The Area of Întorsura Buzăului, the Customs Area

Until the international treaties that ended the First World War, the customs territory along the route to southern Romania was known as Buzăul Ardelean. Together with Țara Bârsei, it used to belong to Szeklerland, and it was mostly the property of the families of Count Mikes and Count Béldi, who owned nearly 35,000 acres. Today, it is the border of the Hungarian-speaking region, and as it is not uncommon to reach minus 30 degrees Celsius in winter, it is also known as Little Siberia. 

After 1918, the municipality of Buzăul Ardelean was divided into the municipalities of Întorsura Buzăului, Vama Buzăului, and Sita Buzăului and, from 1968, Întorsura Buzăului, 40 km southeast of Sfântu Gheorghe, was given the status of a town by the annexation of Brădet, Floroaia Mare, Floroaia Mică and Scrădoasa. Its oldest architectural landmark is the Orthodox Church of St George (Biserica Sfântul Gheorghe), built in 1840, which replaced a wooden church built in 1753, and the church of Floroaia Mare has several icons painted on wood from the 19th century.

To the southeast along the Buzău Stream is the archaeological site of the much-talked-about Sita Buzăului, where the settlement of the Palaeolithic man was found. The village of Barcani, in the northeastern part of the basin, was the site of the Crasna glass factory in the late 1800s, which, according to folklore, derives its name from the Romanian word “borcan” (jar of pickles), the only type of glassware produced by the factory. 

Samu Csinta