The Village Museum


The Village Museum was created in the 1930s. It is a large open area that contains about 60 actual, lived in buildings that were bought from people from all around Romania. They were then disassembled and reasembled in the museum. The point of the museum is to show how Romanian architecture differs from one region to another. This is mainly because in the past, parts of Romania were under the rule of other countries and empires which had influence, also Romania has six different climate zones (that's a lot for a country the size of a large American state), so customs are differnt in these areas.

Remember to hover the mouse cursor over the photo for a description.
A hand carved Maramures gate.
A pretty little house.
A moldavian house. My dad is from the Moldavia region of Romania.
Same house. One of my favorite photos.
The inside of that house. Livingroom
Same house, same room.
Luke sitting by a house.
This windmill is on a pivot, so it can be turned to face the wind.
We make some really nice wine, and I don't mean that export stuff you get at Sainsbury's, although that is good value here in the UK.
Tiny log cabin.
Inside the log cabin.
Same log cabin. Cosy isn't it?
Moldavian mountain houses. The thick thatched roof acts as insulation against the cold. It gets very cold up in the mountains in the winter in the North. We're talking -15°C (7°F) at night with no wind. With wind chill it can be as cold as -30°C (-22°F)! These houses are normally inhabited by families of shepards.
A giant grape crusher made from a log of massive wood.
A watermill.
A different watermill.
Luke standing by what seems to be a shed of some sort, or the smallest house ever.
A Maramuresan church.
A water mill operating a grape crusher.
A transylvanian log cabin decorated with some sort of wash, probably made of clay.
This house is from Dobrogea (Dobruja), a semi-arid region by the sea, and is mainly below ground level to keep it cool as it gets very hot in the summer months in that region of Romania, occasionally reaching 40+°C (110+°F) in the shade! The thick thatched roof acts as an insulator against the hot sun.
This house is quite the opposite. It's suspended 10 feet up to protect it from spring flooding (snow melt), and has a steep smooth roof to prevent the buildup of snow. Note the snow slay (spelling) underneath.
Another Transylvanian house.
An Oltenian house. My mum is from there.
Inside the house.
Inside a different house. Can't remember where from, probably Moldavia.
This is another Maramuresan church. I really like it. Originally in the past the tower at the top served as a bell tower but also to watch for invaders. Traditions.
The front entrance of the church.
Inside the church.
A Banatian house doubling as an outdoor shop.
Luke looking at wares at the same Shop. All products are hand made, engraved & woven. The most expensive thing there was that hand embroyded belt, which costs about £10 ($17 or €14) There is a proper shop in the main building of the museum that sells more stuff.


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