Visits to the traditional craftsmen
Travelling the villages of Maramureș will still offer you the chance to see genuine craftsmen – people who can create with their own hands objects or tools that are so useful in any household: from the clay jug or the bowl to ornaments and work tools, from the wool blanket on the bed to the festive shirt, from the wooden spoon to the monumental traditional gate.
Here are some of the craftsmen that kept the Maramureș art alive until this century:
Wood crafts: Petric Ioan, Tiran Ioan, Vasile Sima (Breb village),
Clothing and traditional ornaments: Maria Bledea, Pop Ileana, Petric Maria (Breb), Pălăguța Bârlea (Mănăstirea village)
Maramureș clop (hats): Vasile Borodi (Sârbi village) and Borodi Victorița (Budești village)
Cojoace (waistcoats): Dumitru and Sultănica Bledea (Village of Şugatag) or Chindriș Pălaghie (Călinești village)
If you want to visit them, follow the signs leading toward their houses – there are 20 such craftsmen in the area – or ask directions from the pension’s owner.
If you search for a one day trip to see the craftsmen of Maramureș, contact Greenway Tour – you will be guided through a special tour and you will also be able to learn, alongside the craftsmen, how to create objects that bear the identity of this unique place: zgârdane (necklaces from the folk art), clopuri (hats from Maramureș), wool shoes or small wooden sculptures. You can take the objects you create with you, as a souvenir – undoubtedly, they will remind you of the unique days you spent in Maramureș.
The trip organized by Greenway Tour includes visits and lessons with two folk craftsmen, guidance, transportation, lunch, photos/videos of the trip (on DVD).