Miniature exhibition in the National Tourist Information and Promotion Center of Vlăhița/Szentegyháza

The Szekler Border Guard Memorial Center presents the history of the Szekler military organization and border defense in the Eastern Carpathians, starting from the Árpád-era up until the Second World War. The Szekler Border Guard Memorial Center, created by the Frumoasa Association, is a niche and unique tourist destination in Szeklerland, and, through presenting all the damages and the suffering war causes, also contributes to the strengthening of the modern European pacifism. Besides the richness of reconstructed scenes with mannequins, an array of modern technical equipment also helps the visitors learn about a thousand years of history. Tickets: • Adult: 30 lei • Students: 15 lei (one must present a valid ID) Free admission for museum workers, journalists, teachers leading a group, tourist guides. The exhibition is not recommended for children under 10 years. Guidance is provided in three languages (hungarian, romanian and english) through an audioguide system. The length of museum visit: 90-120’ Photography, audio recording and video recording is strictly prohibited! Opening hours: Wednesday 10-16 Thursday 10-16 Friday 10-16 Saturday 10-16 *last entry: 15:30

Per spinas ad rosas”… “Through thorns to roses,” proclaims the motto of the Reformed College, which can be read on the school’s coat of arms created in 1716. The thought of a difficult, thorny path to acquiring knowledge seems to succinctly sum up the school’s past as well. The beginnings of Reformed life in Odorheiu Secuiesc date back to the second half of the 16th century. Three hundred and fifty years of secondary Reformed education began in our city in 1670. The “rose garden” in Odorhei was planted during a difficult historical period. At the end of the 17th century, the Reformed Church was in a position of power in Transylvania, but the princedom was already in its last, declining period. The change of power at the end of the century, the establishment of Habsburg rule and a moderate but systematic counter-reformation gradually forced the Protestant denominations into a defensive position. However, the state-level religious intolerance and headwind of the 18th century would not only have eroded the material and spiritual strength of the Reformed life in Odorhei, but, on the contrary, also resulted in an unbroken, upward development by developing self-defense mechanisms. However, there still were plenty of thorns in the 19th and 20th centuries as well: revolution, retaliation, imperial and regime changes, wars and minority existence. Alongside or in spite of these, the result was not missed either: increasing number of students, growing material capital, significant construction projects, scientific, intellectual successes and results indicate the roses among the thorns. Between 1927 and 1940, the Reformed Teacher Training School took the place of the College, which, although relaunched for a few years of war, became a victim of communist nationalization in 1948. The intellectual and material heritage of the College was saved by the Teacher Training School during the decades of dictatorship, until in 1994 the Reformed grammar school education was finally able to continue its historic mission.  In our exhibition we would like to present this journey full of thorns, highlighting the most important historical stages, personalities and accomplishments that prove that among the thorns of the past, roses bloomed and still bloom for an entire community.

An exhibition of garments of Szekler folk costume worth several centuries can be seen, complemented by handmade textiles and lace.

The restoration and rescue of the values and treasures of our cultural heritance are noble tasks. Good manual skills, patience, humility and respect are essential in the process of the restoration. The restorer has to be prepared from scientific, historical, cultural and artistic point of view. The documentation, testing of materials, sterilization, dry wet cleaning, neutralization and completion of the missing parts of the exhibited objects were all made by our restorers. Usually the whole process of restoration was written down and documented with photos and video in order for our visitors to get acquainted not only with the exhibited objects, but also with the process of their restoration. You can see in this exhibition manuscripts from the 13th – 17th centuries, old books (bibles, psalm–books, etc.) of the 15th–19th centuries, paper and parchment charters from the 18th – 20th centuries, statues, icons, crucifixes, chasubles from the 17th–20th centuries. The objects made of paper and leather are restored by Éva Benedek, the statues and paintings are restored by Zsuzsa Mara. The restoration of the textile objects is the result of their work.

The ethnographic exhibition presents the rural popular life - sometimes encountered even today - of Ciuc (Csík) at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. You can walk around the specific everyday living-spaces of Ciuc (Csík) with the guidance of the characteristic objects of the region. The tour begins with the distant world of the alpine pasture fields, followed by the workshops of woodworking crafts such as the carpenters, the joiners and the wheelers. Next, you find yourself in a carriage shed where you can get acquainted with the tools of agricultural life. Finally, you come to know the specific objects of female homecraft placed in a cosily furnished interior inhabited by three generations of women.

The opening of the exhibition took place in 2001 with the occasion of the 325 anniversary of the foundation of the printing house from Şumuleu Ciuc. The printing house was founded during the principality of Mihály Apafi (1661–690). At this time there were functioning eight other protestant printing houses (in Sárospatak, Cluj, Sibiu, Braşov, Alba Iulia, Sebeş, Keresd, Debrecen) but this was the first Catholic one in the principality. The biggest Catholic printing house of the country in that time was owned by the Jesuit University from Trnava (Nagyszombat), which was one of the most outstanding printing houses of the time thanks to the number of its prints and publications. Until 1726 the printing house from Şumuleu was the only Catholic workshop in Transylvania. Its foundation and operation were in close relationship with the consolidation of the Catholicism and the spread of the Counter – Reformation. It was founded by the Franciscan János Kájoni, who obtained the necessary permission for the foundation from Rome. According to the letter of the Holy Congregation from the 22nd of June 1676 the Franciscans from Şumuleu had the right to publish the Latin grammar of Aelius Donatus and Emmanuel Alvarus, the family letters of Cicero and the reckoning table. The first known publication that is important also from literary historical point of view is the Cantionale Catholicum hymn – book from 1676 edited by János Kájoni. This is a popular song collection that was used all over Transylvania and Moldova . During the revolution from 1848 – 1849 the workshop was occupied by the revolutionaries, who printed here several proclamations and one of the newspapers of the Hungarian War of Independence, the Hadi Lap (War Journal). The newspaper tried to serve the revolution by informing the locals about the international - and battle - events. After the suppression of the revolution the monks were punished for the publishing of the proclamations and the newspaper: the Austrian military forces seized the workshop and they made the monastery to pay 5000 Forint war indemnity. The book – binding workshop started to function at the beginning of the 17th century. The oldest cover is known form 1644 – 1650, made for Marcus Bandinus. The workshop was functioning from 1676 until the end of the 19th century together with the printing – house. The books that were published in the printing – house were all bound in the Franciscan book – binding workshop, but external orders were also carried out. The covers from Şumuleu are usually decorated with gold tooling. In the 17th century the book covers were decorated in old – Renaissance style. At the beginning of the 18th century they went on with the old style, but from the middle of the century they started to decorate the covers in rococo – style. The 17th – 18th centuries represent the golden age of the workshop, which was followed by a decline in style and quality: the covers were made of cheap half – leather bindings or of paper. Most probably the Franciscans operated the workshop until 1900. We know fifteen prints from the 17th century, eighty from the 18th century. In the first one hundred years the workshop functioned in one of the cells of the monastery. In the 1760s it moved into a new building. In 1778 a new building was built for the printing – house, which was attached to the Western part of the cloister. At the beginning of the 20th century the printing – house stopped working, and in 1924 the building was pulled down. In 1910 the printing – house itself was moved with all its installation to the Franciscan monastery from Cluj. The complete installation of the former printing – house could be seen in an exhibition in 1926 that was organised in the monastery from Cluj. Our exhibition presents 125 prints and book – bindings: prints from 1676 – 1700, textbooks from the 18th – 19th centuries, the works of Franciscans, prayer – books, hymn – books, the publications of different kinds of religious societies, legal books, etc. You can also see some parts of the installation of the former publishing – house: the tools of the book – binding workshop, the copperplates of the illustrations and icons, etc.

The renaissance castle of its builder Hídvégi Mikó Ferenc, has been ravaged and raided by Turkish-Tatar troops in 1661, the ruined edifice being transformed into a fortified barrack by the newly installed Habsburg power by the year 1716. Until 1970 it has been serving military purposes, and then became the home of the Szekler Museum of Ciuc. The story of four centuries is caught out here, since the tracks of successive events have constantly piled up, keeping slumbering witnesses of earlier times. Going back from the present through scientific researches, the historical past gradually unfolds before our eyes. Archaeologists unravel layers beneath the face of the earth, analyzing the artefacts discovered. During mural researches art historians do similar work on rising walls progressing through layers (mortars, lime-washes, walled off doors, windows, embrasures, and stairs). In our exhibition of castle-history we off er an insight to the first two centuries of the building with the help of objects and architectural elements discovered in situ, and we do this in an easily comprehensible way with short movies for our visitors. First room Most of the walls are original while the vault is a result of latter reconstructions. Near the court-side window 17th century mortar- layers have been discovered with inscription fragments on the earliest. The show-case with layers playfully illustrates the order in which archaeologists come across various objects and materials. Fountain room Today’s single room has once had more premises, witnessed by the remains of demolished walls, doors transformed into windows, and imprints of vaults. The 17th century latrine, the stairway leading to the story, and the fountain inside the castle with its watercourse added in the 18th century are not interesting only by themselves: through the discovered objects the everydays of the 17th–18th century castle are outlined. With the help of the period short movie the visitor may size up how the discovered materials have ended up on the bottom of the fountain. Kitchen room In the ‘big kitchen’ of the 18th century they were probably mostly cooking only for officers. During researches the stove and oven have been found, and also the place of the pillars holding the smoke-keeper. Based on these a reconstruction has been made that alongside the next store-room invites the visitor to a gastronomic time travel. The short movie shot at his location animates the bustling life of the long-ago kitchen. Tower The last room of the exhibition offers an opportunity to extensively familiarize with the military history of the castle. Through original 15–19th century weapons we present their evolution in the era and region, while exact copies proffer the experience of touch. To help the cognition of the building’s development and transformation serve the scale-model, contemporary architectural surveys, and 3D animation.

Să se accentueze faptul că execuția acestei tip de brodare o facem cu un devotament maxim, fiind cea mai complexă formă de broderie, considerată și Hungarikum. Lucrările brodate sunt fidele privind mărimea, compoziția și armonia modelelor, alegerea culorilor a firelor de brodat precum și finețea lor. Noi nu brodăm modele inventate de noi ci numai acele care s-a realizat în era renascentistă sau barocă.  Expoziția cu patul cu baldachin renascentist a fost vizitat de circa 300-350 excursioniști ardeleni, vreo 500-550 turiști din Depresiunea Carpatică și peste 1000 de elevi din Depresiunea Giurgeului.