A view into a greener future at Călugăreni/Mikháza

Thanks to an initiative by the Barn Theatre Association, a total of 100 fruit trees were planted at Călugăreni/Mikháza on the 6th of March. Our museum participated in this project and planted 40 fruit trees at the Bellevue.

The varieties of apple and pear trees are all native to the region and were planted with the help of our colleagues and members of the local community.

We hope that in the future our visitors will have the opportunity to taste these delicious fruits while enjoying the nice view.

Keeping it neat!

The Archaeological Park in Călugăreni is being prepared to welcome visitors this year as well. With the arrival of spring the experimental garden started to grow again. Since the museum gained a new property, the flowerbeds were moved into the new garden. The existing plant specimens were preserved and soon we will plant new ones as well.

The general maintenance of the Archaeological Park requires several days every week. The TIMEBOX pavilions were cleaned and disinfected, the information boards, the courtyard of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre and the area of the Belvedere was cleaned as well.

Protective shelter proposal for principia receives award 

Out of the 53 entries to the “Youth in black and white” competition, organized by the Association of Hungarian Architects, 25 were selected for a special exhibition, and 5 of them got awarded by a jury of internationally renowned architects. The recipients of one such award were none other than Cseh András, Galántai Gergely, Karlovecz Ádám and Lévay Áron Farkas with their proposal for a protective shelter. The structure’s purpose is to present and protect the ruins of the headquarters building (principia) of the Roman fort. The team was inspired by the Transylvanian landscape and the already built architectural elements of the Călugăreni Archaeological Park. Congratulations to their team!

Read more about their proposal here.

There’s something about Pompeii

            It is no wonder that people in most historical times feared the force of nature, and prayed to the gods so that nothing bad would happen. One extreme example that supports the idea of this worry was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The angry volcano devastated several cities and farms, burying the whole area with stone and ash. As a result, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and the whole area became a sealed history, offering the opportunity to be rediscovered.

            The Pompeii – Life and death in the shadow of Vesuvius exhibition is set in Kraków until the 8^th of March, so our team decided to visit it. Frescoes of the highest quality, objects related to everyday life, agriculture, households, luxury, busts and statues of marble and bronze, which once stood in the forum of the flourishing city of Pompeii, testify the grandness which was erased in 20 hours. Of course, the exhibits are gorgeous, but seeing the data about the eruption and the results, one can only have mixed feelings regarding this story.  These puzzles of history, put very well into context in the exhibition must be seen in order to be understood.

Retrospect 2019/ Welcome 2020

People say, that it is better to leave the past behind and always look forward to what is coming. But this would object the whole purpose of our profession. So as people who constantly look back, we decided to refresh the memories of the past year.

Last year can be characterized as being colorful and active. As a good start, potato fields became part of the archaeological park and a house and courtyard was purchased. Experimental archaeology was also part of our activities. During spring time an experimental garden was founded with herbs, flowers and vegetables, which once were part of the flora of the Roman environment. Related to this, as theme of the Night of the Museums, we made pickles and vinegar-fruits after ancient receipts. This was a total success and we can approve that the pickles are still good. Many people tasted, also a month ago and the feedback is truly positive. The Roman Festival, despite the rainy mood of Jupiter, attracted many people, who enjoyed the wonders of the Orient.

As for the excavations, the principia and the whole site is starting to bloom from the point of view of information and a whole new, or better said old world is showing itself.  This year we follow the same way and we have new plans as well. So welcome 2020, we will be back with fresh news soon.

III^rd Archaeology-Art history workshop

Between the 6^th and 8^th of December, our team joined the III^rd Archaeology-Art history workshop in Sovata/Szováta. The event was organized by the Babeș-Bolyai University and the Pósta Béla Association, to whom we are grateful for this experience. The presentations were very varied and interesting,  and awoke the spirits of prehistory, Romans, Huns, middle ages, and delighted us with art. Our team presented the results of the experiment of Gastronomika Romana and  the concept of the archaeological park from Călugăreni/Mikháza.

On Saturday we went on excursion to Mitrești/ Nyárádszentmárton, Sânvăsii/ Nyárádszentlászló, Ocna de Sus/ Felsősófalva, and we had the pleasure to invite the whole team to visit Călugăreni, so we quickly took our chance to set up a third tasting tour of the pickles and the archaeological site as well, of course.  This time we served the pickles washed with a sprinkle of oil, and the feedbacks were truly optimistic. Besides these, a lovely moretum, freshly baked bread and hot mint tea gave cozy feeling of the cold winter day. Since so many people were asking for the recipe of the moretum, we decided to share two variants.

Moretum 1

The first variant is from Appendix Vergiliana, Moretum.

Ingredients: salty cheese, olive oil, vinegar, salt, garlic, celery leaves and stalk, herb grace and coriander leaves.

Preparation: For the procedure you need a mortarium, which can be replaced with a larger mortar. The garlic has to be cleaned and cut into smaller pieces, the herbs should be washed and placed into the mortar with the garlic and the salty cheese. The ingredients have to be crashed and mixed with some olive oil and salt, until it gets a creamy consistency.

Moretum 2

The second recipe is inspired from Columella’s De re rustica 12, 59, 1-3.

Ingredients: salty cheese, olive oil, vinegar, salt, celery leaves and stalk, coriander leaves, summer savory, leek, salad, savory, thyme, mint, walnut or sesame seeds.

Preparation: The leek and the salad should be cleaned and cut into pieces, the herbs should be washed and all placed into the dish, with the salty cheese. After mixing the ingredients we add roasted walnuts or sesame seeds, season the moretum with salt and make it lighter with some olive oil and vinegar.

Bon appétite!