Few towns in Romania have succeeded in preserving their medieval charm and flavor; among the Transylvanian ones, Sibiu stands alone.

It played an important part in the economic, political, religious and cultural history of the Romanian provinces. Founded upon a Neolithic settlement, near the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Cedonia, whose traces are still preserved, Sibiu was first mentioned in documents as far in the XIIth century. Beginning with the year 1150, a massive Germanic colonization took place; the first colonists (Flanders, Francons, Saxons) came from the western regions of the Rhine, found the pastures of Heaven and settled here.

The 19 guilds, whose members practiced 25 crafts, already mentioned in the year 1376, carried on active trade relationship with the Romanian provinces and withe Europe.

In the Middle Ages, every major guild had built his own tower of defense, integrated in the fortifications of the city. The guilds have disappeared by the decree of 1872, when they were converted into handicraft cooperatives.

The tradition of traveling apprentices has been revived in Sibiu since 2007, the year the town was the Cultural Capital of Europe. In Sibiu, the apprentices have their house and even an association called “Casa Calfelor” (House of Apprentices, Gesellenherberge, Maison des Compagnons – Sibiu / Hermannstadt). To revive the traditional arts and crafts, the Evangelical parish made available for apprentices a building at no. 3, Huet Place, which was restored by them.

The tradition of traveling apprentices has been preserved in countries like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Norway, Sweden.

Approximately 700 young people trained in trades of carpenters, masons, stone, potters, blacksmiths and sculptors have chosen to start on the road for three years and one day, wearing the apprentices’ uniform and hat, observe the rules imposed by their brotherhood. Thus, to be allowed to wear the apprentice uniform, the young are not allowed to be married, have children, debts or other obligations, must face with honesty and honor the commitments that they must take and follow the rules and traditions of their brotherhood. Both their presence in Sibiu since the Middle Ages and their tours have contributed in time to strengthen ties with European handicraft centers; from all points of view, they were a bridge unconventional but more vivid between Sibiu and Europe.

Before leaving, will be tailored for the apprentices special clothes in an old workshop, where the tradition of those clothes is kept. Apprentices’ costumes consist of splay trousers, jacket and coat of different colors – black, cream or blue -, white shirts, a special hat and black boots.

Being an apprentice not require a substantial material gain. Usually the apprentices goes out with moderate amounts and are forced to cope in the world, where they works to receive money, food and hosting, making it an opportunity to meet different mentalities and habits.

Tourists who visit the city of Sibiu during July 10 to August 6 have the opportunity to see working 17 journeyman from various European countries, gathered here for the third time, on Fortress Street, between the Potters Tower an the Carpenters Tower. During the workshops, the apprentices present their job; carpenters, potters, jewelers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, builders of musical instruments, masons, sculptors, can be followed in exercising their profession. Visitors can admire also a photo exhibition, which reminds of different moments in years in which they began to arrive in Sibiu. The exhibition covers the history of craftsmen travel, the various journeyman associations, and the differences existing between the traditional traveling apprentices and the companionway of French craftsmen.

One of my favorite destinations during the summer are the Western Carpathians (Romanian: Munţii Apuseni), an area with splendid landscapes, where the nature is green and unspoiled, the forested hills change with colorful open meadows. Numerous rivers have cut spectacular canyons and created the most fascinating caves.

Because of the difficult access roads, many of the mountain villages remained unchanged. It is one of the most interesting ethnographic regions with old watermills, typical farm buildings with straw roofs, wooden ox wagons.

The highlanders are called “moti” and they live mainly from agriculture, the wood processing, and are masters in woodcarving. In spring time, farmers are leading their herds of cows and flocks of sheep in the high mountain, where they rest until the first snowfall.

You may admire on the high pastures the “hodăi”, summer houses used by local people, while being with their herds in the mountains; these villages are the highest settlements of Romania. Everyone can experience here the very warmhearted hospitality in a region where tourism is still relatively new and every guest is welcomed as a friend of the family.

Some years ago, during a trekking session in Trascăului Mountains, I’ve discovered here a strange village. Strange because most of the inhabitants are Hungarian ethnic in a large Romanian area, and strange because it looks like it probably looked two centuries ago.

Rimetea (Hungarian: Torockó, German: Eisenburg) is unique. During the antiquity and middle ages, it was the center of iron mining for the region. In the 14th century, settled here colonists from Austria and Germany, to work in the iron mines. Once a town (17th century), now it is a quiet village resting on the foot of the impressive Piatra Secuiului Mountain (1171m).

The rich past of the village can be seen in the local ethnographic museum (since 1952) and some mine galleries still remained in the mountains.

The folk costumes keep Hungarian, German, Austrian and even Flemish influences, with the famous red boots and delicate lace, or the brides’ diadems made of gold threads.

About a half of the houses are registered in an Europe Union program for keeping the patrimonial buildings and the village was awarded with “Europa Nostra” Silver Medal for the way that traditional architecture is preserved, medal awarded by the Prince of Denmark.

Secuiului Rock is climbed by many tourists, for paragliding or to see the remains of Colţesti fortress.

Related to Mihaela’s post, “Epiphany and Saint John Day“, I want to tell you about some ancient traditions, banned by the communist authorities, traditions that have rebirth and know today a new life.

“The baptism of the horses” – this practice is spread in many rural communities in the Southern part of Romania (Wallachia and Dobrudja) and happens in Epiphany Day.

The peasants who come to the Epiphany religious service bring their horses, rich decorated, to the churchyard and the priest blesses the horses with a bunch of basil and the holy water. The legend says that the one who “baptizes” his horse will have a good health and a rich harvest in the year to come, and the horse will be healthy, too.

After the religious service, all the horses participates to a race where is not allowed the use of whip or spurs, and the fastest and the nicest horses are awarded. I’ve heard about a similar custom (the blessing of domestic animals) in Sweden, but I don’t know details.

“The ice cross” – another interesting custom is the rise of ice crosses, 2-3 m high, in the churchyard, crosses who stand until they melt.

In Northern Moldavia the crosses are built by the volunteer firefighters brigade, wearing their specific uniforms and leading their flag; after that, the priest, the church choir and the fire brigade go to every village institution, the priest blesses them and the others say three times “Kyrie Eleison” (an expression in Greek meaning “Lord, have mercy”).

“The baptism of all young John” – in Talmacel, near Sibiu, I saw a very interesting custom: after the religious service for Saint John’s Day, the participants dance “hora” (a dance in circle specific to all Romanian regions) and then go to the village’s river, the young boys by foot, the young girls in chariots, following an allegoric chariot; all have rich decorated folk costumes.

At river’s banks, all the young named John are symbolically “baptized” in the river’s waters, a ritual for purification and prosperity. In the villages where this custom is kept, most of the people are named “Ion” or “Ioana”. The locals told me that this tradition is unique in Romania and every Ion or Ioana swear to continue it.

Note from Mihaela and Alina: Rounite has a new author: Adrian Olaru. Adrian is a teacher from Ludus, Romania. Together with his students, Adrian started a blogspot blog: True Romania. The blog, rich in information, shows you a Romania like you’ve never seen it before, with all her extraordinary sons and daughters, with all her amazing places, traditions and culture. Unlike Rounite Underground movie download , which has a personal note, True Romania has didactic value.

Today Adrian relates a story from his childhood, a story about the mystic symbols hidden in one of Brancusi’s masterpieces – The Table of Silence

Constantin Brâncuşi (February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957), was an internationally renowned Romanian sculptor whose sculptures, which blend simplicity and sophistication, led the way for modernist sculptors.

In 1938, Constantin Brâncuşi finished the World War I monument in Tîrgu-Jiu where he had spent much of his childhood. “Table of Silence” (RO: Masa Tacerii), “Gate of the Kiss” (RO: Poarta Sarutului), and “Endless Column” (RO: Coloana Infinitului) commemorate the courage and sacrifice of Romanian civilians who in 1916 fought off a German invasion.

I want to tell you a story that can explain the significance of one of these masterpieces. In my childhood, a long time ago, I used to spend some time at my grand-father, in an isolated village in Oltenia (a region in the south-west of Romania, part of Wallachia, where Brâncuşi was born). In this village, the traditions were well kept, the daily life was quasi-archaic and for me, a child from a large town, many things seemed strange or odd. One day, my grand-father asked me to help him to do a ritual for the ancestors of our family. And now begins one of my well-kept memories…

We settled in the center of the courtyard a traditional TABLE, round and very low, with round chairs – one for each ancestor; then we placed on the table traditional pottery with food and lit candles. After that, we said a prayer for the dead and kept SILENCE for some minutes, to let the ancestors join us and enjoy the dishes…

After years, when I first saw the “Table of Silence”, I suddenly remembered that mystic, even pagan ritual, that impressed me so much in my childhood and I understood the symbols hidden behind this masterpiece.