Maramureș County

Maramureș dates back to 1199 with the Dacian tribes thought to have settled in the area about 1000 BC. The Roman emperor Trajan who conquered the rest of Romania in AD 106 with his forces did not go over the mountains to the north so the villages of Maramureș was spared.

Different story with the rulers of Hungary though, as from the 13th century they exploted the region. A number of Tatar (an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups) invasions took place until the 18th century. The last known battle was on Prislop Pass in 1717. After the Tatars many churches were erected to mark their departure.

Around the middle of the 16th century the region of Maramureș became part of Transylvania until 1699 when it was ceded to the Austrian empire. It would not be until 1918 that part of the region rejoined Romania. The other part of Maramureș became what is now known as Ukraine. For four years between 1940 and 1944 Maramureș was ruled by Hungary as was parts of Transylvania and Moldavia. During the World War II many of the Jewish population were transported to the Nazi extermination camps in Poland. The Soviet occupation of Romania refers to the period from 1944 to August 1958, during which time the Soviet Union maintained a significant military presence in Romania. It was not until 1989, after a revolution ultimately culminating in a show trial and execution of the longtime Romanian Communist Party (PCR) General Secretary, Nicolae Ceaușescu along with his wife Elena, bought an end to the 42 years of Communist rule in Maramureș and Romania.

By David Smith - 11 May 2022