The name of the Lăpuș Country, as well as its center, derives from the name of the Lăpuș River, the oldest documentary attestation of the toponym Lăpuș dating back to 1070 and referring to Lapus et Fluenta Zamos.
Lăpuș Country
Stretching over a distance of 25 kilometers between the villages of Răzoare and Remecioara, along the course of the Lăpuș River and up to its confluence with the Cavnic River, the Lăpuș Gorges represent a natural reserve declared a protected area, with a gorge area, sectors of canyon type (Vima Mică – Sălnița, Buteasa Râu – La Împreunături), rocky cliffs (Custura Cetățuii, Custura Vimei), waterfalls (La Pișătoare), caves, as well as a wild fauna and flora specific to rocky areas.
The Sculpture Park „Poiana Soarelui” or the Open-air Museum Florean represents a unique monumental sculpture park stretching over approximately 40 hectares in the forest between Cernești and Târgu Lăpuș, on the road leading to the Lăpuș Country. It is the only private museum of contemporary art in Romania, founded by Victor Florean in 1997, together with the artist Mircea Bochiș. One of the main objectives of the Florean Museum is to promote young talents, their works being exhibited in what has become over time the largest open-air museum in Maramureș County.
We included the Hunter’s Stopover on the Maramureș Portal not necessarily as an objective but as a landmark towards the Open-air Sculpture Park in Cernești. Because, from Baia Mare towards Târgu Lăpuș, on DN18B, there is no indicator towards this objective, except for the statue of this child, marked on Gmaps as „Unknown Statue”. On the direction from Târgu Lăpuș, there is a sign towards this absolutely unique tourist attraction in the country. At the Hunter’s Stopover, you will definitely get the necessary directions on how to reach the Sculpture Park or the Florean Museum. I recommend trying the game burgers or pies here for all tastes.
The wooden church of Poiana Botizii, Băiuț commune, dedicated to „Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, dated from 1825
The fossil cave in Poiana Botizii, near the commune of Băiuț, has a length of 40 meters and a height of 3 meters. The cave has a single entrance and is the subject of the first speleology work on a cave in Maramureș County, written by Primics Gy in 1986. Several legends circulate around the Cave with Bones, one of them suggesting that the cave was the home of the outlaw Pintea.
Img 1: Pulsating mineral spring, located in the northern part of the locality approximately 3.5 km away. It was discovered in 1969 following a drilling operation. Water pulses occur due to the accumulation of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, which gives it a specific odor. Through bubbling, the mineral water floods the enclosure; the phenomenon occurs every 10-12 minutes, and the water level rises by 10-30 cm. Source: CNIPT Târgu Lăpuș Facebook
Img 2: Less than 200 meters from this spring, you will encounter a local rarity. Due to the washing of minerals by the water flowing from the Cizma mine, the stream formed has a blue color, just like the water of the famous Blue Lake near Baia Sprie. The Cizma stream is a tributary of the Lăpuș River.
The Holy Mountain of Maramureș, with a height of 1041 meters, is renowned for its miraculous springs, legends of outlaws, and caves filled with treasures. Mount Șatra, with its perfectly pyramid-shaped form, dominates the Lăpuș Depression. Here, Pintea the Brave and his band of outlaws were said to have camped and found refuge. Thus, in the southern part, we find the Pintii Cave, measuring 10.9 meters in length. At the foot of the mountain, the Șatra Monastery was erected in the early 1990s. On the plateau of Șatra Pintii, there is a spring considered miraculous by the locals, called Pintea’s Fountain. Near the fountain, the Șatra Pintea Hermitage was erected in 1996, which has a unique status, with access strictly prohibited to women.
Seen from afar in the Lăpuș Depression, the Șatra Mountain appears as a perfectly pyramid-shaped form. On this mountain, named after the famous outlaw of the Lăpuș Country, the Pinții Spring and Pinții Fountain are baptized, the first located near the Șatra Monastery and the second at the hermitage. The monastery was founded by the priest Ioan Cozma in the early 1990s, on the site of a former monastery of monks, which was bombed by the Bolshevik army. Up on the mountain plateau, the Șatra Hermitage was erected, a place where access was forbidden to women under oath and curse, strict rules being observed here as on Mount Athos. The place is now in ruins.
Mount Șatra, locally known as Pintea’s Șatra, is considered a magical territory known to the people as the Holy Mountain of Maramureș. At its foot, the Șatra Monastery was founded after the 1990s. On the plateau of Șatra – the Summit of Pintii, there is a spring considered miraculous by locals, called Pintea’s Fountain, and near the fountain, the Șatra Pintea Hermitage was erected in 1996, which has a unique status. Access to women is strictly forbidden under oath and curse, with rules observed as on Mount Athos. Only men are allowed to enter the sacred place where the hermitage was erected, which includes a wooden church and a chapel. At present, the hermitage is abandoned. Pintea’s Fountain, say the locals, is one of the sources with healing powers on the mountain.
History: The oldest documentary attestation of the toponym Lăpuș dates back to 1070 and refers to the river „Lăpuș et fluenta Zamos” (Lăpuș and the waters of the Someș). The historical documents mention for the first time the name of the future city of Târgu Lăpuș in 1291.
Tourist attractions: St. Ana Monastery in Rohia, the Wooden Church in Rogoz, a UNESCO heritage site, archaeological sites in Suciu de Sus, the Rogoz Ethnographic Museum House, the Jewish Cemetery in Târgu Lăpuș, the folk artisans Perța Cuza and Nicolae Șerban, the Rohița Monastery, Șatra, the Țibleș Mountains, the Secular Woods or the Lăpuș Gorge are just a small part of the attractions you can visit in the Lăpuș Country. See: Târgu Lăpuș Tourist Information Center – Facebook
In the Central Park of Târgu Lăpuș, in 1936, a „monument of gratitude” was erected, which reads: „We sacrificed our lives with love for the dearest ideal – the Union of all Romanians. Let this serve as an example for you to preserve the sacred land of the country sprinkled with our blood.” On the pedestal, the names of the martyrs who fell in the massacre of December 5, 1918, were engraved. On that day, 60 Hungarian soldiers, stationed in Strâmbu Băiuț, opened fire on the crowd gathered in the schoolyard in the city center to hear the proclamation of the National Assembly of Alba Iulia on December 1, 1918. 21 people were killed and 82 wounded.
Meșter popular din Țara Lăpușului, legendă vie a Maramureșului, troițele sculptate cu harul și mâinile sale au ajuns pretutindeni în lume.
„Împletirea meșteșugului tradițional cu arta naivă face ca opera să nu-și piardă din continuitate. Lucrările “cioplitoriului” Perța , așa cum îi place dumnealui să se definească, sunt încărcate de sacralitate, atât prin simboluri cât și prin harul pe care acest om l-a căpătat de la divinitate. Mesajul artistului pentru noi este : să trăim într-o lume curată și să prețuim credințele strămoșești!” – Chira Vasile, meşter popular din Chioar. Adresa: Târgu Lăpuș, Str. Mioriței nr. 9, Tel: 0745.487.567
Stoiceni, a hamlet with about 250 inhabitants, is the birthplace and childhood home of the great bard of Maramureş, Grigore Leşe. Located at no. 1, at the entrance to the hamlet, Grigore Leşe reconstructed the traditional household, with a house and barn, as an ethnographic landmark of Ţara Lăpuşului. Here takes place, during the summer, the cultural event „At Grigore Leşe’s Home.” The house is built of oak wood, daubed with clay, with a stone foundation and covered with spruce shingles, with a porch with pillars on the edges and earth instead of floors. Next to it is the barn, covered with straw, which served to shelter the animals, an area where games and meals took place during village events.
Documented since 1488, the village of Rogoz was part of the domain of the Ciceu fortress, under the protection of Ștefan cel Mare. The church dedicated to the „Holy Archangels” was built in 1663, after the old church was set on fire by the Tatars during the invasion of 1661. It is famous for the intertwined „horse head” consoles supporting the roof, for the wooden sculptures on the façades, and for the painting done in 1785. The roof is high, pyramidal, with a shingled tower, in 3 steps, flanked by four corner turrets that exactly reproduce its shape. The church, a historical monument, combines the most representative style of Western Gothic, traditional Romanian Orthodoxy, and the pre-Christian roots of Maramureș.
The Ethnographic Museum House in Rogoz was completed in 2008 and is located near the Wooden Church, a UNESCO heritage site. This tourist attraction is of special importance, as it houses traditional objects specific to the Lăpuş region but also serves as a venue for events with traditional themes. Museum administrator, Călina Mârzac, tel: 0742.584.692.
Crosses, sculptures, totems, Maramureș gates, bas-reliefs, seals, and other creations come to life under the skillful and blessed hands of the Maramureș artisan Nicolae Șerban from Rogoz. The first cross made by creator Nicolae Șerban, which he worked on with several artisans, was immediately taken after the events of 1989 to Timișoara, in Revolution Square. He is also the author of the monumental Maramureș wooden gates at Metro Baia Mare. In addition to the workshop, in the courtyard at the back, you can visit an old house with an exceptional ethnographic collection. – Facebook
I’m informing you about a geological site, with boulders, on the right side going towards Rohia, 2.2 km from Târgu Lăpuș. The same formations can be found along the winding road up Dealul Viei, towards the Sfânta Ana Monastery in Rohia.
The Saint Ana Rohia Monastery in Ţara Lăpușului, Maramureș, was founded in 1923. Its founder, the priest Nicolae Gherman, married to Maria Man from the Man family of priests from Boiereni, built the monastery in the name of his daughter, Anuța, who died at the age of 10. Thus, in 1923, Nicolae Gherman built a stone and brick church, which had the following dimensions: 17.8 m length, 5.7 m width, 13 m height, and a monastic house. From 1965 onwards, the Oak House, the Prior’s House (1970), the House with a chapel (1976), where the library organized by the writer and philosopher Nicolae Steinhardt is located, the Poet’s House (1980), the Summer Altar (1983), the Maramureș Gate (1988), the White House (1992), and the Museum of Icons and Old Books were built. The Rohia Monastery is the resting place of Bishop Iustinian Chira (1921 – 2016) and monk Nicolae Steinhardt (1912-1989).
The Rohia Monastery is a museum complex. You can visit the cell of Nicolae Steinhardt, the poet Ioan’s library, and the museum of icons and old books. The monastery museum is located in the wooden church dedicated to ‘Sfânta Ana’, which is part of the Maramureș Corner. It exhibits religious art, old Romanian books, icons on wood and glass. Among the valuable works in the monastery museum’s collection, we mention: The Homiliary or Romanian Book of Teaching by Metropolitan Varlaam, Iași, 1642, etc.
Nicolae Steinhardt was born in 1912, in Bucharest, into a Jewish family. He was arrested in 1958 and sentenced, along with the „mystical-legionary intellectuals” group, to 13 years of hard labor because he refused to testify against his friend Constantin Noica. In prison, he discovered God and converted from Judaism to Orthodoxy. The suffering and humiliations experienced in prison are the basis of his literary testament „The Happiness Diary”. Steinhardt was always followed by the Securitate, which was not very happy that he retired to the monastery. He was tonsured a monk by Father Serafim Man, under the blessing of then-abbot PS Iustinian. Father Nicolae Steinhardt’s cell is one of the most beloved places in the monastic complex of the Sfânta Ana Monastery – Rohia. „The Poet’s House” is a beautiful and simple two-story building, erected between 1977-1979. Here is the cell of Father Nicolae Steinhardt. After the father’s death, the cell where he lived as a monk of the Rohia Monastery was arranged as a small museum, preserving Father Nicolae Steinhardt’s personal belongings: manuscripts, books, icons, paintings, as well as furniture.
Organized by philosopher Nicolae Steinhardt – the monk Nicolae from Rohia, following the model of major public libraries, it has approximately 40,000 books and magazines with theological content and secular culture. In addition to the main theological fund, the library houses books from numerous and varied fields such as: history, archaeology, art, poetry and literary prose (Romanian and foreign), music, sciences, geography, diplomacy, drama, ethnography, folklore, criticism, essays, philosophy, psychology, logic, as well as biographies, memoirs, journals, legal books, political economy, political science, sociology, and textbooks. The monastery’s library books can only be borrowed within the monastery premises. The library at Rohia Monastery, one of the greatest treasures in the area, is located within the „House with Chapel” whose founder was Archbishop Justinian.
In the last 30 years, over 40 bronze deposits have been discovered in the Lăpuș area, as well as ceramics belonging to the Suciu de Sus culture. The Suciu de Sus culture has a very wide spread area that exceeds the north-western territory of Romania (in the west Hungary and Ukraine to the north) and within the counties of Satu Mare, Maramureș, Sălaj, and Cluj. In Suciu de Sus, at the place called „Poduri din Coastă,” a cemetery with cremation graves was discovered, dating back to the Middle Bronze Age, proving the longevity of the settlements until today.
The wooden church with the dedication „Saint Demetrius” seems to have been built around 1604, as the inscription above the door confirms repairs around 1802. The small-sized church has archaic characteristics with a porch-type narthex, a simple roof with four slopes, detached, equipped with a small cross-coif in front, and a bell tower that rises directly from the roof. The church also has several wooden icons, among which the Ascension of Jesus and Jesus Pantocrator are remarkable, as well as others on glass. The village of Larga was attested in 1593 as a domain of the Gherla Citadel.
The monastery was destroyed by General Bucow during Habsburg domination in the 1760s. The desire to rebuild the monastery was first felt by Priest Emil Man from the village of Boiereni. Thus, in 1985, during communism, with the blessing of Venerable Justinian Chira, the abbot of Rohia Monastery, Father Emil began building a church. At present, the monastery, inhabited by 4 monks, was reestablished in 1993, dedicated to the Protection of the Mother of God.
The Tibles Mountains were formed almost exclusively from volcanic conglomerates and lava flows. Their heights vary between 800 and 1800 meters: Hudinul Peak (1611 m), Stregior (1473 m), Tomnatec (1483 m), Arcer (1828 m), culminating in Tibles (1839 m) and Bran (1840 m) peaks. Mineral springs with specific chemical compositions of volcanic mountains frequently appear in natural springs.
The Tibles Mountains were formed almost exclusively from volcanic conglomerates and lava flows. Their heights vary between 800 and 1800 meters: Hudinul Peak (1611 m), Stregior (1473 m), Tomnatec (1483 m), Arcer (1828 m), culminating in Tibles (1839 m) and Bran (1840 m) peaks. Mineral springs with specific chemical compositions of volcanic mountains frequently appear in natural springs.
Old Hag Gorges are located about 2 km from the village of Baba, from where they derive their name, and stretch over 15 hectares, with a length of only 1 km. In 1977, they were declared a geological nature reserve and a natural monument. Right in the middle of Baba’s Gorges is one of the tributaries of the Meadow stream, namely the Vâlceaua Dracului torrent. It is half a kilometer long and forms a canyon.