Bucovina again
ROMANIA | Saturday, 7 November 2009 | Views [20]
Of course Bucovina is known for the painted monasteries, it’s not wrong, but it’s far from being complete. I’d say Bucovina has the biggest concentration of religious + meditation dedicated places in Europe. It’s the religious heart of Romania, very religious country already. Religious or spiritual? Expect the monasteries to be small and rather humble as size. The painted monasteries are not in the cities, but integrated in the landscape, between hills or hidden inside of the secular forests. Built by human scale, in order to offer comfort and intimacy – relationship with God is very private after all. Their role was to educate simple people by the most basic values: share, love, be kind. Inside you find charming silence, scent of burned oriental spices, fresh flowers, carpets and gold chandeliers.
Special: monastery dress-code: at the entrance, some monasteries have a nun or a monk who’s role is to sell tickets and to ask some of the tourists to cover themselves in order to be decent. You may wonder how come some women manage to get through in a tiny open summer blouse without wrapping themselves in the black skirts while some men need to wear a skirt over their shorts which get to their knees. Well. The idea is not to cover yourself for God to see you properly dressed up. But – it’s all for the sake of the other tourists. Monastery is a place where you should better have good and innocent thoughts. No one should tempt you to think otherwise and distract you. Also: it’s not nice if, by your appearance, you tempt others. It’s not all determined by the cut of your clothes, but your attitude and general aspect as well. A beautiful young woman might have to cover up while a not so young not so beautiful might be allowed to enter half naked – she won’t be tempting anybody anyway.
Another treasure of Bucovina are its forests. And the way people respect them, despite a few plastic bags you might see on the edge of the roads. The forests are so deep and vast. There is a science of forests, that it is studied in the university: silvicultura: about how to benefit from forests without destroying them. And it works: despite of wood being one of the biggest exports of Romania, the wildlife of the forests proves people did quite a good job. Peasants know their forest as they know their pockets. If you happen to get lost while tracking, you call from you mobile and you’ll be guided back on the right way only by describing the trees and the rocks you see around you.The mushrooms of their daily meals all come from the forests, as well as the berries or hazelnuts, the wood for their houses, for their fire, for their tools and furniture, as well as the fur for their winter coats.
A joy of Bucovina is its music, the most universal art of all its arts and traditions. The bands, called “fanfare” are mainly brass and brand bands, a real melting pot of local, Austrian, Oriental old instruments and vivid tunes. Many times gypsies carry out the tradition of playing this music – why – as their role used to be to entertain the others at every Sunday dances and the other crucial moments in life. Search Shantel on youtube or Fanfara.
Tags: monastery
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