Iza Valley

The Iza river rises below Bătrâna peak in the Rodna Mountains at 1,380 m, runs the length of the Maramureș Depression and joins the Tisa west of Sighetu Marmației at 268 m. It is about 80 km long (83 km according to the Romanian water cadastre, cited by Wikipedia) and drains a basin of about 1,300 km². In its upper course it forms a broad valley, and downstream of Strâmtura it passes through a gorge known as "la strâmtori". Its main tributaries are, on the left, the Mara (joined by the Cosău), Botiza, Ieud, Baicu and Slătioara, and on the right the Ronișoara. The source area includes the "Izvorul Albastru al Izei" cave and karst spring reserve. The river flows through the communes of Săcel, Săliștea de Sus, Dragomirești, Bogdan Vodă, Șieu, Rozavlea, Strâmtura, Bârsana, Oncești and Vadu Izei and through the town of Sighetu Marmației. The valley is part of historic Maramureș, and the Maramureș dialect is spoken in the villages of the Iza, Mara and Cosău valleys. The main valley and its side valleys hold several wooden churches listed as historic monuments. On the Iza itself, the wooden church of the Presentation of the Virgin in Bârsana (1720, according to the LMI) is part of the UNESCO site "Wooden Churches of Maramureș", and Rozavlea has the church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel (1717). In the side valleys of the Ieud and Botiza tributaries stand the Ieud Hill church and the wooden church of Poienile Izei, both on the UNESCO list, as well as the wooden church of Botiza. The main and side valleys also have the Orthodox monasteries of Bârsana, Dragomirești, Ieud and Botiza. The monuments along the valley have their own entries.