A snowy winter landscape is what characterises a Romanian Christmas, and with the winter chill comes unique holiday traditions that add to the magic of Christmas.
Romania is a mountainous country and that means one thing in winter – excellent skiing, and as a bonus it is much more affordable to ski in Romania than elsewhere in Europe. There are a number of popular ski resorts, and this time of year Romanians head for the hills to make the most of the festive-season snowfalls.
If you like to ski, the following resorts should be on your list:
- Poiana Brasov, near the city of Brasov, is the biggest resort in the country, with 10 ski lifts and 13.7km of slopes, surrounded by sublime views over the Transylvanian mountain tops.
- Sinaia in Prahova Valley, only 140 km from the capital city of Bucharest, is called the “Pearl of the Carpathians” and is seen as the fanciest of the Romanian ski resorts, with the biggest vertical black slope in the country.
- Predeal in Prahova Valley, which attracts both skiers and snowboarders, offers 7.4km of slopes and 0.6km of ski routes.
- Paltinis in Transylvania near the city of Sibiu, where both beginners and more advanced skiers can find the perfect option for their holiday.
Many of Romania’s cities offer Christmas markets, and whether you are in Bucharest, Timisoara, Craiova, Sibiu or elsewhere you’ll find one of these magical events. Here visitors are treated to elaborate festive light displays, carousels, ice skating and stalls offering all kinds of special hand-crafted Christmas gifts, delicious traditional foods and festive treats.
And the festive foods are not to be missed, with pork featuring in many of the traditional dishes, such as sarmale, which are cabbage leaves filled with spiced minced pork and rice, rolled up and baked in the oven; Ciolan cu Fasole, a dish of beans with smoked pork, Pomana Porcului or “pig’s alms”, a hearty Romanian pork stew, and sorici, which is the Romanian version of crackling. For dessert, Romanian sweet bread, or cozonac, is a traditional Christmas treat.
In the countryside of Romania it is customary to slaughter a pig on or after 20 December, the day of Saint Ignatius, which is why delectable meals from the meat is a staple on Christmas tables.
Indeed, in rural Romania there are a number of ancient festive rituals that even predate Christianity in some cases. In fact, in 2013 Unesco declared the Christmas rituals of Romania and Moldovia as an intangible cultural heritage.
The Bear Dance Festival, which takes place in the town of Comãnesti in the northeast of Romania is one of these rituals. Hundreds of dancers from surrounding villages come together and parade through the town wearing bear skin costumes and bright red tassels. The bear skins used in Comanesti are all the real deal, some of them as much as 300 years old, as bears are now a protected species in Romania.
Versions of this tradition play out across the country, such as In the south-eastern Romanian town of Luncavita, for instance, where young men wearing masks, sheepskins and clanging bells, parade through the streets of the village on Christmas Eve.
New Year’s Eve, or Revelion, is a popular celebration in Romania, characterised by parties and fireworks to welcome in the new year. The custom of making noise on New Year has to do with the old belief that these noises cast out bad spirits. When midnight strikes, it is said you should be wearing something red, and have a full wine glass and money in your pocket.
Sources: Romania-insider.com; travelnotesandbeyond.com; Youtube, chefspencil.com; the travelingtulip.com, budgetbucketlist.com
