I had always wanted to visit Transylvania in Romania to record its amazing history, architecture and people, particularly its northern region of Maramures.

My husband and I flew from Luton directly to Cluj Napoli, commonly known as Cluj, a vibrant, modern city in the heart of Transylvania. It is steeped in Hungarian and Romanian history, culture and renaissance, baroque and gothic architecture.

With its bohemian cafe society and back streets animated by bon viveurs and subterranean bars, we understood why Cluj exudes youthfulness and progress and, in 2015, is the European Capital of Youth.

We stayed in the Hungarian-style, four-star Agape hotel (www.hotelagape.ro) for four days (€25 per night for bed and breakfast), next to Unirii Square, which Clujeni call the city centre.

As Cluj is so easy to access, we decided to explore by foot and tram.

Cluj is Romania’s second largest city and in no time we were infected by its history and culture.

The tourist office by Unirii Square distributes free city maps, brochures and information (www.visitclujnapoca.ro).

Our first stop and a huge part of the city’s history in the very centre of Unirii Square is St Mihail Roman Catholic Church with the tallest church tower in Romania and the magnificent equestrian statue of Matthias Corvinus in front.

The church was named after Archangel Michael, Cluj’s patron saint, built in the gothic style of the end of the 14th century.

The oldest section is the altar, from 1390, while the newest is the 50-metre neo-gothic tower completed in 1860.

This gothic piece is one of the most valuable in Transylvania and its murals date from the 15th century. Matthias Corvinus, we discovered, was considered the greatest Hungarian king.

He was born in Cluj and venerated by Hungarians, who until 1956 were the dominant ethnic group.

The statue depicts the king on his horse surrounded by four staff and won first prize in the 1900 Paris International Art Exhibition.

After that, we were hungry and thirsty and found plenty of reasonably priced eating places and coffee shops famous for their cakes on Unirii Square.

The square is surrounded by rest areas, loads of shops and plenty of sites to see nearby.

One particular attraction was the 18th century baroque Banffy Palace, housing weaponry and Romanian collections of the Art Museum, considered the best example of local baroque style.

Maramures was a contrast amid some of Europe’s most beautiful mountain scenery

Walking down the smaller streets around the square, we found splendid inner courts, old houses, isolated churches and the Tailors’ Bastion, dating from 1550, the only wall still standing from the medieval fortified city.

The next day, we headed for Museum Square, the oldest in Cluj, home to the Franciscan Monastery (which combined 14th century baroque and gothic architecture), the Transylvanian History Museum and the old Obelisk of the City. Right by the obelisk, we found a great place for more coffee.

Next we made our way to Avram Iancu Square, which includes several palaces, but it was the National Theatre and Opera House that I wanted to visit: the most prestigious in Romania, famous for its productions and built in a neo-baroque style by Austrian architects.

If you like museums, Cluj has more than 12, including the University Museum of Speleology (study of caves). However, the National Museum of Transylvania caught our attention. It features a large collection of art, crafts and textiles detailing Romanian history and culture from prehistoric times, the Dacian era, medieval and modern times, as well as the outdoor National Ethnographic Park.

This contains actual 18th century Transylvanian Romanian and Saxon buildings relocated from the countryside in an effort to preserve them.

We spent time visiting the many Orthodox and Catholic churches, even two cathedrals, all with their own distinct style and well worth a visit.

Perhaps the most impressive architecturally is the Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral.

This beautifully located Romanian Orthodox church is another must-see.

On a Sunday, we drove to the village of Szek with its largely Hungarian population, which is famous for its valuable traditions and costume culture.

I photographed villagers walking to church in local costumes and men with their distinctive straw hats.

Szeki dance, folk music and the internationally famous costumes exist thanks to the dance movement. To learn more, I knocked on the door of Dutchman Michael van Langefevald and he was very happy to show us around a restored dance house, a mini museum, a collection of 500 boots and a guest house (details at www.csipkeszegfoundation.eu).

For the second part of our adventure, we travelled to Maramures, which provided such a contrast amid some of Europe’s most beautiful mountain scenery with the oak and beech-forested Carpathian mountains, rolling hills and green river valleys.

I had always wanted to visit the region, known as the heart and soul of rural Romania: it is rich with history and famous for its traditional, unchanged way of life, well-preserved wooden villages and churches, culture and traditions.

Visiting gives a chance to see a lifestyle of a medieval peasant past.

Crossing the Carpathians granted us stunning views as the forests were ablaze with yellows, browns, reds and greens.

We descended into the valleys and into some very well-preserved villages, as we stepped back in time and beyond the grasp of the whimsical traveller.

Traditional villages are all built of wood, including the houses and even churches.

Today, only 42 wooden churches, built during the 18th and 19th centuries, are left; eight are Unesco World Heritage sites.

Nowhere in Europe does such traditional dress persist so strongly

People of Maramures, the Moroseni, are famous for their hospitality and several invited us into their homes for a glass or two of home-made plum or apple palinka, the local drink that can be 100 per cent proof.

Families remain in the same villages as their ancestors. Homes are still fronted with traditional giant, ornately carved wooden gates denoting status and wealth.

Handwoven clothing continues to be made and the church is the heart of the village.

We travelled on a Saturday, market day, to the picturesque village of Sacel at the foot of the highest mountain peak in Rodna Pietrousul Peak, towering 2,303 metres above sea level.

I was surprised by the number of horse and carts transporting logs, grass, vegetables, even families: still a very important part of village life.

We visited Bohemian craftsman Vasile Susca, who makes iconic costume masks out of wool that are shown throughout Romania and abroad.

There was also an opportunity to tour a cottage that uses an authentic, working water mill to wash carpets, a grain mill to grind dried corn into flour and wool processing, using a century-old German machine.

We stayed at Lacramiora Pensionea for €25 per night, where we ate home-made Transylvanian pork soup, chicken with a mushroom, tarragon and sour cream sauce and local trout with mountain forest mushrooms.

It was all absolutely delicious and cost only €15 for two people.

On our last Sunday, we visited the 16th century Birsana Monastery that is surrounded by new churches, chapels, dormitories, shrines, bell towers, dining halls and visitor centres, all made in traditional Maramures timber.

Glimmering with gold-finished frescoes, in the basement a priest gives daily services to resident sisters and visiting Romanians.

I photographed villagers arriving for church dressed in striking local costumes, as seen on the front page.

Nowhere in Europe does such dress persist so strongly, with men wearing felt hats, elderly women wearing boldly striped aprons made from cloth from the water mills, intricately designed blouses and sleeveless, braided back jackets worn by both sexes or bright green and red flowery skirts and head scarves by younger women.

In my travels throughout Romania and Europe, discovering this part of Transylvania, largely untouched by the 20th century, was a time-travel adventure, an amazing experience not to be forgotten.

• Viorica Naudi is currently a Malta Arts Scholarship holder who is taking advanced photographic courses .

She is studying in the UK for a year and a selection of her photos will be exhibited in Chester in January and at Castille, Valletta, next month.