Romanian Winter Traditions / Traditii Romanesti

During winter solstice, when the sun is weak and frost and dryness take over, Romanian peasants conceived ceremonies to help the Sun and Nature to overcome this "temporary crisis." 

Romania is a country with a long and complicated history. 

It also has a variety of customs, traditions and holidays.
Within South Eastern Europe however, Romania preserved a significant number of traditional customs and celebrations manifest within the strong community of the village.

Peasants possessed a deep knowledge of the way to tend the earth. They had the ability to enjoy life and to dream into the future. They were regular observers of the feasts for the earth, their cattle, the flowers and crops, and the overall beauty of living.
The Romanian customs can be divided into family customs, calendar-based customs and religious customs. They represent a "triptych" marked by the three major life changes: birth, marriage and death.

 December 10, 2011 - Village Museum - Bucharest

Village Museum-Bucharest

HANDMADE - Romanian Traditions

Marking the start of the festive season, 

Bucharest's Museum of The Romanian Peasant  hosts its St Nicholas Fair.

On the night of December 5th, boots are cleaned and carefully polished to be put by the door or on the windowsill to wait for St. Nicholas' (Sfantul Nicolae) visit. He is generous , putting a little present in each boot—usually nuts, tangerines, sweets and small items, like new socks. In some areas a walnut branch or thin twigs with gold, silver, or bronze gilded walnuts are left as a warning that behavior needs to improve. 

On the sixth of December, gifts are given to friends, children, and those in need. 

It is one of the most important Romanian holidays.

More than 800,000 Romanians celebrate their name day on St. Nicholas day, December 6th. 815,453 persons are named Nicholas or devivations of the name, 530,089 men and 285,364 women, reports the Ministry of Administration.

Over 1000 churches are dedicated to St. Nicholas in Romania, at least 23 are in Bucharest.'

St. Nicholas Center

Romania National Day

"...The Great Union of 1918 was and remains the most sublime event in Romanian history. Its greatness resides in the fact that the fulfilment of the national unity is not the work of any politician, government or party; it is the historic deed of the whole Romanian nation, accomplished out of a powerful longing coming from the vivid awareness of the unity of the people and channelled by the political leaders for it to be led towards its aim with a remarkable political intelligence. [...]

The Great Union was not the result of Romania participating in the war. Neither the supporters of the Entente, nor those of the Central Powers did take into account the Russian revolution or the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Their reasoning followed the traditional formula of the power relations between states: the victory of the Entente would bring to us Bucovina, Transylvania and the Banat, while the victory of the Central Powers would bring Bessarabia; one victory excluded the other so that no one could see how all these provinces could join the borders of the Old Kingdom simultaneously. [...]

It was not a military victory that laid the foundation of Great Romania, but the will of the Romanian nation to create for itself the territorial and institutional framework that is the national state. [...]

A historic necessity - the nation has to live within a national state - proved to be more powerful than any government or party, guilty of selfishness or incompetence and, putting the nation into motion, gave it that huge drive to overcome all the adversities and make its dream come true: the national state. [...]"


Florin Constantiniu - "A Sincere History of the Romanian People", "Univers Enciclopedic" Publishing House, 1997, p. 301-302.