Beautiful Romania

2021-06-08 17:30:38

Viewed from the West, Romania is an exotic country, somewhere on the end of Europe. The logic of Herodotus works, the father of history who said that others are all the different the farther they are from us. Lucian Boia in 2017 talkes about that the bucolic image of our country, and describes the beauty of nature, the picturesque settlements, the hospitality of the people, the originality of art and folk song.

Starting with the 14th century, the stories of foreign travelers reflect a varied, detailed and sometimes humorous image of the Romanian / Moldovan culture. Due to its unique geographical setting, Romania is an ideal country for tourism, one in which rural areas are of great interest, as a consequence of the fact that, for most of its history, Romania has been predominantly rural. Currently, despite the various difficulties they still face, rural tourism, including that practiced in Moldova, has the potential to change Romania's image abroad, say Dobos and Matei, since 10 years ago, analyzing this post-communist transition period. 

Writers as Nicolae Iorga, and painters such as Nicolae Grigorescu, composers such as George Enescu and Ciprian Porumbescu were at the origin of a new mentality that promoted travel in general and rural tourism in particular. However, until the second half of the twentieth century, rural tourism in our country developed only sporadically, and without knowing organized forms, being mainly the accommodation of occasional visitors to rural settlements.

Maria, Queen of Romania, talking about The country I love, was Romania's biggest promoter at the international level. She describes her country like this: If I talk more about mountains, plains and hills than about cities and streets, if I paint villages, churches and lonely places, it is because my soul as an artist is the one who taught me to love this country. I have always felt the strongest attraction to the humble, to the peasants; their beliefs and customs ... I loved the endless expanses in which they lived, the smell of that fertile land they worked; I understood the poetry of the dust that lay over their work, ... There is nothing not to love in all ... Romania.

Foto Credit: Maftei Maria Magdalena with Teacher Vasile Carabus, Dolhestii Mici, Suceava County, Romania, Guided tour of the Village Museum, 2019