History | Geography | Monography | Coat of arms | Authorities
Official News | Culture | Photo Album | Symbols | Contact Us
home >> culture >> center for preservation and promotion of traditional culture  
Organisation Chart
Subordinate Institutions
Decentralized Public Services
Town Halls
Prefecture
e-government
CUSTOMS FROM MUREȘ COUNTY

     There are also a number of old customs preserved in our villages, from among which we chose a few to present here, since they are interesting for the eye of the traveler, but also for those who study the diversity and the richness of the traditional culture.

"ȚURCA"

     Caroling custom, performed by the groups of lads, preserved especially in the villages of the Superior Mureș on Christmas' Eve night. But the preparations for this event start at the beginning of the Advent, when the leaders of the group, vătafii, are elected, and the house that will be the host of the group throughout the Advent is chosen (Berea). The young, lads and girls, gather here in the evenings, called by the sound of the bucium - an old instrument made out of a large bull horn, in order to prepare the Turca. It is a complex and interesting zoomorphic mask, from which the name of the custom derives. Embodying a fantastic animal, it symbolizes the prehistoric goddess that bears the feminine name of the bull; the custom preserves the echoes of the pre-Christian re-fertilizing myths of death and rebirth of nature.
     The group is formed by the lads of the villages, a few of the old men who know best the custom and how to sing the specific carols, the Turca, under the mask being a skillful young who must know the specific and difficult dance moves, the bgiduș, who closely accompanies the Turca and is the leader of the ceremonial, and a few music players. They visit every house in the village that accepts them in (usually everybody does), starting from the priest's house, wishing the family health, peace and prosperity, through the specific carols and wishes. The lads dance with the girls who are marriageable and with the newly wed women. The families pay for the visit, treating the group with food and drinks and giving them money which will be spent for the party to be held on the Epiphany, which is attended by everybody. Today we still find this beautiful custom in several villages from The Superior Mureș, among which are Idicel Sat, Idicel Pădure, Săcalu de Pădure, Deleni, Pietriș, Vătava, Bistra Mureșului etc.


"FĂRȘANG"

     It is an old custom that you can still meet in some of the villages with Hungarian population of our county (Chibed, Cîmpenița, Fîntînele, Sîncraiu de Mureș, Breaza). Before entering the Lent, usually in a Saturday, a large group of lads, dressed up in specific costumes, embodying different characters (bride and groom, hussars, some of them riding horses, guards of the procession, beggars and so on, accompanied by some instrument players go through the village, visiting each house, dancing to the girls they find and being treated with food and drinks. Towards the evenings they gather at the cultural establishment of the village, which is large enough to fit the whole community that participated and they feast and dance until the morning. It is a last occasion of partying and having fun together before entering the Lent.


THE TRADITIONAL WEDDING

     A traditional wedding in a village of our county, in any of the ethnographical sub-zones, is a real delight for the eye, a spectacle to which contribute almost all the members of the community. Starting with chemătorii (pairs of young girls and of boys who on the Friday before the wedding go round the village to invite people to the feast), following the party of the pair to be wed, called steag (meaning the flag, from the symbolic flag made out of the bride's kerchiefs and ribbons), the preparations on the morning of the wedding day at the houses of the young pair, the dressing up specific ceremonies, the festive procession from the groom's house to that of the bride's, accompanied by 8 to 10 lads dressed up in the folk festive costumes and riding stately adorned horses, all the other specific ceremony moments, until the beginning of the feast and the merrymaking that last throughout the night, the whole ceremonial has its specific moments and old well known patterns to be followed. There are villages in which even today this old wedding ceremonial is preserved and there still are young pairs who lovingly choose to make their wedding respecting these old customs.

CSÉPTÁNC - The dance with the flail


     Hungarian dance preserved in Măgherani, it has its roots in an old tradition that took place in the summer, after harvesting the crops. At the time they used sickles, gathered and stored the cereals within sheds for drying, and afterwards they used the flail to separate the grains from the straws. Harvesting the crops was a moment of joy and a special day for the peasant, since the wheat meant survival for his family. As this type of group working and help between families usually ended up with music and dance, with the time a certain dance became habitual. While dancing, the host made specific moves with the flail. This is how in Măgherani the dance with the flail came into being, and it was preserved here until today, being characteristic for the Hungarian dance ensemble of this village.


"ȘEZĂTOAREA"

     On the long winter evenings, women and young girls used to get together in a certain house, by criteria of neighborhood and kinship, spending the time with different handicrafts (like wool spinning, sawing, embroidery and other crafts related to obtaining the cloth needed for the clothes of the family members and other textiles of household use). These gatherings also had a strong socializing role and they were also a form of leisure, since here they sang songs, told riddles, talked about the happenings in the village and drawn the morals out of them; young lads used to come and meet the girls here, under the attentive looks of their mothers. Though today the number of household articles that women do with their own hands is much smaller, this custom is still preserved in some of our villages.