9. Unique Museums

The museums in Maramureș are mainly centred around the two largest towns of the region, Baia Mare and Sighetu Marmaţiei. The Mineralogy Museum in Baia Mare hosts a spectacular collection of minerals, many of which are unique in the world. Both in Baia Mare and in Sighetu Marmaţiei there are museums dedicated to traditional architecture. Therefore, if you wish to enlarge your knowledge of Maramureş traditions, old furniture, traditional costumes, pottery, and much more, visit the local Museums of Ethnography. The History and Archaeological Museum in Baia Mare will tell you about the past days of the region. The Art Museum will help you find out more about the cultural heritage of the county. In Sighetu Marmaţiei an infamous political prison has been transformed into the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance. It is also here that one can visit the house in which the Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel was born; the house is now a memorial to him as well as a museum of Jewish culture. Do not expect to find museums only in larger towns, though: in Dragomireşti there is, for example, a museum dedicated to the Romanian peasant woman; in Ieud, a museum dedicated to hemp. You will also find memorial houses as well as different other cultural landmarks in many other villages in Maramureș.