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Dobrudja and Bărăgan folk costumes

Dobrudja is the territory where valuable multiethnical dialogues and subtle cultural synteses have taken place. The Gaeto-Thracians, its ancient inhabitants, had intense trade relations with the Greek fortresses on the Black Sea shore, and thus the territory of Dobrudja was included in the Roman province of Lower Moesia and remained in the centre of the Eastern Roman territory both after the Slavs settled down in the Balkan Peninsula and after ist domination by the Ottoman Power. Mentio is made in the Fobrudjan documnts of the 17th and 18th centuries of so called Cojanis (who had come from Ialomița, Buzău, Brăila), Moldavians (from southern Moldavia) and the sheperds (from Brașov, Sibiu and Făgăraș).

Tulcea

The decoration and colour scheme of the basic pieces of Dbrudjan costume reflect these historical stages, conferring them a unique artistic expression. Its specific character is obvious in the women’s costume which has two ”catrințe” like in the Danubian areas of the Wallachian Plain (Bărăgan, Ialomița, Călărași). While the ”cămașa dreaptă”with platcă tailored of plain or stripped cotton can also be found in the neighbouring areas of the Wallachian Plain, the ”catrințe” locally called ”pestelci ” stand out through the different way oof composing and displaying the decoration. Unlike in any ethnographic area, the predominantly geometrical motifs are displayed in vertical patterns on the sides of the garment, forming ”ghenare/vărgi”. They are like the frame around a central field decorated differently from one ethnographic area to another.

Constanța

Placed at the interference between the folk wear typical of the Wallachian Plain and the Danubian ornamental particularities, the fplk costume of Bărăgan villages has several features of its own. The women’s costume preserve the blouse gathered up at the neck, with ”altiță” and ”râuri” at the sleeves, and the ”ota ”or ”pestelca” cu ”chenar” (”catrințe”) decorated with a composition typical of the lower Danube area.The men’s costume distinguishes itself by the long shirt which reaches the ankles, with rich embroideres on the chest front, the sleeves and the loose lower part of the garment, worn with large red belt. The ”izmene” (long linen trousers) have the same embroidery on the cuffs,

Bărăgan

Bărăgan

Source: Patrimony Romanian Costume from the collections of ”Dimitre Gusti” National VillageMuseum

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