Maramureș or Marmaroshchyna ( ro, Maramureș ; uk, Мармарощина, Marmaroshchyna; hu, Máramaros) is a geographical, historical and cultural region in northern

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

and western

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. It is situated in the northeastern

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

, along parts of the upper

Tisza River The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...

drainage basin; it covers the Maramureș Depression and the surrounding Carpathian mountains. Alternatively, the term ''Maramureș'' is also used for the

Maramureș County Maramureș County () is a county (județ) in Romania, in the Maramureș region. The county seat is Baia Mare. Name In Hungarian it is known as ''Máramaros megye'', in Ukrainian as Мараморо́щина, in German as ''Kreis Marmarosch' ...

of Romania, which contains the southern section of the historical region.

Name in other languages

Alternative names for Maramureș include uk, Мармарощина (''Marmaroshchyna''), rue, Мараморош (''Maramoroš''), russian: Мармарош (''Marmarosh''), hu, Máramaros, german: Maramuresch or Marmarosch and la, Marmatia.

Geography

Maramureș is a valley enclosed by mountains Oaș, Gutâi, Țibleș and Rodnei (northern section of the

Inner Eastern Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya ...

) to the west and south, Maramureș Mountains and central section of the

Outer Eastern Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya Sy ...

to the east and north. The valley is drained through a narrow opening, the Khust Gate, at

Khust Khust ( uk, Хуст; hu, Huszt) is a city located on the Khustets River in Zakarpattia Oblast ( province) in western Ukraine. It is near the сonfluence of the Tisa and Rika Rivers. Serving as the administrative center of Khust Raion (distr ...

. Several dozen small mountain rivers and creeks flow into the river Tisa. It is forested and not easily accessible. The limits of the region are between the parallels of 47°33' N and 47°02' N and the meridians of 23°15' E and 25°03' E. Maramureș represents one of the largest depressions in the Carpathians, covering an area of about 10,000 km². Its length from

Prislop Pass Prislop Pass ( ro, Pasul Prislop), is a mountain pass in northern Romania, connecting the historical regions of Maramureş and Bukovina over the Rodna Mountains, in the Eastern Carpathians. The Prislop Pass is situated at an elevation of 1,416 ...

is about 150 km and width from North to South is up to 80 km. The main mountain passes linking Maramureș with the neighboring regions are high and in the past were hardly accessible in the winter. Prislop Pass (1,416 m high) links the region in the east towards Moldavia, Dealul Ștefăniței (1,254 m) in the south towards Transylvania, Pintea Pass (987 m) towards Baia Mare, and Fărgău (587 m) in the west towards Oaș Country, while Frasini Pass (

Yasinia Yasinia ( uk, Ясіня, hu, Körösmező, sk, Jasiňa) is an urban-type settlement in Rakhiv Raion of Zakarpattia Oblast in Ukraine. Population: . It was the site of the Hutsul Republic after World War I, and the birthplace of several pr ...

; 931 m) links the region in the north to Galicia. The mountains surrounding this region occupy more than half of the area. A few peaks reach above 2,000 m, such as Pietrosul (2,303 m) in the Rodnei Mountains to the south and Hovârla (2,061 m) in Muntele Negru (Cernahora) to the north. The heavy forested mountains sustain many protected species of plants, such as yew (''Taxus baccata''),

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains fur ...

(''Larix decidua''),

Swiss pine ''Pinus cembra'', also known as Swiss pine, Swiss stone pine or Arolla pine or Austrian stone pine or just stone pine, is a species of a pine tree in the subgenus ''Strobus''. Description The Swiss pine is a member of the white pine group ...

(''Pinus cembra''),

edelweiss EDELWEISS (Expérience pour DEtecter Les WIMPs En Site Souterrain) is a dark matter search experiment located at the Modane Underground Laboratory in France. The experiment uses cryogenic detectors, measuring both the phonon and ionization signal ...

(''Leontopodium alpinum''); and animals, such as lynx (''Lynx lynx''), chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra''), alpine marmot (''Marmota marmota''),

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of ...

(''Aquila chrysaetos''), and capercaillie (''Tetrao urogallus''). The last

wisent The European bison (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, along ...

from present-day Romania territory, a symbol of Maramureș, was hunted to extinction in 1852. Lostriţa, a local variety of salmon, still live in the mountain rivers. Several protected areas have been created in Maramureș.

Rodna Mountains National Park The Rodna Mountains National Park ( ro, Parcul Național Munții Rodnei) is a protected area ( national park category II IUCN) situated in Romania, in the administrative territory of counties Bistrița-Năsăud, Maramureș, and Suceava. Locatio ...

was designated in 1990,

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

, Dacians,

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and e ...

and

Akatziri The Akatziri or Akatzirs ( gr, Άκατίροι, Άκατζίροι, ''Akatiroi'', ''Akatziroi''; la, Acatziri) were a tribe that lived north of the Black Sea, though the Crimean city of Cherson seemed to be under their control in the sixth centu ...

. In the first century BC, it was part of the

Dacian Kingdom Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It t ...

under

Burebista Burebista ( grc, Βυρεβίστας, Βοιρεβίστας) was the king of the Getae and Dacian tribes from 82/61BC to 45/44BC. He was the first king who successfully unified the tribes of the Dacian kingdom, which comprised the area loca ...

, while in the early Middle Ages, it was ruled by the Hunnic Empire, the

Kingdom of the Gepids Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

, the Kingdom of the Avars, the

White Croatia White Croatia (also Great Croatia or Chrobatia; hr, Bijela Hrvatska, also ) is the region from which part of the White Croats emigrated to the Western Balkans. Some historians believe that, after the migration of the White Croats in the 7th cent ...

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

and even the

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

. The territory was part of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

from the 11th century and was nominally divided between the

Gyepű In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...

border region,

comitatus ''Comitatus'' was in ancient times the Latin term for an armed escort or retinue. The term is used especially in the context of Germanic warrior culture for a warband tied to a leader by an oath of fealty and describes the relations between a lo ...

of Szatmár and comitatus of Borsova. Later, the whole region was included into the comitatus of Máramaros. Initially, the

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

inhabitants of the region were allowed to preserve their political organization, the

Voivodeship of Maramureș The Voivodeship of Maramureș ( ro, Voievodatul Maramureșului, or ), was a Romanian voivodeship centered in the region of the same name. It was the most powerful Romanian entity in or around Transylvania during its time. The Voivodeship of Mar ...

, divided into many small autonomous areas. The King long struggled to convince the

Voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the ...

s to accept the title of

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, with the implied losing independence in political and financial matters. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, the people in many mountain villages, where each family by definition had a considerable domain, were called ''nameşi'', meaning free peasants taking pride in their family. The origin of the word is disputed: in the Kingdom of Hungary, free people possessing land were called in Hungarian. In

means extended family, but this name's root is better explained as deriving from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

verb , meaning to divide something (mainly land) into parts and give it to (people with the right to use it, either to rent it or use it for free; singular ). The region was reorganized to

Máramaros County Máramaros County (german: Komitat Maramuresch; hu, Máramaros vármegye; la, Comitatus Maramarosiensis; ro, Comitatul Maramureș; rue, Комітат Марамарош; uk, Kомітат Мармарош; ) was an administrative county (c ...

in the 14th century. In the 16th century, the Kingdom of Hungary was invaded and all but destroyed by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, and the area came under administration of the semi-independent Ottoman Principality of Transylvania. Later (in the late 17th century) it came under the administration of the Habsburg monarchy (which became the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

in 1804). During Habsburg administration, the region was initially part of the lands of the Habsburg Principality of Transylvania, but was later (in 1732) transferred to the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was transformed into the dual monarchy of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and the region was included in the

Transleithania The Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen ( hu, a Szent Korona Országai), informally Transleithania (meaning the lands or region "beyond" the Leitha River) were the Hungarian territories of Austria-Hungary, throughout the latter's entire exis ...

n or Hungarian part of the Monarchy. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the region was divided between Romania and the

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

n region of

Carpathian Ruthenia Carpathian Ruthenia ( rue, Карпатьска Русь, Karpat'ska Rus'; uk, Закарпаття, Zakarpattia; sk, Podkarpatská Rus; hu, Kárpátalja; ro, Transcarpatia; pl, Zakarpacie); cz, Podkarpatská Rus; german: Karpatenukrai ...

, with the border following that of the short-lived

Hutsul Republic The Hutsul Republic ( uk, Гуцульська Республіка) was a short-lived state formed in the aftermath of World War I. The republic was declared on 8 January 1919, when original plans to unite this area with the Western Ukrainian Pe ...

. In March 1939

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

annexed Carpathian Ruthenia and in August 1940 annexed the region of Northern Transylvania, which included southern Maramureș, from Romania; the territories remained under Hungarian control until 1944. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the southern section returned to Romania and is now part of

; the northern section was incorporated into the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

as part of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

and is now part of

Zakarpattia Oblast The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...

of independent

People

In the southern area, the majority of the population are

Romanians The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym '' Vlachs'') are a Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Romanian culture and ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they live primarily in Romania and Moldova. The 2011 Roman ...

. There are also some

Rusyns Rusyns (), also known as Carpatho-Rusyns (), or Rusnaks (), are an East Slavic ethnic group from the Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn, an East Slavic language variety, treated variously as either a distinct langu ...

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

Zipser Germans The Zipser Germans or Zipsers (german: Zipser, ro, Țipțeri, hu, Cipszer) are a German-speaking (specifically Zipser German-speaking) sub-ethnic group which developed in the Szepes County (german: Zips; sk, Spiš) of Upper Hungary—today mostl ...

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and Roma. In the northern area, the majority are

Ruthenes Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sourc ...

, with smaller Romanian, Hungarian and German communities. In the northern area most people speak the Ruthene language, while in the southern area most speak Romanian, which is why the region was split into two parts. Since the 1940s there have been villages cut in two by the state border. There are some villages in the north (within Ukraine) that have a sizeable Romanian population, as well as some villages in Romania that have a sizeable Ukrainian population.

Gallery

File:Claie de fân Borșa.jpg, Pietrosul Mare,

File:Valley, Pop Ivan, Maramures.jpg,

Maramureș Mountains Natural Park The Maramureș Mountains Natural Park ( ro, Parcul Natural Munții Maramureșului) is a protected area ( natural park category V IUCN) situated in Romania, in the north part in the Maramureș County.Baia Mare Baia Mare ( , ; hu, Nagybánya; german: Frauenbach or Groß-Neustadt; la, Rivulus Dominarum) is a municipality along the Săsar River, in northwestern Romania; it is the capital of Maramureș County. The city lies in the region of Maramur ...

File:Muzeul Etnografic3.jpg, Ethnographic Museum of the Oaș Country File:RO MM Mănăstirea Bârsana.JPG, Bârsana Orthodox Monastery File:Romania Rohia Monastery Wooden Church.jpg, Rohia Orthodox Monastery File:Săcel 437290, Romania - panoramio (4).jpg, Săcel File:SzaploncaFotoThalerTamas2.jpg,

Merry Cemetery The Merry Cemetery ( ro, Cimitirul Vesel ) is a cemetery in the village of Săpânța, Maramureş county, Romania. It is famous for its brightly coloured tombstones with naïve paintings describing, in an original and poetic manner, the people ...

in Săpânța File:Baia Mare, Romania - panoramio (15).jpg, Village Museum in Baia Mare File:Curtea Veche Sighet.JPG, The Curtea Veche in Sighet File:Máramarossziget, Börtön múzeum.JPG, Memorial of the Victims of Communism File:Nagybánya, a Piac tér a Felsőbányai út felől - panoramio.jpg,

Baia Mare Baia Mare ( , ; hu, Nagybánya; german: Frauenbach or Groß-Neustadt; la, Rivulus Dominarum) is a municipality along the Săsar River, in northwestern Romania; it is the capital of Maramureș County. The city lies in the region of Maramur ...

File:Bastionul Măcelarilor (Turnul de muniţii) - Baia Mare.jpg, Bastion of Baia Mare File:Casa Degenfeld din Baia Mare 01.jpg, Degenfeld House in Baia Mare File:Cascada cailor.jpg, Horses Waterfall File:Quartz-Rhodochrosite-mun05-146b.jpg, Quartz Rhodochrosite from Cavnic Mine File:Fluorite-Quartz-215546.jpg, Fluorite Quartz from Boldut Mine File:Mocănița de pe Valea Vaserului.JPG, Mocăniță Railway File:Raul Iza la Rozavlea.JPG, Iza River

References

External links

Things to do when visiting Maramureș

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maramures Divided regions Historical regions in Romania Historical regions in Ukraine