Travel Guide Negreşti-Oaş

This town of some 15,000 inhabitants is the economic and cultural center of the Oaş country (Ţara Oaşului). Renowned for its well-preserved crafts and folklore, the region is considered a veritable living ethnographic museum, although things are changing as harsh living conditions have driven many inhabitants into exile. In Negrești-Oaș, you can visit the Pays d'Oaş Museum (Strada Victoiriei 140, open Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm), an excellent introduction to the region's culture, through archaeological finds, costumes and various handicrafts (tools, furniture, ceramics). You can also visit the small, open-air Oaş Village Museum (Muzeul satului oşenesc, strada Livezilor 3, open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). Here, around a wooden church, you'll find typical local farms, complete with animals, mills and farming equipment. Some villages are also worth a visit for their traditional housing: Cămărzana (north of Bixad), Halmeu (to the west, near the Ukrainian border), Certeze (north of Negreşti) or Livada (between Negreşti and Satu Mare) and its peasant museum. Just south of Negreşti, the village of Vama is renowned for its ceramics. A museum is dedicated to the subject.