Perhaps the best place to start exploring Romania is the rural area, far from civilization and close to untouched nature. In your pre-walks through the lands of Romania, you will discover the warm and close way of the people from the village, the natural openness towards the visitor. The time seems not to have affected the lifestyle of the Romanian peasant. From the fresh, healthy food and the natural wines, from the original local festivals, to the experience of staying in the villagers' homes or in modest but warm and welcoming guesthouses, all represent authentic details, offered from the heart and fully Romanian. In particular, the traditions of the rural area are visible to the visitor, and their values are inherited from generation to generation. Our people are distinguished by the special warmth and the native sense of humor that visitors will discover like a treasure.
In the historical land of Maramures, the village world seems stuck in time. People still dress like their ancestors almost two thousand years ago. In the villages in the valleys of Izei, Marei or Tisei, the men wear scarves, suman and opinci, and the women, catrinza.
The center of this universe is the extraordinary civilization of wood, developed from a halt: Hungarian Catholic nobles forbade Orthodox Romanians, in the thirteenth century, to erect churches from stone. Thus was born, from the hands of local craftsmen, the Gothic style of Maramureş, mirrored in the painted churches and in the monumental gates, miraculously carved with specific motifs - the sun, the tree of life, the belt.
The Moldovan villages of Bucovina and Neamț are true open-air ethnographic museums where you can still see traditional houses with porch, shingle, ornaments in carved or perforated wood, floral or solar motifs (circle, rays, rhombus).
The Saxon villages of southern Transylvania and Banat were built by farmers, craftsmen or traders from the Rhine valley area, with imposing churches located in the central area, with fortifications for animals and storing supplies, which allowed the locals to cope with the invasions.
The Oltenian villages below the mountain impress through the wooden houses of the peasants or the boiereesti hills, true fortresses.
