The Churches & Monasteries of MaraMu

Well daylight didn't reveal too much, as the village was covered in thick fog creating a somewhat eerie vista. We were awoken by cocks crowing as we made our way down to the terrace for a breakfast consisting of eggs, bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, battered pumpkin and some kind of hamlike sausage. After filling ourselves up we jumped back in the car and set off to explore the churches and monsteries of the area.

BARSANA

Barsana was our first destination and it was like walking into a fairytale. Wooden churches with tall pointed roofs greeted us as the fog evaporated in front of our eyes. This is what a travel guide says about the place.

"Barsana can trace its history back to the Bronze Age. Documents dating back to 1391 make mention of a monastery and a wooden church named for St. Nicolae.

The monastery was abandoned and the small church was removed in 1720. The church was later returned and additional painting was done in 1806 in the baroque style by Hodor Teodor. He used predominantly white, blue and red in his palette. The church is also home to several beautiful wood and glass icons.

One of the loveliest faces of faith and wood can be found in Barsana. The 57 m. high church of Barsana monastery ranks first among the wooden construction of Romania. The foundation work was started in 1993 and by now the church is one of the most beautiful structure made by peasants in the country."







Next we visited some other local villages, finding many more examples of great churches that really identify the area. These were less tourity and somehow made them seem more authentic. The one you see below was deserted and as we opened the creaky wooden door of the church we heard the scampering of mice receding into the darkness... or was it something else!