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Romanian Traditions - preserved over the centuries

Maybe no other thing can better define the spirit of a people than its ancient traditions and customs. The traveler coming from the West will be surprised to discover that Romania is a place with a lot of legends, myths, and traditions preserved for ages. Here, different moments of the year, the religious days - Easter, Christmas - as well as the moments relevant for the agricultural calendar - harvesting, reaping - are celebrated with great joy by festivals and feasts.

Tourists are fascinated by the old Romanian folk dances such as "calusarii" or "hora"- combining elegant moves and satirical verses with giddy rhythms of the dance. Calusarii is a ritual initiation dance, while hora may be danced by all the villagers, especially on Sunday. Travelers not used to such events will assist, amused and frightened, curious and reserved, but the moment they understands the message of the dance and realize that they are in fact helping to reconstruct some ancient times, they will remember their emotion from that unique moment. Invartita,, Hategana, Batuta and Banu Maracine are other dances, rendering the specificity of every Romanian area in the very way they combine the specific moves and steps.

On Christmas and New Year's Eve, children and young men go from house to house singings carols. In some regions, they dance with folk masks on their faces and recite speeches. For their effort, they receive fruit and home-made cakes. The best known carols are Steaua, Plugusorul, Sorcova and Capra.

Boboteaza (January 6) and Sfantul Ioan (January 7) mark the first week of January. It is the moment when Romanians go to the church to take holy water, used for curing and purification. In the riverside villages and towns, young men compete in bringing back to the shore the cross that the priest throws into the frozen waters. Those who succeed have success in store. It is the moment when waters are believed to be holy, which is why women do no laundry in the following 8 days.

Martisorul (March 1) is the celebration that brings hope, optimism and faith in a better future, year by year. Now, from the clash between cold and sun rays, between dark and light, life and spring break out in victory. The festival is symbolised by a white and red lace with an amulet (a coin, a shell), that parents used to tie around their children's joints and young men offered to girls as a sign of good luck and health. In Dobrogea, the March amulet is worn until the coming of the storks, and then it is thrown into the doors, windows and on animals' horns to cast away bad spirits and to invoke life.

Easter is the holiday that Romanians will always associate with knocking red eggs. The legend goes that after Jesus was crucified, the Rabbis of Pharisaism held a celebration banquet. One of them said: "When the cock we are eating rised from the dead and the boiled eggs turn red, only then will Jesus resurrect!" No sooner had he finished his words, the eggs turned red and the cock started to flap its wings. Now, at Easter time, eggs are knocked according to a specific ritual: the elder person knocks the head of its egg against the head of the egg held by a table companion, while saying: "Christ has risen from the dead!"and he is answered "Indeed he has!" On the first day of Easter, it is customary to wear new clothes, as a sign of the refreshment of the body and soul. The meal is an opportunity to gather the family and is made up besides red eggs, of traditional dishes such as sheep pot cheese, radish and green salad, roast lamb and sweet cream cheesecake.

Romanian folk architecture is preserved today especially in the countryside, but also in the numerous museums dedicated to ethnography. Founded in 1936, the Village Museum of Bucharest is one of the most valuable places of this kind in the world. The Ethnographical Museum of Transylvania, from Cluj-Napoca, Astra Museum in Sibiu and the famous open-air museum in Ramnicu Valcea are other places that brought the art born centuries ago in the countryside up to the present.

The architecture of the houses, the pottery and the woodcarving, the glass painting of icons and the folk masks, the musical instruments - bagpipes, flutes, fiddles - and the embroidery are all Romanian wonders born from a skill handed down from father to son for centuries. In many households, the clothes, carpets and embroideries are still handmade. Carpets woven on looms are highly appreciated for their quality, colors and models.

Music has always represented one of the most important elements of Romanian life. Doina, the epic song, as well as the satirical extempore verses from the feasts (hora, wedding, christening dinner party) are part of a particular rich repertoire. Even if there are fewer types, the lyrics, especially the songs of love and longing, are something special. One of the things of which Romanians will never cease to be proud is their talent for playing the bagpipe - an instrument invented by the ancient Dacians. And some singers also use leaves or fish bones.

Folk costumes blend complicated embroideries and vivid colors in models that usually represent conventional flowers and animals (Walachia and Oltenia) or geometrical shapes (Transylvania). Each region has its representative costumes. But everywhere, women wear colored head-kerchiefs, and men, caps of lamb's wool. In Maramures, these caps are very tall, without brims and decorated in various models. They are known as 'clop'.

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Painted eggs

Traditional shirt from Bucovina