ASPECTS OF ROMANIAN CULTURE

Cultural tradition
An Invitation to The Gallery
Architecture
Sciences
Cultural tradition
The Romanian culture, basically Western and Latin in origin, has preserved fascinating
remembrances of its archaic roots and a vast variety of nuances and meanings from its troubled and
complex history at the crossroads of East and West. Centuries upon centuries have served to refine
Romanian folk art, traditional music and dance, wood carving, pottery, architecture, weaving
and embroidery into a treasure of outstanding richness. Great Romanian creative minds have drawn
inspiration from these traditions, and adapted them to significantly enrich the culture of their own
country, and of the world. What they accomplished is a synthesis of these deepest held traditions
and the substance of modern European culture. The 19th century painter Nicolae Grigorescu (18381907), who started his career as an icon painter, learned techniques of the plein-air in France and
then applied them to Romanias timeless countriside landscapes. Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889), the
countrys national poet, was the founding father of modern Romanian poetry. The Romanian
language has been blessed with many exceptional poets after him too. George Enescu (1881-1955),
one of the great musician of the 20th century, carried Romanian themes with him when
working in the West as a composer, conductor and performer. The sculptor Constantin Brancusi
(1876-1957), the pride of many Japanese art museums and collectors, thoroughly absorbed the
forms and shapes of his own Romanian village and transformed them into modern abstract
sculpture, of which he can fairly be called the founder.
Maramures - Tradition Serves Development
By Bernard Houliat (Invest Romania, No.7/1998)
The Iza, Mara, Viseu and Tisa rivers run at the foot of an ancient volcanic mountain chain in northwestern Romania, along the border with the Ukraine. This is Maramures country. There are names
that make maps sing, names that fly by as the wind and sow desire along the way: Maramures, a
murmur, a word of love and fresh water, which one whispers while walking. A taste of
evening light in the groves. It is a generous, joyous, dynamic country which intends to preserve its
exceptional patrimony and a thriving culture: here tradition is considered a resource for the future
and not a mere relic. This country can count on its human resources for its development without
losing its soul.
The landscape
It is a landscape of soft mountains, a landscape of abundance. The ridges are bordered by deciduous
and pine forests home to bears, sheep and shepherds. In the lower lands the landscape is made up of
thousands of parcels which stretch out in terraces and strips. Centuries of work have transformed
the relief into a superb mosaic of meadows alternated with potato, corn and bean fields. In the high
season, the landscape abounds in people and colors. Thickets of hazels or ashes and huge orchards
offer shade to the weary reaper.
The civilization of wood
Maramures is synonymous with the civilization of wood. Sculpted or construction wood: from
religious art to the minute details of daily life, the genius peasant builder combines spirituality,
delicateness and technical mastery. In the villages of Ieud, Budesti or Calinesti survive numerous
works of art, such as the superb fulling mills where wool is still today transformed into felt. Often

separated from the street by a massive sculpted wooden archway, one still finds many wooden
houses with pine tile roofs.
Constructed with simplicity and elegance, the wooden churches are the symbol of the old peasant
civilization of Maramures, whose sensitivity they express. On Sundays and holy days they welcome
the villagers in traditional, somber and elegant costumes.
Ieud
The Ieud village stretches across many miles and centuries. A huge village full of life, full of spirit
and color, full of children. Its only landmark is the old wooden church, fine as a pine needle,
emitting its scent of basil and mustiness to the sky. Earthenware pots are hung on the walls or on the
trees of the garden. Laced sheets, embroidered linen and white shirts dry above the cabbages. The
women wear flowered skirts and the men black hats. They are upright like their fathers, men of
honor and freedom who, until the end of the 1950s fought against Communist terror. Ieud was in
actual fact a bulwark for this desperate resistance hidden in the forests and nourished by the
shadows which stole out of the village every night.
Botiza
On the other side of the mountain, Botiza is known for its violinists and its art of woolen carpets. To
tint the wool the women pick the colors from the landscape: they cover the meadows and woods
picking leaves, roots and flowers. From these they extract the colors, and this secret is passed on
from mother to daughter. They braid the timeless designs of ancient Maramures which recount the
cosmos of its people, made up of pines, birds and deer.
The Botiza women of action
For many years this tradition was abused by unscrupulous intermediaries who took advantage in
their privileged social status and made the peasant women work for a pittance only to resell the
carpets at exorbitant prices in Bucharest and abroad. Some Botiza women rebelled and their
dynamism infected the local association of Operation Villages Roumains. Maria Costinar,
Maria Manta or Maria Poienar convinced the PHARE Rural Tourism Program of the European
Union to support the artistic handicraft tradition. Several of the village women have been able to set
up and open their workshops to the public. They sell their products directly and the revenues
guarantee the survival of this precious heritage. The workshops are cleverly associated with
accommodation facilities.
A force for the future
Representatives of 18 villages have created Tara Maramuresului [Maramures Country], the first
Romanian country association aiming to become an essential cultivator of the economic and
cultural future of the area. This association initially invested efficiently in rural tourism linked to
local development. The PHARE Rural Tourism Program, Operation Villages Roumains and
the Rural Foundation of Romania support the opening of workshops to the public, as well as their
promotion. Information centers were opened in Vadu Izei, Botiza, Ieud. Enthusiastic people receive
you in different languages and do their utmost to help you discover Maramures and its neighboring
regions. You can reserve accommodation with the inhabitants: from the old wooden house to the
more luxurious dwelling, some one hundred families offer an exquisite welcome, guaranteed by the
label Tourist Network. You can also hire a guide-interpreter, contact your insurance agent, or send
a fax to your office. Information is available for hiking or for the craft itinerary. Serving the
village these houses are also the motor of all local development projects.
Music madness
Maramures is solid and serious. Its inhabitants are possessed by great power, by honesty which
make you both respect and envy them. They know how to laugh and sing, and this because they
have a charming bit of madness in their well-balanced souls. Every village brings forth violinists,

the ceteras, who perform at weddings along with the zongoras (a sort of guitar) and the doba
(drum). Humble, these musicians dont live from their art alone - they are first and foremost
farmers, loggers or miners. Originating from a village with a long line of musicians, Toader Ilies,
known as Sicutsa embodies elegance. He is a great master who lives on the border of poverty. He
is one of those simple and luminous musicians who stood out during the 1st MaramuZical Festival,
which attracts Europes violinists and the music of the village.
A unique festival of its kind
In July 1997 the Iza Valley welcomed in the midst of a joyous disorder musicians and aficionados
of traditional music from throughout all of Europe, from the neighboring countries, as well as from
Sweden and Western Europe. MaramuZical Festival pays homage to a living music, that of the
village musicians, that of the weddings. A fresh, free and vigorous music, which has little in
common with the pseudo-folkloric sham of the so-called popular musical ensembles.
MaramuZical is also a grand fiesta where new convivial relationships are formed. As major crossborder projects are established with support from the European Union contributing to stability and
development, Maramures slowly affirms itself as a cultural crossroads in the great Carpathian
region. Here the violins of Hungary, Romania and the Ukraine are finally tuned together. This is a
reason for developing other forms of cooperation and intelligence in an area where strong hostility
still smoulders.
MaramuZical, an example of integrated communication
The direct revenues for the local economy are tangible: hundreds of people must be accommodated.
The Festival is also a marvellous showcase for the craftspeople. The socio-cultural revenues are also
significant: the gathering of local teams around a complex project, which involves many partners, is
extremely instructive! This Festival is the strong point of the strategy of the Tara Maramuresului
Association which wishes to develop quality rural tourism. The violin has become the voice of
Maramures, of its culture and its economic activities. It is the ideal instrument for promoting the
image of a region attached to its sensuality, its art of living. Through the current of sympathy it has
managed to create, MaramuZical has given the public the desire to return
and to talk about Maramures to others. Modestly, MaramuZical sends abroad another perspective of
Romania, unveiling its extreme generosity, its cultures, its Latin origins and its specific character. A
clear and positive image spreads slowly. The public is beginning to identify Maramures as a
hospitable country, attached to its patrimony and its living traditions. Thanks to this quality image
Maramures became one of the possible travel destinations. Numerous Romanian and European
institutions already teamed up for preparing MaramuZical 98. Musicians will come from the
furthest parts of Romanias countryside and all of Europe. The Sicutsa Brothers from Botiza will
open the ball.

Maramures attractions
the wooden churches and villages on Sunday and holy days, the Happy Cemetery of Sapinta,
traditional architecture
the open-air Museum of Sighetu Marmatiei
the craft itinerary for the discovery of ancient trades
forest trains: the famous forest steam train of the Vaser Valley at Viseu

Open-air activities include:

guided walks around the villages or hikes through the mountains
ski slopes of Borsa
cross-country skiing along the Prislop gorge
horse riding or cart riding
Vaser Valley fishing

Accommodation with the locals

Choose your accommodation in the Information Centers:
bed and breakfast: $10-15/per night
with half board: $13-15/per night
with full board: $15-17/per night
Architecture
There are centuries-old buildings throughout Romania - monasteries and churches, Orthodox,
Catholic, Protestant... Maramures displays its graceful wooden steeples in the clear sky of the
North. Bucovina is famous for the 15th-16th century painted churches, such as Voronet and Sucevita,
completed either during the reign of Prince Stephen the Great (1457-1504), or in the style of his
time. Such gems as the Mogosoaia Palace and the church Stavropoleos are in the complex and
refined style that flourished in the time of Prince Constantin Brancoveanu (1688-1714). The folds
of the Carpathians hold old castles and fortifications, and even vestiges of Roman roads; cities
display charming fin-de-siecle buildings and urban art deco, stately universities, alongside with
beautiful samples of both older and newer architecture. A splendid encounter with the Romanian
Architecture offer the sites of Bucharest OnLine and Iasi. Visit them !
Science
Great minds have equally developed in sciences. Romanias medical school and biology-related
sciences have been an international point of reference for more than a century now. Romanians have
pioneering works in fields like cell biology, virusology, neurology and gerontology. Emil Racovita
(1868-1947) was the founder of the science of speleology. The first Nobel Prize awarded to a
Romanian scientist was for biology: Professor George Emil Palade, now living in the U.S.
The first flight in the world, by a self-propelled engine, was made in a prototype designed by Traian
Vuia (1872-1950) in 1903. Pioneers in airplane construction and flight were also Aurel Vlaicu
(1882-1913), as well as the father of jet planes, Henri Coanda (1886-1972). Hermann Oberth (18941980) was a great achiever of the space science and rocket engineering. As early the 16th century,
the visionary Conrad Haas (1509-1579) was designing rockets in the city of Sibiu. In the 20thth
century Gheorghe Buzatu helped to develop the Apollo rocket.
Other Romanians have added important discoveries to: mathematics - Traian Lalescu, Gheorghe
Titeica, Grigore Moisil; physics - Horia Hulubei; electrotechnics - Dragomir Hurmuzescu; civil
engineering - Anghel Saligny; sociology Dimitrie Gusti; ecology - Grigore Antipa.
Constantin Brancusi
The founder of modern abstract sculpture, was born in the village of Hobita, near Targu-Jiu. His
works, pride of art museums and collectors all over the world, created a new streamline in
representing the shape of humans and objects. Replica of his masterpiece The Kiss is displayed in
the Chokoku no mori in Hakone. A study of Brancusis life and work by Radu Varia was published
in Japanese by Libroport Publishing Co. in 1994 and can be found in bookshops.
Anghel Saligny
In 1995 Romania celebrated the centenary since the completion of the Cernavoda Bridge, the
largest bridge built in Europe 100 years ago. Its designer and builder, Anghel Saligny((1854-1925),
wrote manuals for civil engineering used as reference even nowadays.