The Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania

About The Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania

The Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania
The Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania was established in 1922. The headquarters is located in ”Reduta” building, in the room with the same name being held the political trial known as “Procesul memorandiştilor” [Trial of the Memorandists]. An open air museum was added to the pavilion exhibition, first one in Romania, called ”Romulus Vuia” National Ethnographic Park.
The current permanent exhibition is called “The popular culture in Transylvania – 18th – 20th centuries”, varnished in 2006 and approaches the main areas of the material and spiritual culture in rural Transylvania, displayed by representative exhibits, selected from more than 40.000 artefacts from the collections of the museum institution.
The exhibition comprises: podotactile strips (for blind persons), showcase with traditional harvest crowns, showcase with Hebrew cult pieces, exhibits which evoke birth, childhood (swing, chair and support for learning how to walk, toys grouped per genders) and youth (elements from the props of boy groups, symbolic gifts made by boys to girls). The exhibits which evoke birth, childhood and youth are grouped in two exhibition modules which precede the traditions sector: those from the life cycle (wedding, funeral), those over the year (Christmas, New Year, Epiphany, Easter) and the spring traditions (Sângiorzul, Plugarul[*the Plougher]).

“Romulus Vuia” National Ethnographic Park
“Romulus Vuia” National Ethnographic Park is an open air museum and one of the two departments of the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania, established on April 12th 1929. This department was called “Romulus Vuia”, paying and homage to the personality of the founder of this park.
The first sector includes technical installations and rural workshops from the 18th – 20th centuries, which display the traditional techniques of wood and iron working, obtaining the gold, wool canvas, clay, stone working, cereals milling and obtaining the edible oil. The second sector contains traditional rural households representative for distinct ethnographic areas from Transylvania, comprising constructions dating from the 17th – 20th centuries, equipped with the entire necessary household inventory.
Three of the most beautiful wood churches in Transylvania are preserved in “Romulus Vuia” National Ethnographic Park: the church in Cizer, Sălaj county, built in 1773 by Nicola Ursu (Horea); the church in Chiraleş, Bistriţa Năsăud county, 17th century and the church in Petrindu, Sălaj county, dated 1612.