Şant, Bistrita - Năsăud, 1896
Located on the Someșului Mare Valley, the ditch is one of the 44 villages that were part of the second border regiment, founded in 1762 by Empress Maria Tereza. In exchange for the military service they provided, the border guards were free, unpaid taxes and with the right of use of 10 ha of land in the village estate. Their obligations were to defend the border of Transylvania during peace, and during the war, to fight with the Habsburg army. They also had a sanitary role, in case of quarantine against contagious diseases.
In order to illustrate these villages in Năsăud's land during the 18th-19th centuries, in 1936 it was transferred to the Museum of the Village of Mălian Grapini. The house, dating from 1876, is built on a high stone base, with apparent fir beam walls, combined at the corners in the "swallow tail". The high roof, in four waters, has the right drain cover. At the facade, an outer staircase facilitates access to the pillar with pillars and railing on three sides. I draw attention to the two doors at the entrance, a sign of the possibility of dividing the house if needed.
The plane of the house includes a median tent, flanked by two large rooms, each with a chamber on the back side. In the tent without a ceiling, the smoke from the hearth rose freely, facilitating the preservation of the roof materials and the ham hanging in wood hooks. Here were the household activities illustrated by the numerous tools and utensils of kitchen or household industry. The living room ("small house"), sober and functional, has a complex heating system consisting of free Vatra with furnace, oven and stove. The furniture (bed, table, lava, vessel cabinet), arranged next to the walls, creates an optimal space for daily activity. In the guest room ("Parade House"), the center of interest is the stacked dowry to the ceiling "after how worthy the women were and the family."
