Romania - Maramureş

Romania - Maramureş - Rural traditions in Hoteni.

Sent by Tatiana from Romania.

This is from Wikipedia : Maramureş (in Romanian; Rusyn: Марамуреш / Maramuresh; Hungarian: Máramaros; Latin: Marmatia; Ukrainian: Мармарощина / Marmaroshchyna, Мараморщина / Maramorshchyna)) is a geographical, historical and ethno-cultural region in northeastern Carpathians, along the upper Tisza River; it covers the Maramureş Depression and the surrounding Carpathian mountains.

Before the Treaty of Trianon, the whole territory belonged to Hungary, and formed Máramaros County. The borders then divided the region between Romania and Czechoslovakia. The southern section is now part of Maramureş County in northern Romania; the northern section is part of Zakarpattia Oblast of western Ukraine.

Alternatively, the name Maramureş is used for the Maramureş County of Romania, which contains the southern section of the former historical region and also small parts of the interbellic Satu Mare County and Sălaj County (former pre-World War I Szatmár and Szilágy counties).

Maramureş is a valley totally enclosed by mountains, Oaş, Gutâi, Ţibleş and Rodnei to the west and south, Maramureş Mountains and Ukrainian Carpathians (Wooded Carpathians) to the east and north, with a thin opening at Khust, with several dozen small mountain rivers and creeks flowing into the river Tisza (Tisa). It is forested and not easily accessible.

The limits of the region is between the parallels of 47o33' N and 40o02' N and the meridians of 23o15' E and 25o03' E. Maramureş represents one of the largest depressions in the Carpathians, covering an area of about 10000 km².

Its length from Khust to Prislop Pass is about 150 km and the width from North to South is up to 80 km.

The main mountain passes linking Maramureş with the neighboring regions are high and in the past were hardly accessible in the winter. Prislop Pass is 1414m high to the East towards Moldavia, Dealul Ştefăniţei, 1254m in the south towards Transylvania, Pintea Pass 987 m towards Baia Mare and Fărgău 587 in the west towards Oaş Country. In the north Frasini Pass (Yasinia) is 931 m high, linking the region to Galicia.

The mountains surrounding this region occupy more than a half of area, and reach 2000 m by several peaks like Pietrosul 2303m in Rodnei Mountains to the south and Hovîrla 2061 in Muntele Negru (Cernahora) to the north.

The heavy forested mountains sustain many protected species of plants like yew (Taxus baccata), larch (Larix decidua), Swiss pine (Pinus cembra), edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum); and animals like lynx (Lynx lynx), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), alpine marmot (Marmota marmota), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus).

Here lived the last Romanian wisent, hunted to extinction in 1852. Lostriţa, a local variety of salmon, still live in the mountain rivers.

On this ground protected areas have been created here, Rodnei Mountains National Park in 1930, Maramureş Mountains Natural Park in 2004. Many other caves, gorges, cliff formations and lakes are officially protected areas.