I ju st recently made a journey to a nation I had actually never ever been to prior to; Romania. Nevertheless, while taking a trip to main Romania and the heart of Transylvania, the primary language I was to experience was Hungarian. The city I was heading for is called Miercurea Cíuc, or a minimum of that is what one will see on a main map of Romania. The majority of the residents, nevertheless, will call it by its Hungarian name; Csíkszereda.

The City is the capital of Harghita County, among simply 3 counties in Romania where ethnic Hungarians, referred to as Székely, remain in the bulk. In Harghita county they comprise c. 80% of the population, although nationally the figure stands at c. 5%.

As our automobile moved north from Braşov, homes ended up being embellished with a pairing of flags. The very first was made from a green, white and red horizontal stripe and was quickly recognisable as that of Hungary. The 2nd flag of pale blue with a golden stripe and more decors, I did not acknowledge. This was the flag of the Székely individuals with the extra decors being an eight-pointed star and a white crescent.

The closer we got to Miercurea Cíuc/ Csíkszereda, the more the flags appeared to grow.

In my extremely first weekend, there was a folk celebration with the Csékely dressed up in their standard outfits and dances being carried out on phase. The males appeared they had actually simply dismounted from great horses, tones of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

The females used streaming skirts, a lot of black and red stripes, in addition to white blouses and aprons with elaborate information on the edges and cuffs. Not being a professional on this, I might see this being a standard woman’s outfit for various nations within Europe.

It’s clear that the Székely individuals see themselves as ethnic Hungarians, not Romanians, continue to utilize Hungarian as their mother tongue and are eager to keep their own unique identity alive. With the percentage of Székely reducing within the province, they might likewise feel that their very identity is under hazard.

Much of your homes in the area are fronted by outstanding wood gates, a few of which are elaborately sculpted. Eviction in the image listed below I discovered especially illustrative of individuals.

Above the wood door to the right of the primary gate, the colours utilized are those of the Hungarian flag. If one looks thoroughly, there are 2 Hungarian flags consisted of, in addition to the Hungarian crest. The engraving above the door equates to

” God assisted construct this gate with Lázar Kovacs and his partner Régina Bakó 1903″

Note: All images in this post taken utilizing a cellphone.