sit on stiff Knights of the Round Table chairs and drink from
large wine goblets as a bib is tied around your neck in true medieval feast style. After,
shimmy on over to the Barbarossa; marked by two pirate statues at the entrance, this is
possibly the most popular bar in town, with a hip, sexy crowd filling its outdoor tables.
WHAT TO SEE & DO
BAIA MARE & THE MARA VALLEY
Tracing its history from the early 1300s, when it grew as a gold-mining center and
became a prized possession of the Hungarian royal family, Baia Mare (which means
“Big Mine”) is today better known for a range of 20th-century industrial-chemical
disasters. Most recently, in January 2000, the Maramure @ district capital was the site
of the devastating Aurul Gold Mine cyanine-spill disaster, from which the greater
European region is yet to recover. Baia Mare has for a long time had little to recom-
mend it; there is a revolution afoot, however, and the town appears to be preparing
for a revival. Keenest evidence of this is in and around its large cobblestone town cen-
ter, Pia $ a Libert â$ ii, which is now a perfectly pleasant place from which to admire the
surrounding medieval and classical architecture, some of which dates from the 14th
and 15th centuries.
That said, it's only once you've left Baia Mare, and passed through the dying min-
ing town of Baia Sprie, that you'll lose your heart to Maramure @ . Named for the Mara
River, which runs from Baia Mare to Sighetu Marma $ iei, the Mara Valley is dotted
with villages that epitomize the tranquil spirit of Maramure @ , and where you'll dis-
cover many of the unique wooden churches that have brought architectural renown
to the region. From Baia Sprie, the road forks; head south to reach the villages of
Plopi @ and Surde @ ti, both with UNESCO-protected wooden churches. From
Surde @ ti, the road continues north through Cavnic and over the Neteda Pass, afford-
ing terrific mountainous views from 1,040m (3,411 ft.). The next village, also with a
famous church, is Bude @ ti. From here, one of two northerly roads leads to Ocna
! ugatag, a tiny former spa village, where salt was mined until 50 years ago. Most
appealing of the villages in the vicinity is Hoteni, a total escape from the world and a
perfectly positioned base from which to explore other parts of the Mara Valley. Be sure
to visit Hoteni's wooden church and the nearby church at Dese @ ti. It's also worth
making the effort to visit the hillside church in the village of C â line @ ti.
SIGHETU MARMA# IEI & SÂ PÂN# A
Sighet is 67km (42 miles) N of Baia Mare; Sâpân$a is 12km (7 1 2 miles) NW of Sighet
Close to the Ukraine border, Sighetu Marma $ iei (usually referred to as “Sighet”) is a
relatively quiet market town, and the cultural center of Maramure @ . Sighet is also
home to one of the world's finest anti-Communism museums (reviewed below), also
referred to as the Prison Museum; if you see only one thing here, make this it. Parts
of the midtown Ethnographic Museum (Pia $ a Libert â$ ii 15) pertain to the local way
of life in a vaguely informative manner; included is a cornucopia of traditional cos-
tumes, exhibited alongside scarecrowlike effigies (one of which even has an erect corn
cob phallus). Sighet is also remembered as the birthplace of Elie Wiesel, the Jewish
writer who coined the termed “Holocaust” and won the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize.
Wiesel himself now lives in Boston, but the house where he lived before the war has
been converted into a rather unexciting museum known as Casa Elie Wiesel (corner
of Str. Drago @ Vo d â and Str. Tudor Vladimirescu). Only one of the eight synagogues
still exists, serving the tiny (30) population; it's at Str. Bessarabia, number 10. For
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