RISE Around the World

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At this link you can watch our slideshow. So far we have managed to record comments on 14 of the slides. I’ve uploaded all the images that I would like us to include in the final presentation. Maybe we won’t manage to record comments to all but we can definitely try

Thanks for the interest you’ve shown! Have a great weekend and see you on Friday!

Mona

Easter is the most important event in the Orthodox Christian calendar. Traditionally, celebrations in Romania begin on the Saturday evening. Dressed in all their finest clothes and holding candles, people gather round the churches. At the Easter Resurrection Mass (Slujba de Inviere) just before midnight, the priest comes out to give a blessing, distribute holy bread and provide the flame from which everyone will light their candles. Suddenly the darkness is lit up and thousands of candles take to the streets.
Everyone tries to keep the flame alive until they arrive home. There, around the table, the family comes together for a special Easter meal. Roast lamb and home-made cozonac (sponge cake with nuts and poppy seeds) are the traditional dishes.

In the countryside, the Easter Resurrection Mass lasts until early morning. The custom among country folk is to take their painted eggs, cozonaci and specially prepared dishes into the church on Saturday night so they can be blessed by the priest.

Christmas in Romania has retained all its religious and folk traditions. Red, black and white are the colors associated with the traditional Romanian folk costume. Black represents the winter night, which falls very early in December, red is for the finery of the children who go caroling through the streets on Christmas eve, and white is for the snow that blankets the country, sparkling under the stars for as far as the eye can see.

The Christmas tree is decorated on Christmas Eve about 10 o’clock with walnuts, chestnuts, hazelnuts, candies, apples and chocolates wrapped in colored paper.

Then the children set out through their neighborhood or village, caroling from house to house. As they go from door to door, the “colindatori” are given traditional treats in return: “covrigi” (large dry pretzels), doughnuts, candies, apples and money.

After Midnight Mass, children clean and polish their best pair of boots and place them at the front door for Santa Claus to find. It’s there that he’ll leave presents for the youngest children who have already gone to bed.

Christmas is also the time for pork butchering on every Romanian farm. Slaughtered on St. Ignatius’ day, a few days before Christmas, the pig is meticulously transformed into smoked ham, sausages and charcuterie products.

Maramures is a county of Romania and is located in the geographical heartland of Europe and the county seat is Baia Mare. Maramures is a land of wooden churches, mythological richness, impressive landscapes and very ancient customs. It has carefully preserved the culture, traditions, and lifestyle of a medieval peasant past.

The village of Săpânța, located just 4 kilometres south of the Ukrainian border is world-famous for its original “Merry Cemetery”: a special kind of graveyard, with wooden crosses painted in vivid colors.
Less than one hour from the gateway city of Baia Mare, hidden beyond the Tibles mountain range is Lapus Country where seven monasteries are situated on six of the mountaintops; Rohia, Rohiita, Lapus, Dealu Mare, Briaza and St. Andrei. The most well-known is Rohia but each has its unique characteristics worth visiting if one has the time.

The Maramureş wooden churches in Northern Transylvania are a selection of eight examples of different architectural solutions from different periods and areas. They are Orthodox churches. They are narrow but high timber constructions with characteristic tall, slim bell towers at the western end of the building. They are a particular vernacular expression of the cultural landscape of this mountainous area of northern Romania.
The cultural heritage of Maramures is well preserved by institutions that treasure both traditional values and contemporary cultural values.But you must keep in mind that the large museums in Baia Mare or Sighetu Marmatiei are not the only cultural attractions in the area: Art Museum, Mineralogy Museum, The History and Archaeology Museum in Baia Mare, Ethnographic Museum in Sighet. Many small treasures can be found in tiny village museums and memorial houses.

The wedding is the most interesting family custom of all. It is also a complex custom which has various traditional forms all over the country and combines economic, law, ritual and folkloric elements. When entering the church, the groom and bride are wearing crowns provided by the church symbolising the bound between the two souls. The popular “show” is almost fabulous. The acts from the marriage foundation are ritual and ceremonial meant to bring prosperity, fecundity, happiness and social integration to the young family. In this moment the popular costume gains some specific significances and the act of the ceremony is composed from many customs: the well – wishing at the bride’s gate, the dowry dance in the bride’s yard and the parents forgiveness, then the wedding at the groom’s house, the gifts and the bride’s adorning.The musical repertoire is suitable: “the dowry dance”, “the big dance”, “three times around the table”, “the bride’s grief song”, “the bride’s ring dance”, “and the big ring dance”.