Cultural and social background of

Erasmus+ project, Timisoara, 28.11.2015 Geographical context

Location: (Southeastern) Central Europe Time Zone: 7 h ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time (GMT + 2) • From 2007 : member of European Union • From 2004: member of NATO Area: 238,391 sq. km Population: 19,942,000 people (March 2014) *Over 2,3 milions have emigrated in the last 25 years.

Main Ethnic Groups: Romanian 84%, Hungarian 6.1%, Gipsy 3.1%, German 0.2%, Ukrainian 0.2% Religions: Christian Orthodox 81%, Roman Catholic 4.3%, Reformed 3%, Greek-Catholic 0.7%, Unitarian 0.3%, Jewish, other. Official Language: Romanian Currency: Leu (RON) ( plural Lei ), / 1 EURO = 4.44 RON. Capital: (București) Form of State: semi-presidential democracy based on a bicameral Parliament Short history

• The ancient inhabitants of Romanian territory were the Dacians, who have been defeated and conquered by Romans in 106.

Decebal and Traian • Event though in 271 they left, the Romanization process continued. • In terms of language, when the Slaves came in the 6th century, the grammatical structure was already well defined and it had a predominantly Latin lexicon.

Sarmizegetusa Regia was the most important Dacian military, religious and political centre. Historical regions

Over the centuries, various migrating people invaded Romania's historical provinces. Wallachia and offered furious resistance to the invading Ottoman Turks. Transylvania was successively under Habsburg, Ottoman, Hungarian or Wallachian rule, while remaining an (semi) autonomous province. 1st December – Romania’s National Day -> Great Union

The Great Union -> 1st December 1918 • During large public assemblies ( Alba Iulia) representatives of most towns, villages and local communities in Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bucovina declare union with Romania. The Small Union -> 24 January 1859 • 1859 – Alexander Ioan Cuza unites Moldavia and Wallachia under his personal rule.

Useful Vocabulary

Hello Bună / Salut Goodbye La revedere Thank you Mulţumesc Please Te rog , Vă rog You’re welcome Cu plăcere Bon apetit Poftă bună I love you Te iubesc You are beautiful Eşti frumoasă (f), frumos (m) Salutations Good morning. Bună dimineaţa. Hello/Good day. Bună ziua. Good evening. Bună seara. Good night. Noapte bună. Basic conversation My name is . . . Numele meu este … What is your name? Cum vă numiţi? How are you? Ce mai faceţi? Where is .... ? Unde este ...? Personalities of Romania Legend of DRACULA

Count Dracula – inspiration of Bram Stocker's Dracula Novel

Vlad Ţepeş (Vlad the Impaler) - was the ruler of Walachia at various times from 1456-1462. Born in 1431 in Sighisoara, he resided all his adult life in Walachia, except for periods of imprisonment at Pest and Visegrad (in Hungary). During his reign, it has temporarily won independence from the Ottoman Empire and the state developed.

Book by Bram Stoker, Dracula is not directly based on the rule of Vlad Țepeș, but a fiction that takes place in Transylvania and nineteenth century England. Real personalities  Constantin Brâncuși  Nicolae Grigorescu - Ion Creanga - Titu Maiorescu  Mihai Eminescu -Ion Luca Caragiale - Nicolae Iorga ◦ George Enescu - Grigorie Moisil ◦ Maia Mogenstein  Nadia Comăneci - George Emil Palade  Gheorghe Zamfir  Angela Gheorghiu - Traian Vuia  Tudor Gheorghe -Ana Aslan  Henri Coandă -Ciprian Porumbescu  Mirca Eliade -Vasile Alecsandri  Gheorghe Hagi  Ilie Nastase -Eugen Ionescu  Herta Müller  Dumitru Prunariu -Gabriela Szabo

Culture, arts, sport

George Enescu

Nadia Comăneci – first gymnast to score a 10

Mihai Eminescu, poet

Folklore and Traditions

Hora is a traditional Romania folk dance that gathers everyone into a big closed circle. The dancers hold each other's hands and the circle spins. Traditional Costumes Customs and traditions

Ceramics

Painted eggs (Easter time) Wooden Gates of Maramureş

Mărţişor – 1st of March Winter Customs Traditional food

Sarmale

Tochitură moldovenească

Mici

Ciorbe Cozonac Places to see

The Palace of Parliament, Bucharest, is the world's 2nd largest office building in surface (after the Pentagon) and the 3rd largest in volume (after Cape Canaveral in the U.S. and the Great Pyramid in Egypt)

Sibiu – European capital of Culture Sighisoara, medieval city, 2007 UNESCO patrimony Carpathian Mountains

Transfăgărăşan Road 2000m Balea – glaciar lake

Ice Hotel in Balea Lake Caves Cave Scărișoara shelters the larger underground glacier in Romania. The limestone is formed in the upper Jurasic age. The cave is a single room with a total development of 700 m. In the middle of this room is a huge block of ice with a volume of 80000 cubic meters that have lasted over 4,000 years.Stalactites, stalagmites, columns,parietal curtains - They abound within the cave to the depth of 105 m.

Bears Cave dwells an extraordinary range of stalagmite and stalactite formations varying in size and forms, as well as an impressive amount of Cave Bear fossils - Ursus spelaeus - a species which disappeared more than 15,000 years ago. Bucovina’s Monasteries Voroneţ is a monastery in Romania often known as the “Sixtine Chapel of the East” due to the magnificant frescoes on the west wall, a representation of the “Last Judgement”. In addition “Voroneţ blue” has been added to the lexicon of art alog side colours such as the “Titan Ted” of Rubens and “Veronese Green” The Danube Delta Delta entered into the UNESCO World Heritage in 1991, is classified as a national biosphere reserve in Romania and the national park. Contains more than 320 species of birds as well as 45 freshwater fish species in its numerous lakes and backwaters. This is where millions of birds from different corners of the Earth (Europe, Asia, Africa, Mediterranean) come to roost. It is also known for its various species of trees. Castles

Peles Castle in Sinaia, the summer residence of the kings of Romania, was built at the wish of King Charles I, first king of Romania (1866-1914). Peles Castle is located in Sinaia, Prahova Valley.

Hunedoara castle, called Corvin Castle Hunedoara is a medieval fortress, one of the most important monuments of Gothic architecture in Transylvania. It was built in the fifteenth century by John of Hunedoara. The castle is connected with numerous Hollywood film sets, which took place here. Rural Romania 45 % of Romanians live in rural areas: 2,868 communes and 13,285 villages. The romani community (gipsy = „ţigani”) The romani are the third ethnic group of Romania, with 3.3% of the total population. The Romani are Romania's most socially and economically disadvantaged minority.

Romani culture

Differences between traditional romani and not so traditionalist Fanfara „Ciocârlia”

Singer of „manele” - modern gipsy music, that is very popular

How are the romanians as people *Results of a sociological study made in 2012

• Good hosts • Pasive citizens, resigned • Friendly • Tendency to criticism and • Helpful gossip • Family oriented • Tendency to take things • Creative and personal spontaneous • Fatalism • Free and independent • Desire to be „bosses” • Desire for change • Non-assuming responsability • Religious • Loud and noisy • Sociable and easz going

Discover more about Romania! http://romaniatourism.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM9X-_-dQ98