From Salva to Viseu

This is a photo of one of the many viaducts belonging to Salva – Viseu railway which was built by the students during Communist Romania and linked Bistrita-Nasaud with Maramures. Students had no proper working tools and training. It was hard work building the railway because plenty of tunnels and viaducts were needed. Work accidents were frequent and some even lost their lives. They were students “working for their country”. The Communists called it voluntary work but as a matter of fact Romanian students were forced to spend their holidays there in order to prove how much they loved their country

Christmas street parade in Viseu de Sus

A new Christmas festival started last year in Viseu de Sus, Maramures. Its second edition took place on 14th December 2008.


The group of carols singers from Bistrita.

Plugusorul





Datini Si Obiceiuri - Primiti Cu Plugusorul
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

Among carol singers wearing traditional clothes, any Christmas parade in Romania also has the so-called "draci", people wearing masks and costumes. They represent evil spirits and remind us of pre-Christian times.



Narcisa Suciu - Deschide Usa, Crestine
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

Girl from Oas

COLIND FRUMOS CU PAULA SELING
Asculta mai multe audio Diverse »

I met this girl in Viseu de Sus, Maramurs. She is a carol singer belongin to a group from Oas. She is wearing traditional Oas clothes at the Christmas street parade in Viseu de Sus.

Heavy snow

Gheorghe Gheorghiu-A venit iarna
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

Winter thoughts

Wishing you all a great winter!



Stefan Hrusca - Un gand de iarna
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

One

Just a matter of perspective...

FRATII PETREUS-Dusu-m-am la mandra-n sopru
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

Wooden church from Viseu de Sus, Maramures

"Unique" - a word to describe the wooden churches of Maramures!

I took this photo in Viseu de Sus, which is a small town from Maramures, Romania.

Maramures wooden door (detail)

The wooden doors of Maramures are unique. One cannot pass by without noticing their beauty.Each door is a piece of art where the locals' woodcarving talent is displayed. Each Maramures wooden door has its own story to tell. When the doors are welcoming, the people are welcoming!

Fratii Petreus - instrumental
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

Marta from Stramtura - a woman I met

She lives all alone in an old wooden house from Stramtura, Maramures. Her house is quite isolated from the rest of the village but the region is awesome. I approached her wooden house to take some photos and thus I met her. I enjoy talking to old people but sometimes their stories are sad. Marta’s story was sad. I found out that her husband had died the year I was born.

That day I just wanted to take a photo of a wooden house, happy that I’m on holyday. It was a day in which I felt particularly happy. When Marta approached her own house I was happy again. I like meeting people like her and I was happy I could take a photo of Marta in front of her house. She reminded me so much of my grandmother! I took the photos and then we talked. Thus, I found out about her 27 years of solitude, the same number of my age. And I felt that when my life started her life somehow ended.

But that’s just a part of the story behind the photo. I guess the photo will tell you even more…Just LOOK!



Opriti timpul - Corina Chiriac
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

a window of the past

Detail of an old wooden house from Maramures, Romania.

...and some firewood for the winter.


fereastră spre trecut

de Ioan Ivascu

miroase-a lemn uscat, a veşnicie,
a frunze veştejite şi a lut,
iar zeul toamnei somnoros te-mbie
la tumbe largi în raiul tău pierdut




Paula Seling - Tu Nu Vezi ?
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

Three

Just three baby flowers lost in my garden, three baby flowers lost in this late autumn, just three tiny and fragile flowers, giving a helping hand to a lost spider... (hmmm, I love taking photos)


Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

galaxy

This is a recent photo that I took, another autumn photo, of course. At first, I found it difficult to find a suitable title but today the GALAXY title came to my mind. The photo looks somehow like a galaxy, so I guess the title adds meaning to the image itself.




Este toamna iar-Gheorghe Gheorghiu
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

THREE

My first photo!

Three tasty apples in my garden... Have you seen Adam and Eve?




toamna a si venit... Pasarea Colibri
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

Decoration (inside a traditional wooden house )

Handmade decoration inside a traditional wooden house from Maramures, Romania.



Poesis - Nu am mai fost acasa demult
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

Maramures wooden door (detail)

TITIANA MIHALI-Cui ii canta cucu sara
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

The wooden doors of Maramures are unique. One cannot pass by without noticing their beauty.
Each door is a piece of art where the locals' woodcarving talent is displayed. Each Maramures wooden door has its own story to tell.

When the doors are welcoming, the people are welcoming!

Tarancuta, tarancuta

Girl from Maramures - portrait

Just look at her smile!
I'm very proud of this photo. I guess a very Romanian portrait again. This time a young girl, wearing the oldest type of traditional costume preserved in Sacel, Maramures.


Dan Spataru - Tarancuta, tarancuta

Shepherd / Cioban

A typical traditional Romanian portrait. I took this photo in Sapanta, Maramures, at a festival called "Radacini Fest". The man is wearing traditional black and white clothes. What I particulary like about this costume is the hat. It is a shepherd's costume from Sibiu or its surroundings reflecting pastoral Romania.




Lucretia Ciobanu-Pleaca oile la munte

Traditional Romanian shoes - opinci (detail)

The so-called "opinci" are the traditional Romanian shoes. People used to wear them all over Romania before they started to be substituted with modern shoes. They are made of leather and they are also very confortable (believe me I tryed them on!).



The traditional Romanian shoes presented in this photo belonged to a woman. Although, apparently all the "opinci" look the same this detailed close up proves that each pair is unique. The beauty of each "opinca" depended on the talent and creativity of the person who made it. The "opinci" for women were more feminin (see the tiny little flowers on the traditional shoes in the photo) as compared to those for men, which were usually simple.

Doina de Jale - Gheorghe Zamfir
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

Barsana Monastery, Maramures, Romania

Maramures is famous for its wooden churches(Unesco heritage sites). They are Orthodox churches. The wooden churches are a distinct feature of Maramures. Here the natives' woodcarving talent shows up in a display of beauty and creativity.They are high timber constructions with characteristic tall, slim bell towers at the western end of the building.

Every time I visit Barsana Monastery I am speechless. It's like entering another world, a world which is closer to God, it's like entering a corner of Eden. Barsana Monastery is a holly and peaceful place that is worth visiting!

Folclor Autentic - colaj Grigore Lese
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »

Sacel pottery / Ceramica Sacel

George Enescu - Rapsodia Romana nr.1
Asculta mai multe audio Muzica »


Sacel is a village from Maramures, Romania. This village is famous for its so-called "Dacian ceramics", one of the oldest types of ceramics preserved in Romania. This craft was preserved in Sacel for over 2000 years and was transmitted from generation to generation.

The potter Tanase Burnar, the son of famous Tanase Cocian, is familiarised with the potter’s wheel since he was 10, when he started to make the first objects. Now he makes with great skill pots (see photo) for sarmale (traditional Romanian food made of meat, rice and cabbage), ceramic plates, cups and jugs burned once in the oven. The oven was built by the craftsman and uses the wood fire so the color of the clay is preserved. The clay used is kaolin, a fine and dense clay taken from deep springs from Drobodeava Hill, Sacel.

The Sacel pots are manufactured in the same style as the Dacian style. They are manufactured and ornamented using mineral elements. The ornaments are simple and resemble natural elements ( the flow of water, the sun, the line of life, drawings of men, folkloric motifs ), motifs also used in the Dacian ceramics. The continuity of this craft will be transmitted to the next generations.