Romanian history and culture

Adina Ionescu & Rodica Ana Catuneanu

The Romanian Foundation for Quality Promotion, Romania

The main Romanian regions

► Dobrogea

► Bucovina and Moldavia

► Wallachia

► Transylvania (the west central region with the highest concentration of the ethnic minorities: Hungarian, German and Serbs)

► Crisana and Banat

► Maramures

Dobrogea

• Etymology: land of Dobrotici (after the prince Dobrotitsa/Dobrotici, who in 1325 ruled over the region)

• Location: Southeastern Romania between the Danube River and the Black Sea

• Main cities: Constanta, Medgidia, Mangalia, Tulcea

• Dobrogea is the home of the Danube Delta - a 2,200-square-mile wildlife reservation designated by UNESCO as a “Reservation of the Biosphere.

Cultural objectives in Dobrogea• Parts of the ruins of the ancient town of Tomis (now Constanta) - its precinct

wall, aqueducts,  underground galleries, basilica, painted crypts

• Parts of the ruins of the ancient Greek town of Callatis - the defense wall, the Christian basilica, the early medieval settlement in Mangalia

• The ruins of Histria (founded in 657 BC), the oldest Greek settlement in Romania

• The beach resorts on the Black Sea coast: Mamaia, Neptun-Olimp, Eforie Nord, Costinesti, Mangalia

• The curative mud baths on the shores of Lake Techirghiol in Eforie Nord

• Bird watching in the Danube Delta, the realm of over 300 bird species, including the largest pelican colonies

• Danube Delta tours by boat with local fishermen

• The traditional fishing villages in the Danube Delta, such as Sfantu Gheorghe, Mila 23 , Crisan, Jurilovca and Letea

Bucovina and Moldavia

► Location: Northeastern Romania - between the Carpathian Mountains and the Prut River. Bucovina is situated in the northern part of the region of Moldova,

bordering with Ukraine.

► The main cities: Bacau, Botosani, Galati, Iasi, Piatra Neamt, Radauti, Suceava (the

capital of Moldavia from 1375 until 1565)

► Iasi – the cultural capital of Moldovia

► The most famous monuments from Iasi are:

• The Church of the Three Hierarchs, (built in 1639 )

• The neo-gothic Palace of Culture, (built between 1900-1926),currently housing the Ethnographic Museum, the Art Museum and the History Museum of

Moldova.

Wallachia

• Location: Southern part of Romania. The Olt River divides Wallachia into Muntenia in the east and Oltenia in the west.

• The main cities: Bucuresti, Craiova, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Ploiesti, Targoviste

• Attraction objectives:

• the Palace of Parliament, The Museum of the Romanian Peasant, the Village Museum and many other attractions from Bucharest

http://createchgrundtvig.wikispaces.com/Romania

• The Peles Castle in Sinaia

• The beautiful Orthodox monasteries built in a Byzantine style:  Arnota,  Bistrita, Cozia, Curtea de Arges, Govora and Horezu

Transylvania

►Etymology: Transylvania or Transilvania (from Latin – “the land beyond the forest”)

►Location: Central Romania - surrounded by the arc of the Carpathian mountain chain

►The main cities Alba Iulia, Bistrita, Brasov, Cluj Napoca. Medias, Miercurea Ciuc, Sebes, Sibiu, Sighisoara, Targu Mures.

► Cultural objectives from Transylvania

• Some of Europe’s best-preserved medieval towns: Brasov, Sibiu, Sighisoara

• Bran Castle (also known as Dracula’s Castle), built in 1377

• Rasnov Fortress – built in the 1300s by the Teutonic Knights to protect Transylvania against the Tartars and the Turks

• The Saxon fortified churches at Biertan, Calnic, Harman, Darjiu, Prejmer, Saschiz, Valea Viilor, and Viscri  - all designated by UNESCO as World Heritage sites

Banat and Crisana

• Etymology: Crisana is named after the three main rivers in the region: Crisul Alb, Crisul Negru and Crisul Repede. The name Banat

comes from the word Ban, the military leader of the region.

• The main cities: Arad, Oradea, Timisoara

Habsburg rule until 1918 introduced Art Nouveau architecture in Banat and established Timisoara as “the garden city.”

Cultural objectives from Timisoara:

- the Banat Museum (art, natural history and ethnography)

- the Village Museum

- the Botanical Garden

Maramures

• Location - Northwest Romania (bordering Ukraine in the north, Satu Mare county in the west)

• The main cities: Baia Mare and Sighetu Marmatiei

• Cultural objectives from Maramures:

- Elie Wiesel Memorial House in Sighetu Marmatiei

- Maramures Entographic Museum and Maramures

- The Village Museum in Sighetu Marmatiei

- Museum of Arrested Thought  in Sighetu Marmatiei

- Art Museum in Baia Mare

New teaching methods for people with learning disabilities

• Differentiate teaching in accordance to the disability’s level and type of each person

• Differentiate teaching when people with and without learning disabilities are trained together

• The use of the virtual learning environment including the multimedia based applications in the training process

• Participation to some projects developed in the framework of Life Long Learning Programme that have the objectives to promote learning the foreign languages in the framework of some cultural events or within an e-learning environment.

Reference

• http://www.romaniatourism.com

• http://www.croaziere-marea-neagra.ro

• http://www.rotravel.com

• http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/Monasteries_and_Churches

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

• http://www.romanianmonasteries.org/