Ciocanesti village of Suceava county, placed at a few
kilometers from Iacobeni and not so far from Vatra Dornei,
entered into my life 15 years ago. I remember my first
vacation in Ciocanesti. I traveled from Iasi to
Vatra Dornei by train, and then I took a bus to Ciocanesti.
In the last part of my trip – from Iacobeni to this
village – it rained "cats and dogs" as Englishmen
say. We arrived in the center, descended from bus and
asked at the pub about a host. We found nearby the bridge
a house and people living there welcome us with
open hearts.
In the next days we were curious to visit the village.
It is placed on the both sides of Golden Bistrita (Bistrita
Aurie) river, on the main road that leads to Cirlibaba.
The houses are big, well built, some of them having the
second floor, almost all of them are decorated with
specific folk patterns colored in black-white or
green-black, beautifully placed on the front side upon
windows, and wooden gates carved in a specific way. At the
windows there are many flowers, especially begonias
having different colors. All these aspects give a special
air to Ciocanesti. The road winds near the river, revealing
to the traveler other great houses, small watersides and
hills, gardens, a terrific landscape which moves your soul.
On the other side of the river there are other houses,
as beautiful as the first ones, and the church placed on a
little height. Villagers built a church to represent them.
It is made from stone, not very big, but large enough.
Here I said prayers many times. If you go left or right
from the road, you can enter into deep woods with
amazing clearings where you may see wandering small
brooks. A tight road brings you up to the sheepfold. After
an hour your climbing is over and you get out of the
forest. Before your eyes is a large plateau with many paths
taking you to the sheepfold or to the old hermitage.
Our host’s name is Ileana and her house is placed on the
other side of Bistrita river, near a hill on which you
can admire a splendid hayfield. In the front yard, she
takes care of a vegetable garden and a few fruit bearing
trees. In the right side of the house, there is a special
place for hay. It is a big household, and a single woman
does all the job here. This woman with an open heart,
remained a dear friend during the time, and it was a
pleasure for me to meet Ileana each summer vacation.
Once I was at the hay mowing. How wonderful it was! While
men were mowing, women were collecting together the hay
and were making small knolls (called
"little pigs") letting the hay dry in the sun.
After drying a period of time, young people bring it all
together and build huge cocks, having the top covered
with large plastic pieces so the rain will not affect the
hay. I was very impressed because everything seemed to me
like in the poems written by our great poets
(Cosbuc, Iosif) but it was the reality : people were
working together with joy and the aroma of fresh
hay was overwhelming.
Ciocanesti village remained a place for refreshing my
soul till today. This summer (2006) I arrived again
in this heavenly place after an absence of 4 years. The
village is as beautiful as always but with a new face
because a few modern boarding houses were built, the
bridge was reconstructed and there is still an
interest for raising other buildings for hosting
the tourists.
The traditions are preserved here, each year being
organized a wonderful cultural event called
"Trout Festival. This festival
takes place around the religious celebration
"Assumption of Our Lady" (15th
of August). The Mayor and the villagers are helped by
specialists in folklore for planning the activities during
the 4-5 days period of time, a program which combines the
essence of present and historic life of Ciocanesti. It is
evoked the time of Steven the Great, that is why his
bowmen are present, dressed in the ancient traditional
costumes, carrying burning torches in their hands. When the
night comes, these men go down from the hills around, all
of them meet on the central stadium - the main place
of the festival.
Other activities related to old customs and traditions
invite people to visit houses-museums or the sheepfold
nearby, and to participate at sportive competitions, like
fishing trouts (from which the festival took its name).
The main attraction is the villagers’ pilgrimage to the
church, wearing beautiful folk costumes, accompanied by
horsemen and carts. Here the priest, the officials of
Ciocanesti, guests, tourists, all together participate
to the religious ceremony called
"Assumption of Our Lady".Then people go down
to the center, where the priest gives the holy blessing
to the crowd, to the village and to the festival, after
which follows an artistic program with folk music and
dances. There are invited local groups but also special
guests, as famous folk Romanian singer
Sofia Vicoveanca. Also there are exhibitions, where
tourists can buy traditional objects, organized by
local companies or by outside companies, even from
Republic of Moldova. In the last night, great fireworks
warm all the people’s hearts.
All this period of time is a celebration that makes
your soul vibrate, brings you ecstasy in front of
beauty, remembers our history and expresses admiration
for present people, who take the good part of the past
and go forward, preparing to join European Union. I don’t
think that exists a person who participates to such an
event and doesn’t remain sentimentally linked by this
place and its people for the rest of his life.
Ciocanesti village is an oasis of beauty and
peace with wonderful people, a place that can
compete with any other place in the world. When you
need to refresh and balance your soul, here you can
achieve them completely.
Copyright Maria Preda - 2006
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