This year, on my way to different regions of the country I stopped my car and got off for a visit to several unique museums that fully deserve to be better promoted. As we generally associate the concept of “museum” with art, culture or history, we also often ignore some of the most fascinating museums in the country. That being said, this week here is what I recommend you to put on the list for your next getaway through the countryside.
Trovants Museum in Costesti
On the national road 67 Râmnicu Vâlcea-Târgu Jiu you will always pass next to Trovants Museum. This is an open air museum that will for sure surprise you. About 7 km before Horezu city, park your car and go down the hill slope in the valley that houses these strange stones with a spherical or ellipsoidal shape. At first glance it looks like you stumbled upon a SF décor expecting some creatures from another dimension to appear before you. Known as trovanti – the stones “rise” from a sandy hill, covering an area of 1.1 hectares. The museum is a protected area and you will find on site a panel with information about their history. Costesti is the only place in Europe where a park was arranged for these geological formations that formed 6.5 million years ago.
What local folklore says about the stones that “grow” with each rain?
- these stones could have been an inspiration source for the sculptor Constantin Brancusi, who was born in Hobiţa, Gorj county, a short distance from Costeşti.
- because of their strange shape people considered them dinosaur eggs
- popularly called balatruci or dorobanți they were used as funeral stones in the old cemeteries of Transylvania
- locals say that these stones are alive and held the power to influence people’s live
EGG Museum in Vama, Bucovina
A month ago while working on # MandrudeRomânia campaign I was in Bucovina, the land of monasteries as it is known throughout the world. The usual visits to the monasteries could not end without a stop at the Egg Museum in Vama where we talk to professor Letiția Orşivschi, who over time has collected more than 3,000 eggs from all over the globe.
Easy to locate (on the E85 road), the museum contains the largest collection of decorated eggs from Romania and is one of the most important in Europe. The Prof. Letiția Orşivschi greets you at the entrance and she will thoroughly explain the meaning of symbols. For the foreign tourists audio guide is available in all major international languages. Placed on glass shelves, more than 3,000 eggs, worked in different techniques (eggshell, wood, ceramic, porcelain, stone, glass) were collected over the past 14 years. You will find rare eggs ( emu, rhea, crocodile, flamingo etc) as well as tiny eggs (partridge, sparrow, etc). I will just add that there is an entire section dedicated to the eggs that showcase the old motifs of the region, traditionally made in ,,earthy colors”. For further details I invite you to click here and see the video we made inside the museum.
Sand Museum at Dăbuleni
Yet again Romania is the only country holding such a museum, in fact an area of 12 hectares with white baron sand. Most often visited by scientists who want to study the phenomenon, the museum has no entry fee and covers over 3,000 hectares of sand. Visit it in spring or summer, take of your shoes off and enjoy the feeling of warm sand upon your bare feet.
In need for a watch? Go to Clock Museum, in Ploiesti, Prahova County
Nearby the capital, Ploiesti city is about 40 minute drive from Bucharest. Once you enter the Museum of History you will for sure visit the Clock Museum “NI Simache “, the only museum of its kind in our country. Besides being the home to some unique mechanisms – creations of the most famous watchmakers in Europe, the museum also displays among its 1,000 exhibits some funny watches such as the cat clock or barber’s clock. You will also have the chance to see watches that belonged to some of the most important Romanian historical figures.
Sunny and windy weather calls for a hat. Go to Straw hats Museum in Crişeni, Harghita County
The straw hats museum in Romania is housed in a typical old cottage representative for the Harghita County. Unique in the country ( and maybe the only one of its kind in the world) the museum was founded by the master hatter Szocs Lajos who refused to let this tradition disappear. There are over 150 straw hats here alongside household and decorative items, all made from straw. When Lajos Szocs is at the museum he will tell you the secrets of the craft while his hands will work hats for you to take home. In addition, here you will find the largest straw hat in the world, with a diameter of 2 meters. Curious already? Just like you, many tourists arrive from all over the world to see it and participate in the annual camps dedicated to the art of making straw hats, organized by the museum. Furthermore in summer there is a straw hat festival that you can enjoy in the village.
Let yourself be seduced by gold at Gold Museum in Brad, Hunedoara County
The Gold Museum, like most of the museums in this list, includes articles that are unique in Europe. It is home for the largest collection of native gold pieces on the continent and if you wonder what makes it so special I’ll tell you in a second. The gold exhibits displayed here (over 1,300 pieces) were gathered from all corners of the world and they were not processed in any way. All forms, including Dacia flag, lizards of gold and a unique pentagonal crystal are organized into categories, depending on the minerals they incorporate, some of which were identified in Romania for the first time in the world. Believe me, as you move from a glass shelve to another, you will have some “wowww” moments while taking a selfie. Because you just can help yourself J .
The list for outstanding Romanian museums goes on, but these are the ones I’ve recently visited and never left my thoughts. So put them on your notebook and stop the car next time you pass by, so you can enjoy the novelty of the places. Than recommend them to your friends. They have earned the right to be known.
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