Horezu- Capital of Traditional Romanian Pottery (Part I)

Two days ago we decided to take a mini-trip to our country’s beautiful mountains (the Carpathians), and thought while we are there, we should visit the little town of Horezu, famous for its traditional pottery. After a more-than bumpy 40 minute drive (although we only had to travel 34kms – it turned out we took the wrong road and ended up with quite the roller-coaster), we finally arrived to our destination and found a fairly “deserted” little city/or big village (?). The little wooden shops were all closed, but we persistently followed the sign “Potters” until we got to a street named after them, where all of the houses exhibited traditional Romanian pottery items (bowls, plates, coffee-cups, etc.) The patterns of these items are unique and different in every house you go into, so is the coloring, but it turns out the instruments and the materials are the same. We had the chance to talk to a lady and she even showed us the workshop and how she makes these items, but more on that (with pictures!) very soon! For know, I leave you with a few good-to-know facts about Horezu, and some photos of these distinctive handicrafts.

if you want to travel to Horezu, always take the national roads, even if they are longer- believe me, you’ll make up in time with the quality of the roads!
Horezu Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (one of the 7 of Romania)
on the first Sunday of June, there is an annual Pottery Fair, when potters from all over the country come to show their talent – it’s a perfect time to visit
this is a tradition that has been held for more than 40 years, and it is called “The Rooster of Horezu”, the symbol of the town
they don’t really speak any language but their own, so you might want to go with somebody who can translate
the ceramic objects cost between 1 and 10 euros (depending on the size), so you’d better bring home a souvenir for grandma’!

And know the promised photos, remember to tune in the next few days, when I will talk about and shot how a workshop like this works and how the handicrafts are made!