‘We want the
\nchildren of today to also play Michael the Brave and Vlad the Impaler, not only
\nSuperman and Batman’. This is the creed of the organizers of the Historical
\nFestival at the Gates of Bucharest that took place in the first weekend of
\nNovember. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The festival
\nwelcomed its visitors with practical workshops, medieval riding, archery and
\nsword fighting workshops, with traditional dishes and crafts such as
\nblacksmiths’ crafts, pottery and peasant sandal making. The venue for the
\nfestival was the Mogosoaia Palace, located almost 15 km away from Bucharest.
\nThe building of the palace was started by ruler Constantin Brancoveanu in 1698,
\nand it was finalized later, on September 20th, 1702.<\/p>\n
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\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
We took an
\nimaginary leap back in history, to discover the medieval way of life recreated
\nat the Palace. Wearing a fur coat and a nobleman’s hat, one of the presenters
\nof the event, Razvan Popescu, explained us the coordinates in space and time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Razvan Popescu: To locate the event in time, we are in the Middle Ages at the
\nMogosoaia Palace, but anyone can let their imagination run free. The festival features
\na never-seen-before event, an execution, an impalement, in which the impaled
\nman did not die. This all happens here in Mogosoaia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
Visitors could
\nwatch the Change of the Guard at the Palace several times. The guards of the
\nNeamtu Citadel left behind, temporarily, the Land of the Aurochs to participate
\nin the Historical Festival at the Gates of Bucharest. The young guards
\ncoordinated by father Filip were the special guests of the festival. They
\nrevealed aspects of the old life and customs through their clothing, weaponry,
\nfighting techniques and traditions. Children took archery lessons and also
\nlearned how to make medieval heraldry pieces.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Next Razvan
\nPopescu will tell us what happened on the last evening of the festival:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
Razvan Popescu: Famous artists from Belarus played medieval music. On the last evening
\nof the festival people could see many spectacular things, circus moments and
\nhistorical reenactments. Then followed the bagpipe players from Transylvania
\nand the Metropolitan Circus from Bucharest with the Marinof Troupe who put on a
\nspectacular show. And there was one more moment, the White Wolves, with
\nDracula, a historical reconstitution.<\/p>\n
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‘Dracula – the
\nCome Back’ was the title of a historical reconstitution show organized by the
\nWhite Wolves Cultural Association, whose objective is to secure, preserve and
\npromote history and the national values by reenacting the moments that defined
\nthe Romanians as a people, as a nation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
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\n
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<\/p>\n
Within the association, professional actors and
\nstuntmen got together to once again bring to the public’s attention history as
\nperformance. With details on that, here is one of the initiators of the
\nproject, Bogdan Jianu, actor and stuntman.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Bogdan Jianu: The White Wolves means history through
\nperformance. It kind of came out naturally. God took us by the hand and set us
\non this path: to reenact moments of history. And that compels us to provide
\nhistorical documentation for each scenario. Meanwhile history teachers joined
\nus, as well as experts with the Military Museum, these people are giving us a
\nhand and checking the accuracy of the scenarios we reenact. Of course we are
\ntrying to wear the right attire for these scenarios, which we dramatize and
\nseason with stories of various kinds, so that they can make up a whole, a
\nperformance in its own right. And we do that so that people can easily get a history
\nlesson. It is also engaging, it is also a little bit of adrenaline rush, as all
\nthe stunts happen a few meters away from them, they see explosions, they see
\npeople in flames, they see falling horses. It is so very spectacular!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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\n
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<\/p>\n
The White Wolves Cultural Association has been doing
\nreenactment shows since 2013, evoking personalities in Romanian history that
\nshould not be forgotten and stimulating children to get involved in interactive
\nlearning. And that, because we found out that wherever they stage their
\nperformances, The White Wolves have always found children and local volunteers eager
\nto take part in their performances. <\/p>\n
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\n
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<\/p>\n
Craftsmen were also present at the Mogosoaia Palace.
\nThe premises saw blacksmiths, coppersmiths or gypsy women presenting their
\nauthentic apparel, but also wood carvers or seamstresses of flax embroidered
\nblouses, or felt tunics.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
From the locality of Nucsoara in Arges county, Ion
\nRodos came to the palace with some wooden sculptures and told us about what
\nthey represent. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
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\n
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<\/p>\n
Ion Rodos.:
\nTraditionally-carved spoons, inspired
\nfrom history, from stories, from fauna, flora, very old traditional motifs
\nborrowed from museums. As you can see, here I also have the Infinity Column,
\nthe Household Blessing, which used to be placed on roof tops, I have the
\nNucsoara Blackcock as well, my own creation, which is the official symbol of
\nthe commune, pendants carved in plum-tree and nut-tree wood, the Dacian Wolf
\npendant, Edelweiss, which I make out of a fir tree branch; carve them with my
\nknife. I have spinning tops just like those I used to play with when I was a
\nkid. I’ve also made some flutes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
The Palace has also enticed us with traditional food
\nand drinks hand-made by the townspeople, who were so happy to take part in such
\na celebration. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mogosoaia, close to Bucharest, has recently hosted a special medieval festival<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":135471,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42520],"tags":[43148,43149,32556],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-135470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inside-romania","tag-middle-ages","tag-mogosoaia-palace","tag-vlad-the-impaler"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n