The master carpenters of Maramureș, Romania, have been building amazing churches in wood using only hand tools, local timber and no nails. These woodworking methods were passed from generation to generation over hundreds of years.

Old wooden churches is what my Romanian friends and I set out to see in the summer.
We found much more!

Centuries Old Wooden Churches

Whole trunks of large trees, usually oak or fir, are cut and assembled using traditional strong and simple joints to build impressive structures with tall thin towers rising to above 50 meters.

UNESCO, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, designated 8 of these churches as World Heritage Sites.

Me, wearing the local hat

The food

The food was great! Fresh, simple and delicious.
I did not expect to find in Maramureș so much of what I love - nature, simplicity, beauty, local fresh organic produce cultivated like before industrial agriculture took over, kind people and easy going atmosphere.

Fresh, localy grown, free of chemicals, super tasty produce!

The scenery

The landscape is very dramatic - high cliffs, large mountains and highly saturated colors. Bright green meadows, colorful wildflowers, lovely butterflies and birds. The air is crisp and clean, with golden, clear sunlight illuminating everything.

Picture perfect Maramures

The roads

We traveled in Maramureș during August. I usually avoid travelling in the high season because of the crowds, high prices and rooms availability. But in Maramureș we did not suffer from these difficulties.
There were hardly any tourists there, and those that we met were mostly romanian tourists. It soon became evident why this beautiful area is not over flowing with tourists during summer.




The roads are in bad shape, with large pot holes and no street lights. People, livestock and carts are walking on the road or on the unpaved shoulders of the roads and sometimes it's really dangerous especially at dusk when the people are leading their herds of livestock back to the farm from herding in the lush pastures. Other infrastructure is under developed as well. But all these did not remove a bit of our delightful visit to Maramureș. On the contrary, it keeps large herds of tourists away and the area was still in its authentic shape.




Some of the wooden churches of Maramureș survived for centuries in the freezing winters and under the hot summer sun of Maramureș. You can see these centuries in the grain of weathered wood beams and in the angles these old structures have acquired - slightly bent like an old grandmother leaning on a walking stick. For generations the churches have served the small local communities who built them, housing weddings and funerals, religious festival and Sunday sermons.

Visiting some of these unique structures gives an eerie feeling. With the locals using horse drawn carts and farming with the same tools and techniques they used 1000 years ago, it's like walking around in a middle ages era village.

Floral and other patterns are cut into the timber and are so special it is just a delight to look at them as they are unique for each structure.

Around the churches are cemeteries, decorated graves stones scattered on a gently sloping hillside in such a natural arrangement you might think a star landscape architect designed the cemetery. But no. It all evolved naturally and it is truly inspiring to see and feel the spiritual atmosphere they generate.










The base of the church structures is built with large whole tree trunks laid horizontally on top of flat rock. These heavy beams are joined using the special joinery technique developed locally. The walls are made of tree trunks as well, somewhat thinner than the base timber trunks.

Roofs are covered with wooden tiles, shingles cut in several different patterns.

The people

The dog awaits his masters outside the church on Sunday

Beautiful people of Maramures

Living off the land

Each local family is running a farm with chickens, cows, a vegetable garden, fruit orchards, bee hives, vineyards and almost everything one might need to survive, living a healthy lifestyle.





It was really amazing to see. It seems they rarely ever need to buy anything from the outside to feed and dress themselves as they even produce their own wool, hemp ropes, mats, blankets and other essentials.

Wine and the local strong alcoholic drink called tzuika, are also home made in simple, self built distilleries run in house basement.

Plums for Tzuika? In abundance!

Making fibers for ropes and mats made with cannabis plants grown on the front yard

Other than the churches, there's a lot of amazing wood work in the households of the locals, cut from solid wood. Tools, tubs, caskets, furniture, banisters, pots and other vessels.

We wanted to visit all the World Heritage churches of Maramureș, and we managed to see nearly all. The people we met were so wonderful, honest and happy. Everyone had smiles on their faces and seem to be worry free.

Maramureș is definitely one of the best places I have been to in Europe and will surly be back there for a longer visit.

See you later beautiful Maramureș!!!

Read more:
Article in the Telegraph
Analysis of joints and ornaments

Photos and text: Yoram Yannay