Why this ride
From Deseşti it runs 104 km to Deseşti; allow about 2 h 22 of riding. The stops in between: Wooden Churches of Maramureş, Church of Saint Nicholas and back through Wooden Churches of Maramureş.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Church of the Holy Paraskeva and Church of Saint Nicholas
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 104 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 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.
Scenic road chapters
Romania Maramures Wooden Churches Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 23 km this is Romania Maramures Wooden Churches Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 23 km
- Named road
- Romania Maramures Wooden Churches Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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.
Read the complete Church of the Holy Paraskeva write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of the Holy Paraskeva is where the day begins. Next is Wooden Churches of Maramureş.
2. Wooden Churches of Maramureş
Maramureș is a region in the far north of Romania, along the Ukrainian border, where traditions have survived more strongly than almost anywhere else in Europe. Its villages are known for their carved wooden gates, their haystacks and their wooden churches, eight of which form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bârsana, in the valley of the Iza river, has one of them, a church built in the eighteenth century, with a tall slender spire and a steep shingled roof.
Read the complete Wooden Churches of Maramureş write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wooden Churches of Maramureş comes up about 23 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of Saint Nicholas.
3. Church of Saint Nicholas
Budești is one of the old villages of the Cosău valley in Maramureș, the far northern corner of Romania, where traditional life has survived longer than almost anywhere else in Europe. Its wooden church of St Nicholas, built in the seventeenth century, is a masterpiece of the local carpentry tradition: a dark timber body with a tall, steep shingled roof and a slender spire that seems to pierce the sky. Inside, the walls are covered with painted scenes from the Bible, and among the church's treasures is a coat of chain mail said to have belonged to Pintea the Brave, a legendary outlaw hero of the region. The church is one of eight in the UNESCO listing of the Wooden Churches of Maramureș.
Read the complete Church of Saint Nicholas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of Saint Nicholas. Next is back through Wooden Churches of Maramureş.
4. back through Wooden Churches of Maramureş
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Wooden Churches of Maramureş write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Wooden Churches of Maramureş, late in the day. Next is Church of the Holy Paraskeva.
5. Church of the Holy Paraskeva
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of the Holy Paraskeva write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Church of the Holy Paraskeva. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Church of the Holy Paraskeva to Wooden Churches of Maramureş
Church of the Holy Paraskeva → Wooden Churches of Maramureş is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wooden Churches of Maramureş to Church of Saint Nicholas
Wooden Churches of Maramureş → Church of Saint Nicholas is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of Saint Nicholas to back through Wooden Churches of Maramureş
Church of Saint Nicholas → back through Wooden Churches of Maramureş is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wooden Churches of Maramureş to Church of the Holy Paraskeva
back through Wooden Churches of Maramureş → Church of the Holy Paraskeva is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.