Church of the Holy Archangels and Kuziy - Trybushany
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
256 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 22
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Rogoz it runs 256 km to Rogoz; allow about 5 h 22 of riding. On the way it passes Church of the Holy Archangels, Church of the Holy Paraskeva, Kuziy - Trybushany and back through Church of the Holy Paraskeva. It crosses from Romania into Ukraine - carry ID and check vignette or toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
Scenic road chapters
Romania Maramures Wooden Churches Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 37 km this is Romania Maramures Wooden Churches Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
Length
37 km
Named road
Romania Maramures Wooden Churches Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Church of the Holy Archangels
The wooden church at Rogoz stands in the Lăpuș country, a quieter, lesser-known corner of Maramureș, south of the mountains and away from the main tourist circuits. Built in the seventeenth century and dedicated to the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, it is unusual in shape: the roof is asymmetric and overhangs deeply on one side, and the eaves are supported by carved wooden brackets shaped like horse heads, a detail that seems to come straight out of folk tradition. Inside, the walls are painted with scenes from the Bible, including a vivid Last Judgement. It is one of the eight churches in the UNESCO listing of the Wooden Churches of Maramureș.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of the Holy Archangels is where the day begins. Next is Church of the Holy Archangels.
2. Church of the Holy Archangels
Șurdești is a small village in the hills of Maramureș, in the north of Romania, and its wooden church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel is famous for its spire. Built in the eighteenth century from oak logs, the church has a steep double roof covered in shingles and a slender tower that rises far above the trees, among the tallest wooden church towers in the region. It is one of eight wooden churches of Maramureș listed by UNESCO in 1999, each a masterpiece of local carpentry, built by village craftsmen using traditional techniques.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of the Holy Archangels comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of the Holy Paraskeva.
3. Church of the Holy Paraskeva
In 1780 a painter named Radu Munteanu covered the inside of the wooden church at Desești with scenes that still shock and delight: a Last Judgment in which sinners are marched off to a hell full of grinning devils, alongside saints, prophets and lively village figures. The church, dedicated to the Holy Paraskeva and built in 1770 from oak logs, rises above the village with a tall, slender tower and a steep double roof of shingles. It is one of the eight wooden churches of Maramureș inscribed by UNESCO in 1999, and its paintings are among the best preserved of them all.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 77 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of the Holy Paraskeva. Next is Kuziy - Trybushany.
4. Kuziy - Trybushany
The river Tisza runs fast and green out of the Ukrainian Carpathians, and for many kilometres it forms the border between Romania and Ukraine. On the Ukrainian bank, the forests of Kuziy and Trybushany are among the primeval beech woods protected in the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve and listed by UNESCO as part of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe. From the Romanian side, around Valea Vișeului, you look across the river at steep, wooded slopes where the trees have grown and died without interference for centuries.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of the Holy Archangels closes the day.
Leg by leg
Church of the Holy Archangels to Church of the Holy Archangels
Church of the Holy Archangels → Church of the Holy Archangels is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of the Holy Archangels to Church of the Holy Paraskeva
Church of the Holy Archangels → Church of the Holy Paraskeva is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of the Holy Paraskeva to Kuziy - Trybushany
Church of the Holy Paraskeva → Kuziy - Trybushany is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kuziy - Trybushany to back through Church of the Holy Paraskeva
Kuziy - Trybushany → back through Church of the Holy Paraskeva is 51 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of the Holy Paraskeva to back through Church of the Holy Archangels
back through Church of the Holy Paraskeva → back through Church of the Holy Archangels is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of the Holy Archangels to Church of the Holy Archangels
back through Church of the Holy Archangels → Church of the Holy Archangels is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.