Maramureș Museum, Sighetu Marmației.

It is a regional museum that represents the historical province of Maramures. The current structure of the museum includes it as a type of museum complex, nationally representative of each historical province of the country. It differs from museums based on territorial and administrative structures, i.e. county museums, which are usually heterogeneous. The museum functions as a museum complex with ethnological dominance (a museum with a pavilion exhibition and an open-air museum), as well as with departments of history-archaeology, cultural history and memorials, natural sciences, an art gallery and several in-situ conservation as a museum of points in the main sub-districts of Maramures. The Maramures Village Museum is located on the Dobojes hill, 3 km from the centre of Sighetu Marmatiei, at the exit to Vada Izei. The museum in its current form gives the impression of a village with regional characteristics that have evolved from “scattered” and “dispersed” to “gathered”. Straight (main) and winding streets, paths and “fences” make up the intimate structure of the “village” and converge to a promontory, on which, like all Maramures villages, stands a church. Other existing departments include the Maramures Ethnographic Museum, the Historical and Archaeological Museum, and the Natural History Museum.

The Historical and Archaeological & The Natural History Museum

The History-Archeology Department of the Maramureș Museum operates in a beautiful historical monument building which is almost 300 years old. This department of the Museum of Maramureș brings to the attention of visitors the exhibition entitled “Sighetu-Marmației – 680”, which first opened its doors to the public in 2006. The valuable museum collection includes Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic exhibits, as well as one of the more comprehensive collections from the Bronze Age, comprising over 140 exhibits. The collection of knives and firearms, which still bear the marks of the conflicts that have left deep wounds in our past, is particularly interesting. Here, visitors can observe pages from the history of Sighet, the documents exhibited recreate the course of the political, economic and cultural life of this area, from the Middle Ages to the present day. The historical testimonies take us through the key moments of our national past, such as the Great Union that gave life to the centuries-old wish of our people, the horrors of the Second World War or the turning point of the Revolution of December 1989. The museum’s efforts to preserve and promote Romanian cultural values ​​were recognized in 2020, when the institution was awarded the Anniversary Medal “Centenary of the Great Union”, conferred by the President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis.

In 1876 the first museum was established in Sighetu Marmatiei, which had a Natural Sciences and a History department. “A Máramaros-Vármegyei Muzeum-Egyesület” is the first catalogue of this museum and was published in 1905. The catalog presents the history and inventory of the collections in that museum, being one of the oldest catalogs in the country. During World War I this museum is dismantled, many pieces are destroyed, disappeared or end up in the inventory of schools in the city. Two pieces from this museum, a mammoth molar and a naturalized chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra L.) are in the patrimony of the current museum.

In 1932, the operating regulation for the Sighet County Public Museum is approved. Within this museum is also mentioned the section “Natural riches”, with subsections: “flora and fauna; ores, mineral waters and spas; agriculture and cattle breeding; tourism and natural beauty”. 

In 1968, museographer Béres Iosif founded the current Natural Sciences Department within the Maramureşan Museum in Sighetu Marmatiei.

The collections of the Museum of Natural Sciences come from the Maramureş Depression and include the following fields: rocks, minerals, fossils, botany, fungi (macromycetes) and vertebrates.  Within the museum’s collections there are also documents, slides and black and white negatives about flora, fauna, landscapes, traditions and customs from Maramureș and other areas.

The scientific data of these museum collections were and are used to elaborate monumental works such as: Flora of Romania, Vertebrate fauna of Maramureş as well as numerous scientific papers published in specialized journals.

The permanent exhibition of the Museum of Natural Sciences for visitors is located on the floor of the monument building from the eighteenth century (Liberty Square, no. 16), where some of the natural richness of the Maramureş Depression are exhibited in dioramas and showcases. The exhibited heritage includes: fossils, rocks, minerals, mine flowers, flora, fauna, hunting trophies and a thematic exhibition about old-growth forests.

The Ethnographic Museum of Maramureș ”Francisc Nistor”

The Ethnographic Museum of Maramureş is housed in an imposing building, which represents a historical and architectural monument. Although the efforts to organize an ethnographic collection with Maramureș exhibits go further back in time, the Ethnographic Museum of Maramureş was inaugurated in 1926. Unfortunately, in the years following the Vienna Dictate, a significant part of the institution’s collections was lost, the local museum being re-established only in 1954, with the careful involvement of Francisc Nistor, famous ethnographer, archaeologist, teacher and photographer. The permanent ethnographic exhibition, which can be seen today, opened its doors to the public in 1971. It included objects used in agriculture or pastoralism, but also for manufacture of various textiles, all these exhibits illustrating the specific occupations of the people living in the Maramureș area. Also, traditional pieces of furniture, elements of folk costumes, ceramic pieces, as well as a collection of authentic masks, specific to the winter holidays traditions in Maramureș are presented in this permanent exhibition. Those who visit this important tourist objective have the opportunity to admire religious art objects used in the church traditions of Maramureș. The whole exhibition is an illustration of the life of the simple peasant from Maramureș, with all its natural stages.

The Village Museum of Maramureş ”Mihai Dancuș”

Opened to the public in 1981, the museum, which originally looked like a scattered village, now has more than 40 heritage sites. The oldest building that enriches the museum’s collection is the church, moved here from Oncești, where it was brought from the village of Criciova, on the right bank of the Tisza River. The painting of the place, dating from the 16th century, was remade in 1802. The traditional architectural monuments in the museum were arranged so as to describe the specificity of the subzones Cosău – Mara and Lower Iza, Middle Iza, Vişeu – Borşa, Tisza and the Ruscova basin, from Historic Maramureș. The houses and outbuildings were made of wood on a stone foundation or boulders, maintaining a simple floor layout. Each building illustrates the social status of the owners, either through inscriptions or through specific decorative elements. It should also be mentioned that this museum is a true example of the Maramureș village, showcasing houses specific to ethnic minorities in these areas: Jews, Hungarians, Germans, and Ukrainians. The inside of the houses is traditionally decorated, some preserving the original pieces of furniture and others having original features. The museum, included in the ICOM and UNESCO networks, hosted the 16th Conference of the European Association of Open Air Museums in 1993, and the European conference entitled “The Wood Route in Europe” in 2000. One year later, the institution received the “Gheorghe Focşa” Award from the Ministry of Culture and Cults, and in 2019 it was included in the top museums in Romania, according to the prestigious Michelin Guide.

“Dr. Ioan Mihalyi of Apşa” Museum House

The historical monument building where the great jurist, historian and academician Dr. Ioan Mihalyi of Apşa lived and created his valuable writings, reveals a double exhibition role. On the  ground floor, an Art Gallery of the Maramureș Museum has been arranged, inside which the works of great artists from Sighetu Marmației are exhibited, as well as works belonging to famous schools, from the country or abroad. An exhibition of local history and culture can be visited on the first floor of the building, as well as the museum-house set up in memory of Dr. Ioan Mihalyi of Apşa, open to the public since 1984. Ioan Mihalyi dedicated himself to researching and collecting medieval documents of Romanians from Maramureș, his efforts being included in the famous work “The History of Maramureș County, volume I, Maramureș Diplomas from the 14th and 15th century”. Maintaining an air of antiquity which carries visitors into the past, the memorial house preserves the ambiance of the times when it hosted the meetings of the Association for the Culture of the Romanian People from Maramureş, also serving as headquarters for the “Dragoşiana” Reading Society. Here, one can also visit the library of the Association for the Culture of the Romanian People, as well as impressive collections of memoirs.