Valea Zălanului Village Museum

🏺 The Ethnographic House from Arcuș village has come to life thanks to a passion for over 20 years, being a rich collection of ethnographic, folkloric and local history objects. Bálinth Zoltán started to collect various objects that testify to the life of the ancestors and the collection has grown to more than 8,000 exhibits, which is constantly being enriched with new pieces. The uniqueness of the exhibition is due to the collection of more than 500 charcoal irons of different types and brands. ✨ ❗️ The location can be visited by prior telephone appointment!

🏛 The Museum of the Baraolt Basin is the home of the famous four million year old mastodon skeleton, which is of great importance, as only a few skeletal remains have been found in the world. It is also home to a diorama exhibition on the history of Transylvania, with an astonishing six to seven thousand miniatures. The ten, eighteen and twenty-nine millimetre lead soldier figures give a detailed account of the battles of the 1848-49 revolution. ⚜️ 🕰 The first museum in Baraolt was founded by Gáspár Kászoni (Baraolt, 1896 – Baraolt, 1989) watchmaker and antiquities collector of Hungarian and Szekler heritage. After many years of exploration in the area in 1979 he donated a collection to the community of Baraolt. The small museum is closed in 1984.  The collection was transported to Sfântu Gheorghe in the stores of the Székely National Museum for conservation and preservation. From the initiative of Gaál Mózes Cultural Association and the cooperation between Local Government of Baraolt and Székely National Museum on 17th November 2006 these three institutions inaugurated The Museum of the Baraolt Basin (Erdővidék Múzeuma). 

🤎 After the regime change in 1989, the focus on the Csángó-Hungarians became more and more. As a result, not only their unique folk music, folk costumes and folk customs, but also elements of their material culture became the focus of interest. The Csángó costumes, everyday and ritual objects of use, lead us into an interesting and precious world. 🧥 The collection contains pieces from the traditional interiors of Lespezi, Oituz Bacau, Pustiana, and the workshop of the potter Gabor Raymund. The collection includes home textiles, carpets, wool tapestry, rugs, towels, icons and religious representations, pottery from Oituz and Frumoasa. Most objects are related to the essential moments of the sacred and profane life of Moldovan Csangos, from birth to death: for example they include objects related to customs, everyday and sacred life, traditional garb for the rites of passage, art of weaving, sacred objects (prayer books, songs, rosaries, etc.), musical instruments, symbols of baptism, wedding and funeral.

🤎📻 The "Haszmann Pál" Museum in Cernat is set in the Damokos mansion, built in a neoclassical style. Exhibits from the building heritage of Szeklerland are displayed on the two hectares around the mansion: houses and gates of the szeklers, a water mill, as well as Szekler funerary monuments carved from wood and stone. The exhibition of tools and agricultural machines in the open air provokes the curiosity of the visitors, being unique in Transylvania. 🚜 🔸 You can find more information about the museum HERE.

🏛🔒 The city of courtyards was once home to many guilds. The museum hosts valuable collections and exhibitions about the history of the city, guilds and crafts. You can see the tools and workshop equipment of potters, bootmakers, shoemakers, embroiderers, locksmiths, gingerbread makers, hatters and tailors, all of which are now rare. You can learn about the history of the town, its civic culture and see local artefacts from the 1848-49 War of Independence. 👧👦 Another special collection of the museum is the collection of Zsuzsi and Andris dolls, dressed in folk costumes from all the regions of Transylvania and Csángó Land.

🏛 The Székely National Museum is one of Central Europe’s oldest museums. Its first home was in Imeni, the manor of Zathureczky Emília, the wife of Cserey János. The first entry in its visitor’s log dates back to June 1875. The museum has been open to visitors since 1875, it has been present in international professional life since 1876, has had its current name since 1877 and moved from Imeni to Sfântu Gheorghe in 1879 thus becoming public property. 📖 The museum’s main building, which was completed in 1913, is a true architectural encyclopedia. It was designed by Kós Károly, who was influenced by the Arts and Crafts artistic movement. The cultural palace of Háromszék combines elements from medieval urban architecture and folk architecture. The founder’s collection, which started with nearly ten thousand items, has now grown to hundreds of thousands of artifacts.  The most exceptional treasure in our library is the Codex Apor, which dates back to around 1500 and contains, among other texts, the first Hungarian biblical psalms translation. Our natural science department’s collection of Ice Age fauna is internationally recognized, and it houses Romania’s most significant collection of macrofungi (large mushrooms) as well. The museum’s excavations at the Ariușd/ Erősd prehistoric archaeological site and the 7,000-year-old painted ceramics unearthed there in the 1920s also piqued the interest of Cambridge University. 📌 The most outstanding relics in our historical collection are the symbols of Székely freedom. Gábor Áron’s cannon is a unique piece, together with Bem József’s field printing press; they stand as enduring mementos of Háromszék’s glorious struggle for self-defense. In our ethnographic collection, unique noble embroideries, diverse ceramics, and furniture pieces captivate researchers and serve as an inspiration for artisans and craftsmen alike. Our open-air exhibition, the relocated 18th-century house from Csík, became the second Hungarian open-air museum when it opened its doors in 1937. The art collection contains the works of renowned classical and contemporary artists from Háromszék, Szeklerland, and Transylvania. 📜 The exhibition "Mrs. Cserey – 200 - We are reborn!" is the permanent exhibition organized in the memory of the founder of the Museum and guides you with wonderful objects and interesting questions and games in the world of objects from the XVIIIth - XIXth centuries and in the life full of tragedies and dreams of Mrs. Emília Zathureczky Cserey. Visit the exhibition to learn more about a lady who in the XIXth century - when ladies' social connections were very narrow, and it was very rare for a woman to found a museum - had the determination and perseverance to make a museum happen. However, how was it possible that a museum that, 25 years after the first exhibition, already participated at the world exhibition in Paris, and its manuscripts, documentary archives were studied by academics and researchers? Find out everything at The Székely National Museum!   Today, the institution is widely recognized as an intellectual hub and a center of knowledge. It serves as a popular venue for spectacular exhibitions, scientific conferences, classical music concerts, and outdoor performances. Additionally, it hosts city events and even cozy family gatherings. 🤎

🏛 The Museum of Transylvanian Life in the 17th century Kálnoky Castle takes you into the former world of Transylvanian aristocrats. The restored hunting lodge opened its doors in April 2017. In its rooms you can see original weapons, reconstructions of period clothes, popular books of the aristocrats and old musical instruments. True music lovers will also be able to see an original Streicher piano, the same model as the one played by the German composer Johannes Brahms. The period setting includes a huge park. 📆 Guided castle tour is starting in every hour, based on reservation. Opening hours: ❗️ Monday-Thursday: entry by prior arrangement (last guided tour at 16:00) 📍 Friday-Sunday: 11:00-16:00 (last guided tour at 16:00) 🎫 Tickets can be purchased: •  for individual visitors: Micloșoara, nr. 186. •  for groups: Micloșoara, nr. 85., StonePub.