Poienile de sub Munte

Poienile de sub Munte is the seat of the commune of the same name in north-eastern Maramureș County, at the foot of the Maramureș Mountains, on county road DJ187 Leordina - Ruscova - Poienile de sub Munte. The Ruscova river flows through it and it lies at 548 m above sea level. The village is first documented in 1353 as part of the Vale knezate of the Bogdan family (other sources give 1411), and over time it bore several names, including Poiana Rusului and Poienile Rusului. At the 2021 census it had 9,291 inhabitants, 8,439 of them Ukrainians. The Ukrainian wooden church on Bisericii street, a class A historic monument (LMI code MM-II-m-A-04812), was built towards the end of the eighteenth century; the year differs between authors (1777, 1788 or 1774-1786). It was raised by a team of craftsmen from Moldavia, and an inscription on the entrance portal names its founder as "the nobleman Ioan Dan of Cuhea". It was repaired in 1798, 1874, 1921, 1962, 1987 and 2011. The church is 18.39 m long, 7.20 m wide and 20.34 m high and follows the Moldavian type: an open porch, a narthex with a flat ceiling, a nave covered by a semicircular vault and a polygonal, recessed altar. The walls are made of hewn fir beams joined with dovetail corners. The tall roof of spruce shingles breaks towards the eaves, widening them as on Moldavian churches, and the bell tower above the narthex has an enclosed gallery with four windows. The wall painting has been covered with blue paint. About 1 km west of the village lies the German military cemetery laid out in 1917, where 90 soldiers were buried, now marked by a cross. In the north of the commune is the Farcău Peak - Lake Vinderelu - Mihăilecu Peak nature reserve, part of the Maramureș Mountains Natural Park.