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The surface of the Transylvanian Plateau is about 27.000 km2, including in the north-east and east the Oriental Carpathians, and also the Middle Carpathians, the Banatul Mountains and the Curved Carpathians, characterized by the hills of 300-700 m altitude. In the Transylvanian Plateau can be found the most interesting ethnographic locations:

The surroundings of Bistriţa from the ethnographic point of view are splendid and multicoloured; here you can give free reign to your fantasies through the beauty of the popular art and the richness of the traditions. The beauty of the traditional clothes from the region of Bistriţa and their originality offers a magnificent image. On festivity days or on other occasions the inhabitants of the area dress in traditional wear. The region is also rich in ethnographic values represented by the bucolic weavers, the weavings of which generally decorate the inner walls of the houses and are of original designs associated with popular art of the region. In the area there are many more traditions are preserved, pure even today. Among the most important are:
- 24th of April – for Saint George's day they organize a Spring Festival,
- The second day of Pentecost they organize an ox roasting contest ,
- The feast on occasion of the spring equinox (St. Ivan's evening) when the young village men jump over the embers of a fire,
- The feast of the ears of wheat,
- Carols in January, when the inhabitants of the area, wearing different masks, go from home to home with a carol called „pluguşorul".

Călata: the inhabitants of this area live from working the land and animal breeding. It is hard to wring a living from the unfertile land, so people of this area invested their talents and efforts in high quality artisan objects.
The wealth of the popular art of Călata is well known at the world level, especially the embroideries, needlework, whittled wood, and the traditional wear. Especially characteristic are the church constructions with the wooden painted ceilings.
The unique landscape of the villagers of this area has retained its specialness through centuries, with customs and traditions that are still amazing to the world today. The most important of the traditional customs are singing for the Christmas Holidays and the Bethlehem performance, the Easter celebrations, wedding customs and the grape harvest festival. For religious celebrations these people wear traditional clothes, and the women prepare traditional foods.

Rimetea and the Chair of Arieş, according to the historical documents, were populated by the Szekler population from Tg. Secuiesc. The Chair of Arieş is one of the most interesting region of Transylvania. The region's copper mines were known since the times of the Romans.
People living here have strong economical connections with the people from the Arieş area and with the Romanians from the lowland. This system of connections affected also the culture and the livelihood of the inhabitants. The area is inhabited today by a mixed population of Romanians and Hungarians.
Rimetea is considered the most beautiful habitat in Transylvania, located east of the Sighet Mountains, near the Szekler's Stone, in the Wolf's Valley, south of Cluj Napoca. The old-timers of the village were Germans, blacksmiths; during the Árpád's kingdom they were brought in as colonists by the Thoroczkai family. Thanks to them the modern enterprise of iron developed in the town, ensuring the inhabitants a good, long-term economical situation. Due to the fabrication of iron, the place became a mining-town. Another characteristic that developed especially after the devastating fire of 1978, was the building of „white houses".
Because of the Szekler's Stone that rises over the town, at Rimetea the sun rises two times, as the great Hungarian writer Jókai says in his novel „God is Only One". The name of this Szekler's Stone has its genesis during the tartar invasion. To protect the community, the gentry of the town asked for help from the Szekler population, and as a reward they gave them the stronghold on the top of the mountain and its surroundings. The ornamental art of the town, the painted furniture, the house tools, the priceless traditional wear, the embroidery and the handicrafts can be seen – all in the museum, and also in the homes of the hospitable families.
The tourists visiting this town are amazed by the originality of the area, such as the Lăsata Secului in February, a custom that is unique to Rimetea, which is the use of rhyming verse that describes the habits and traditions of the Rimetea people. These events are organized every Sunday after the Tuesday before the Advent.
An important event is confirmation: A celebration in the Reformed Church when the confirmed young people get full rights among the believers of this faith. Everyone involved wears traditional clothes.
On the first day of May, the young men of the town attach to the gates of the homes of the town's young girls cut tree saplings; the sapling is painted with different designs, and the treetop is decorated with ribbons. The tree is considered to be the sign of the awakening person (the passage into adulthood). Among the other traditions being kept alive even today is Christmas caroling.

The best known community on The Plain of Cluj is the town of Sic, well-known for salt mining. After the mine closure, Sic locked itself in its own traditions and customs, becoming a rural-bucolic culture.

The Hungarians from the Plain of Cluj have kept through the end of the 20th century the traditional daily and holiday wear, which conserved the values of the bourgeois clothing of Transylvania. The architecture of the area represents a link between the Szekler area and the plain area. The houses were made of soil and covered with reed. The area's archaic music and the dancing habits are famous. The music and the popular dance from the Plain of Cluj were made known worldwide by great Hungarian musicians: Béla Bartok, and Zoltán Kodaly. The local customs and traditions represent the inestimable value for the inhabitants. The most important celebrations are considered to be Christmas and Easter. For Christmas the people, pursuant to tradition, gather for the butchering of the family hog for Christmas and winter meat, bake cakes, and go caroling. The carolers are rewarded with apples and pretzels. For Easter, they paint eggs red, eat a meal of lamb, and they prepare other traditional culinary tastes, such as dumplings. For Whitsun they bless the fields and waters.

 
 
 




 
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