Why this ride
A 201 km round trip from Deseşti - roughly 4 h 41 in the saddle. On the way it passes Wooden Churches of Maramureş, Church of Saint Nicholas, Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a and Church of the Holy Parasceve.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Church of the Holy Paraskeva and Church of the Holy Parasceve
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 201 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 41
- 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 52 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of Saint Nicholas. Next is Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a.
4. Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a
In Maramures, they build in wood as if wood were stone. The valley of the Iza, in the north of Romania, near the Ukrainian border, is a country of green hills, haystacks, carved gates and tall, steep-roofed churches of dark oak and spruce, and eight of the wooden churches here, built between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, are on the World Heritage list. The church of the Presentation of the Virgin at Barsana, dated to 1720, is one of them. It stands in the cemetery of the village, slender and dark, with a high, shingle-covered roof and a tower that rises like a pencil. Inside, the walls and ceiling are covered with paintings of saints and biblical stories in a naive and moving style.
Read the complete Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a, about halfway. Next is Church of the Holy Parasceve.
5. Church of the Holy Parasceve
Maramureș is one of the few corners of Europe where wood is still the language of the sacred, and the church of Saint Parascheva at Poienile Izei is a good place to learn it. It stands on a small rise above the Izei valley, a dark timber church with a steep, double-tiered shingled roof and a slender spire, built in the early seventeenth century and moved to its present spot later. Inside, the walls and ceiling carry painted scenes from the eighteenth century, and the one that always gets quoted is a vivid Last Judgment in which sinners get remarkably specific punishments.
Read the complete Church of the Holy Parasceve 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 Parasceve sits at 74 km, about halfway. Next is back through Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a.
6. back through Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a comes up about 119 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Church of Saint Nicholas.
7. back through Church of Saint Nicholas
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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 147 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Church of Saint Nicholas. Next is back through Wooden Churches of Maramureş.
8. 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.
9. 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
The route ends here after 201 km.
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 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of Saint Nicholas to Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a
Church of Saint Nicholas → Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a to Church of the Holy Parasceve
Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a → Church of the Holy Parasceve is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Church of the Holy Parasceve to back through Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a
Church of the Holy Parasceve → back through Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a to back through Church of Saint Nicholas
back through Church of the Presentation of the Virgin a → back through Church of Saint Nicholas is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Church of Saint Nicholas to back through Wooden Churches of Maramureş
back through 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.