His dedication and passion for his work was rewarded after a 40 years career with the membership of Traditional Art Academy from Romania and “Carmen Saeculare” Cultural and Art Center.

His work can be admired in over 40 churches from all over the country where he sculpted chairs and iconostasis. The artisan is also a history passionate and he carved the gates from his house with famous historic faces like Burebista, Decebal, Traian, Stefan cel Mare and Mihai Viteazul.

Vasile Gaman museum, Neamt County

Another important aspect is his passion for folkloric art that he collected over the years. All these objects are exhibited in a museum house that he opened in 1988 and that has over 3000 items like old tools, books, manuscripts, religious icons, traditional costumes, masks, medals and coins. The objects present in the collection of Vasile Gaman illustrate the past life from Neamt County.

Vasile Gaman used his talent to create religious wood objects like chairs, iconostasis, chapels or objects used in the daily tasks in a traditional house. All his objects are decorated using religious and laic symbols.

You can find his museum in Lunca village, Vanatori-Neamt commune, Neamt County.

In his home you’ll also see all sorts of old object gathered from Nemtisor village to express the traditions and the history of this place. Vasile Neamtu manages to keep alive the local traditions and to transmit to younger generations the values of the traditional Romanian village.

The artisan creates furniture pieces for gardens and traditional rustic items. The objects he creates are made of carved and traditionally polished wood. Here are some objects that Vasile Neamtu makes: gardening accessories, tables, chairs and traditional wells. He also works together with his wife when he creates traditional masks and costumes used in traditional dances and customs for New Year’s Eve.

Local artisan Vasile Neamtu, Neamt County

The originality of this artisan is the fact that he uses the wood as it is in nature. He seeks strange shapes of branches and he uses it to create interesting objects.

The traditions and customs from Neamt County are carried on by the local artisans from the area. They know the secrets of their crafts and manage to create true art pieces using traditional methods.

If you are passionate about this kind of creations you can visit Vasile Neamtu right at his home from Neamtisor village, Vanatori commune, Neamt County.
Phone: +40 741 419 207 or +40 755 286 031

The tradition says that the Easter day is celebrated with your family, around a table filled with all the goodies. The traditional recipes are well kept by women and the delicious food products can be tasted if you’re also a tourist in these parts during Easter.

The red painted eggs are prepared starting with the Tuesday from the “big week” (it’s the last week before the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ) especially in the days of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The red eggs symbolize the blood of Christ and the miracle of His resurrection: these are the defining food elements of the Easter holiday.

Pasca is a special cake that is made only on Easter. The cake can be with salted or sweet cheese or chocolate, with a big cross on top of it.

Another food that can’t miss from the Easter table if the lamb stake, that symbolizes the sacrifice of Christ. From lamb, people from Neamt County make stake, drob and bors.

In the Neamt area the celebration of Easter is made in church and after that around a table filled with all the goodies: red eggs, lamb stake and drob, cozonac, pasca, and red wine.

Dragobete first appears at our ancestors: Daci. In their beliefs, Dragobete was a matchmaker and a godfather for the animals. Romanians carried on this tradition and transformed this myth in a love story: those that meet in this day will be loved all year long.

Dragobete was the son of Dochia and was considered to be a mythological deity that protects the young lovers and that can be compared to the Greek and Roman gods of love: Eros and Cupidon. This celebration symbolizes the beginning of spring, the day when nature reborn, when the bear leaves his den, when birds start making nests and when the humans has to participate to the joy of nature.

In Neamt County, starting with centuries XVIII – XIX the events of this day were organized by following a certain ritual. The young people, dressed in their fine clothes, gathered in groups in the morning of February 24, in the center of the village or in front of village’s church. After that moment they were going into the woods in search of snowdrops and other plants.

The young girls were gathering violets that were preserved beside religious icons: they used those plants to “make love spells”. Another custom was to gather the snow from outside and to melt it. The water was saved over the year and used to wash their hair with it: the belief was that this way they’ll always be beautiful and young.

Another symbol of Dragobete was the fact that he was also considered a patron of good will. This day is the moment when the first vows of love are told. Who participates to this holiday will be protected by diseases all year long and will have a wealthy year.

In present days the celebration of Dragobete is considered the Romanian equivalent of Valentine’s Day. Dragobete is different though from St Valentine from the Catholic religion. He is a handsome man, naughty and full of life. In the old days, on February 24, in every village you could hear the saying “Dragobetele saruta fetele” which means “Drabobete kisses the girls”.

Here are some of the traditional mask dances from Neamt County:

“Capra” (The Goat) – according to tradition, the goat is a mask made out of carved wood, with a jaw that moves up and down to make a clamping noise. The wood is covered with rabbit or goat fur. The person wearing the goat costume has to dance in the rhythm of the dance. The mask also has horns made out of wood or from a real goat. The horns are decorated with colorful pieces of paper, ivy and basil. The body of the goat is made out of a colorful carpet. The dance signifies death and birth of The Goat.

“Ursul” (The Bear) – the legends tell about the bear as an animal that offers protection and that predicts weather. The symbol of this dance is the death and birth of nature. In Neamt County the bear mask is truly beautiful: it’s made out of sheep fur and in many cases the head of a real bear. The band that dances around the bear has a leader called “ursar” (the person that leads the bear).

“Calutii” (The Small Horses) – is the dance of eternal youth. Young men are dressed as small horses and dance to express the connection between humans and horses (the animal that helped humans in different tasks over years). The head of the mask is carved in wood and covered with a red piece of cloth. The band members also wear traditional costumes.

“Uratii” (The Ugly Ones) or “Frumosii” (The Beautiful Ones) – these are the characters surrounding the goat or the bear. Their masks represent the diversity of humans and different funny moments in life. You’ll see masks of elders, old women, uncles, gypsies and so on.

“Sorcova” (performed on January 1st) – this custom is performed on January 1st, on the day that we celebrate St Vasile. “Sorcova” is an object that used to be made of blossomed branches. Now days it’s made of colorful paper on a wood stick. This custom is performed by children that wish you health and a rich crop in the new year by throwing in your hose grains of wheat, corn and beans.

“Plugusorul”  (The Little Plow) (performed on December 31)
The tradition of “Plugusor” continues in Neamt County under different forms, depending of the ethnographic area. Although there are different names for this custom, like “Plugusor” (Little Plow), “Urat”, “Uratura de Sfantul Vasile” (St Vasile Wishing), “Buhai” (The Bull – because of the sound it makes), “Plug” (Plow), “Plugul Mare” (Big Plow) or “Plugul Flacailor” (Lads’ Plow), in all cases the message is the same: health for hosts and rich harvest for the following year.

The first bands of 5 – 10 members are made out of children. They start their songs at about 10 AM when they begin visiting the surrounding houses. Dressed in thick clothes, with hats decorated with colorful pieces of paper, holding in their hands bells and whips they visit every house in their path.

Along with bells and whips they also have an instrument called “buhai” (bull in translation because of the sound it makes). This instrument is made from a small wooden barrel with the bottom made out of sheep skin. Through the sheep skin passes some horse hair that when it’s pulled with wet hands it makes a specific sound that sounds like a bull. The band that performs the tradition of “Plugusor” is rewarded by the hosts of the house with apples, nuts or money.

“Plugul Mare” (The Big Plow) or “Plugul Flacailor” (The Lads’ Plow) (performed on December 31)
The band that carries this tradition is made out of grownups. The band starts to visit the surrounding houses in the evening of New Year’s Eve, after it gets dark. This is a special tradition in Neamt County where elders and young people participate together. The procession is accompanied by music and a plow with horses or bulls.

The band’s members are dressed in traditional clothes: every member of the band has his own colorful beams, ivy starts and basil, as a sign of his rank in the band. It is a custom for girls to try and still the basil for good luck in the next year.

The band stops in the court of each house and wishes them health, good luck and a rich harvest in the year to come. At the end they draw the first furrow, signifying the crop from the next year and the beginning of a new stage of life.