The Fundu Moldovei household, Suceava, early 20th century
Found in Bukovina mountain area, the Fundu Moldovei village spreads along the valley of Moldova River and its tributaries. The traditional occupations of its inhabitants (free peasants) were sheep and cattle breeding, wood working and, to a lesser extent, the cultivation of cereals and textile plants.
The villager Paraschiţa Dumitru Ţăranu’s household, built at the end of the 19th century, was transferred in the museum in 1936. The assembly includes the house, a barn with stable and hayloft, a “shack” (summer kitchen) and a fountain with shadoof. It is enclosed with a fence made of horizontal planks on a stone base, with shingle roof (“zăplaz”), and access through a high gate specific to the area.
The house, made of garlands of fir beams rectangularly carved and joined in “dovetails”, has a long-shingled hip roof. The building elements specific to the area, the central porch and the large veranda with carved pillars and a closed plank parapet, are complemented by the frames of whitewashed plaster around the entrance door and windows.
The dwelling plan includes the median foyer, the living room (“small house”) and the guest room (“large house”). The later has simple furniture: benches along the walls, a table, chairs with hot-worked high backs and a bed. The walls are dressed with fabrics made of plant-dyed wool. The decor is complemented by glazed ceramics, cotton towels, dowry chests, holiday apparel displayed on the clothes rod and by items that reflect the inhabitants’ customs and occupations. The eye is caught by a dowry chest painted with floral motifs, dated 1877. The “small house” includes a complex stove with pedestal (hearth with chimney, bread oven, stove and sleeping place), various furniture items (bed, box table, cradle, dish shelf), and the loom decorated with rosettes.
The barn shelteres a wagon, a plough, and two sledges, one for twigs and the other for promenade.
