The Wonders of Maramures: The martyrs of Sighet and the sung gospels

Guarded by the peaks of the Carpathians, by the rapid mountain waters and by dense forests, with villages that still preserve the spirit of bygone times, Maramures remains one of the most fascinating destinations in Romania. It is not only a picturesque region, but a true sanctuary of memory, spirituality and authenticity. Here, tradition breathes through every wooden church, through every cross on the side of the road and through every word spoken in the gentle language of the locals, things that were recently observed by media representatives, but also dozens of travel agents from across the country who participated in the infotrip Redescoperim Maramures, organized by the National Association of Travel Agencies (ANAT), in partnership with the Maramures County Council.

But beyond the beauty of the places, Maramures is also a silent witness to history. And the city of Sighetu Marmaţiei, although known in the country as the place where "the map is hung on a nail" - a nail that the locals have consecrated in a monument, still stands the cold walls of the former political prison, transformed today into the Memorial to the Victims of Communism and the Resistance. Founded at the end of the 19th century, the prison in Sighetu Marmaţiei was used, after the establishment of the communist regime in 1945, to incarcerate Romania's interwar elite - former ministers, academics, economists, historians, journalists, military and priests. Between 1950 and 1955, over 200 such personalities were imprisoned here, 54 of them dying in conditions difficult to imagine. Among the victims were one of the interwar prime ministers - Iuliu Maniu, leader of the National Peasant Party, former prime minister Constantin Argetoianu, Constantin I.C. Brătianu, historian Gheorghe Brătianu and Dimitrie Burileanu - former governor of the National Bank of Romania. The conditions of detention were inhumane: without heat, without light, without decent food, the prisoners were not even allowed to look out the window. The shutters mounted on the windows allowed only a strip of sky to be seen, in a space where humiliation and suffering were daily. As if this suffering were not enough, on each floor of the prison there was a cell called Neagra, in which political prisoners who were exemplary punished by the prison management were imprisoned, without benefiting from light even during the day. Days, months or even years in complete darkness, where the only glimmer of light was when the guard opened the peephole to see if the prisoner was still alive or not, or to give him food, food that the inmate searched for by feeling the floor, represented the daily life of the Romanian martyrs in the communist prison of Sighetu Marmaţiei. After a long period spent in such a cell, the senior of Romanian post-revolutionary politics, Corneliu Coposu, who was also imprisoned in Sighetu Marmaţiei, confessed that he had to relearn to walk and talk, like a little child.

Despite the darkness of the past, Maramures maintains its verticality and confidently heads towards the future. The Memorial of Sorrow, as the museum in Sighet is also known, is today the most visited museum in the north of the country, attracting over 150,000 visitors annually. Restored since 1993, thanks to the efforts of the Civic Academy Foundation, the poet Ana Blandiana and her husband Romulus Rusan, the communist penitentiary in Sighetu Marmaţiei received the "European Heritage Label" distinction from the European Commission in 2018, thus recognizing its symbolic and educational value.

Luminiţa Ţînţaş, museographer at the Memorial to the Victims of Communism and Resistance told us: "The Sighet Museum is an institution of memory. We are trying to restore the collective memory, the individual memory, that the communist authorities tried to erase during the 45 years of dictatorship. We are talking about a number of approximately 200 great dignitaries, the political, cultural and religious elite brought here, to Sighetu Marmaţiei, during the 1950s-1955. Unfortunately, during the 5 years, 54 of them met their end in Sighet. Iuliu Maniu, former Prime Minister of Romania, lost his life in Sighetu Marmaţiei at the age of 80. So did the historian Gheorghe Brătianu. We also remember Bishop Ioan Suciu, one of the youngest, who lost his life here at the age of 46."

The Sighet Memorial is not only a reminder of communist detention, but also a review of the entire anti-communist resistance, starting from the high school students from Sighetu Marmaţiei, who were the first political prisoners after protesting in the streets in 1946 after the communists rigged the parliamentary elections, passing through the peasants who opposed the requisitions practiced by Communist Party activists and ending with Orthodox, Catholic, Greek Catholic and Protestant priests. All of them were imprisoned in Sighet, along with the 200 interwar dignitaries, and many of them were forced to work hard in the mines in the area, in unsanitary conditions that posed real dangers to their health. The extermination of political opponents in Sighet breathes from every cell, and the rooms arranged to reproduce the lifestyle of the former Socialist Republic of Romania complete the grim daily life of the communist regime that governed our country between March 6, 1945 and December 22, 1989. A history lesson that would be good for all those who are nostalgic for those times to attend, as well as young people to whom teachers in schools and high schools did not convey the dark reality of the communist regime.

• Churches beyond time

In another light, more serene and full of charm, the spiritual side of Maramures is shown, and the place of honor is occupied by the 95 old wooden churches, built by skilled craftsmen, which seem to defy time, weather conditions and seasons. Eight of the places of worship have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and there is even a tourist itinerary of Maramures churches from the four lands of the region in the north of the country.

The series of spiritual treasures begins with the Wooden Church of Budeşti Josani, which is dedicated to Saint Hierarch Nicholas, a masterpiece built in 1643, a place of worship that was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999. With a length of 18 meters, a width of 8 meters and a tower height of 26 meters, the construction stands out as the largest wooden church in historical Maramures. Inside, you can admire old icons and paintings on wood or canvas, most attributed to the painter Alexandru Ponehalschi, but also the chain mail shirt of the outlaw Grigore Pintea (Pintea Viteazul), a local hero whose ballad, performed by the artist Măriuca Verdeş, moved both the journalists and travel agents who participated in the infotrip.

Before performing for us the famous ballad of Pintea and a clever one ("Pilda celor dece fecioare") - one of the religious songs that resound in the churches of Maramures during Lent -, Măriuca Verdeş told us:

"Some say that Maramures is more special than other regions of the country, perhaps because by loving God we give up our will and open the hearts of those around us. We welcome tourists with great love and put them first, as the Holy Fathers say, that many times God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit - the Holy Trinity) can take on human form and you never know when they can knock on your door. And then we, every tourist, every person who comes from any corner of the country, of the world, receive them as we receive Christ. Since it is Lent, I want to tell you that in our country there is no letup from the moment we enter Lent until the Resurrection. (...) Researchers say that the fasteasna is a sung gospel, because people were illiterate. School appeared in these lands quite late, and people learned the gospels through fasteasna. I know people who only had one class or two at most from school, but they knew all the gospels sung".

Regarding Pintea's ballad, Mrs. Verdeş told us that in historical Maramures, two forms of its interpretation were preserved.

"One is in Ţara Lăpuşului, where it is sung with knots, and another in Ţara Maramuşului - without knots. The ballad is more than a doina, because it also has a recitative form at some point. We also have something unique, in Valea Cosăului, namely Pintea's carol, which is sung only on the occasion of the winter holidays", Măriuca Verdeş told us.

• The place where smile conquers death

Another symbol of the region is the Merry Cemetery from Săpânţa - a paradox of the local culture, where death is viewed with humor and acceptance. Established almost 100 years ago by craftsman Stan Ioan Pătraş, the cemetery contains approximately 800 brightly colored crosses, each inscribed with satirical or ironic epitaphs that describe the lives of those who have passed away with honesty and a smile. A famous verse dedicated to a mother-in-law arouses both smiles and reflections: "Under this heavy cross/My poor mother-in-law lies/She lived for three more days/I lay and read." The Merry Cemetery is not just a tourist curiosity, but a popular chronicle of the village, a sentimental archive carved in wood and pigmented with "Săpânţa blue."

The church inside the Merry Cemetery also has a peculiarity: inside, on all the columns, Christians can see the entire annual Orthodox synaxarion, with the main saint of each day of the year painted.

Completing the spiritual picture, near the Merry Cemetery in Săpânţa is the Peri Monastery, which has a church made of oak and fir wood, whose main tower reaches 78 meters in height, being one of the tallest wooden buildings in Europe. The pentagonal porch, the gold plated cross and its monumental architecture transform it into a landmark both religious and architectural.

Another place of pilgrimage in Maramureş is the Bârsana Monastery, rebuilt after the Revolution on the site of a former monastic settlement dating back several centuries. The place is a true oasis of peace. Here, in a fairy-tale landscape, visitors discover a monastic complex with a church, a summer altar, a church museum that also houses an ethnographic museum, flower alleys and buildings harmoniously integrated into the natural setting. The former wooden church that was located on this site and which was built in 1720 with the dedication "The Entry of the Virgin Mary into the Church", was moved in 1806 to its current location, from the exit from the town of Bârsana towards Sighetu Marmaţiei. The legend of the place says that after the old church was moved, the surrounding graves also moved on their own, underground to the current location where it is located. The original church impresses with its double roof and the murals that gave it inclusion in the UNESCO heritage.

As you can see, Maramures is not just a place on the map, but a state of mind. It is a lesson in history and resilience, a plea for tradition and authenticity, a living page in the Romanian heritage that continues to write memorable pages.