A special and beautiful museum, hosted in the Bania House (Casa Baniei), which is a major architectural and historical monument of Craiova, dating way back from 1699, at a time when the province was ruled by Constantin Brancoveanu. It was built on the site of the old houses of the Craiovesti boyars, dating from the 15th century. Over the decades this impressive structure has housed several other institutions. Since 1967, after lenghty and difficult restorations, the Ethnography Museum of Oltenia was moved here, the only place where you can learn anything and everything about the history of the region, starting with the prehistoric times.
Great care has been taken in presenting, in full detail, the traditional trades and occupations of peasants in Oltenia, starting with hunting, fishing or gathering and ending with raising cattle, working the fields, harvesting the crops, emphasising the continuity of the locals. Also, of great importance in the museum's collections are proofs of the passion for wood carving, ceramics, weaving. Among the exhibits are several works of folk art, a wide range of popular, ancient motifs and themes, from animals and natural elements to religious simbols, as well as geometrical shapes and strange, hard to understand symbols. Besides these wooden and ceramics creations, the museum also has a large collection of jars, bowls of all kinds, plates, many beautifully painted in bright colours, following unwritten rules.
Of great importance for the museum is also the hall of carpets, filled with dozens of the best such creations, in the style and manner used in Oltenia, one of the richest of their kind, filled with scenes including animals, flowers, birds, human and mithological characters, all in bright colours that sometimes remind of the naïve art. Many of these carpets were made in the first half of the 19th century, and are very praised among collectors and dealers.
But one of the best collections - and certainly one that will fascinate especially foreign tourists - is the one of folk costumes from Oltenia, all of them fascinating, with many variations from zone to zone, yet keeping a common elements that makes them apart. Some of these costumes are of great value, as they have been passed from generation to generation before entering the museum's collections. Besides the actual clothes, of great interest are also the accessories used, and one could only imagine how these were made a long time ago and how skillfull these craftsmen were.
You can - and you must - continue the visit to the museum with the hall of icons, mostly on glass, donated by Marieta and Stefan Jianu, except that they are made in Transilvania, in the style and colours of that region, but still are representative for the talent of the romanian folk artists. It is one of the largest collections of this kind, of great artistic value, as most of the icons are unique.
2008-01-16
