Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
an excellent display of regional pottery. Other important areas include Miercurea-Ciuc
and Baia Mare.
Similarly, textile weaving carries on into the
modern age; many private homes in smaller
towns and villages still have looms, and the
embroidery, patterns and materials can differ
greatly from region to region. Weaving is used
to produce bed clothing and towels as well as
curtains and rugs. Romanian carpet tradition,
not surprisingly, shares much in common with
the Ottoman Turks. Even today, one of the most common carpets you'll see are the thin-
weave, oblong rugs called
kilims
.
Maramureş is the centre of the country's woodworking expertise. Over the centuries,
the inhabitants have used the abundant forests to create fabulous wooden churches. Tradi-
tionally, every family's woodworking skills are on display on the enormous, elaborately
carved wooden gates that front the family house. Wood was often used in making cooking
utensils, and spoon carving is still carried on throughout Maramureş and parts of
Transylvania.
Sacha Baron Cohen shot his 'Kazakhstan' scenes
for the comic movie
Borat: Cultural Learnings of
America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kaza-
khstan
(2006) in the village of Glod, north of Târ-
govişte.
Folk Music
You won't travel far without hearing Romanian folk music, which is still common at fam-
ily celebrations, holidays and weddings.
Traditional Romanian folk instruments include the
bucium
(alphorn), the
cimpoi
(bag-
pipes), the
cobză
(a pear-shaped lute) and the
nai
(a pan-pipe of about 20 cane tubes).
Many kinds of flute are used, including the ocarina (a ceramic flute) and the
tilinca
(a
flute without finger holes).
Folk music can take many forms. A
doină
is a solo, impro-
vised love song, a sort of Romanian blues with a social or ro-
mantic theme that is sung in a number of contexts (at home, at
work or during wakes). The
doină
was added to the Unesco
World Heritage list of intangible cultural elements in 2009.
Another common form, the
baladă
(ballad), is a collective nar-
rative song steeped with feeling.
Couples may dance in a circle, a semicircle or a line. In the
sârbă
, males and females dance quickly in a closed circle with
their hands on each other's shoulders. The
hora
is another fast
Best Folk CDs
»
Band of Gypsies
by Taraf de
Haidouks
»
Art of the Bratsch
by Anatol
Ştefăneţ
»
Baro Biao
by Fanfare
Ciocarlia
