Traveling in the picturesque land of Hunedoara, in the deep valleys cut in the mountains, you will meet houses with green "eyes" and stone plinths, like statues. They are the houses of the foresters from Lelese, built of wood and stone, with brightly colored windows and durable stairs. The man who lives in them is a mountain man, used to climbing. The house is bright, because its door and windows, as well as the open window, face south.
The architects were the locals who built them according to ancestral rules and gave them the most nature-friendly form. They had generous yards where they gardened, kept animals and wood.
Inside you will be impressed by the handmade fabrics, icons, folk art objects. All of them made the small rooms, where three or four generations lived together, a gentle universe.
Far from the city, deep in the shadowy valleys between the mountains, the village and its people were able to preserve their archaic way of life. They had dozens of mills and weavers. Here weaving was practiced "in sticks", considered the beginning of this craft. Even today there is still a working whirlpool in the village of Runcu Mare.
The journey to them is not long in space, but it is far in time. Walk there and you'll feel like you are back home.
Architectural features
The forests exceptionally complement the architecture specific to the mountain area, where accents of white and green embellish the households surrounded by reed fences.
Houses that fall into three different categories were built in the Padureni villages throughout the territory of the Lesele commune. The old houses built in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century constitute the first category, all the houses being built of wood, especially oak wood. The second category includes the wooden house model with two living rooms, built on a stone plinth. The third category includes the types of houses of urban influence with three or more rooms, being also built on a stone plinth, with walls made of hand-made brick.
The story of the place
Renowned since ancient times for the mining of iron and talc deposits, the Forest Land is a place isolated from the hustle and bustle of the city, the Lelese commune preserving its archaic form in everything it represents. The connection of the inhabitants with the forest is eternal, a fact that is present in the form of the households, the traditional clothing, the customs and the essence of the spirit of the inhabitants.
The Lelese commune also includes the village of Runcu Mare, the longest village in the land, located deep in a shady valley, surrounded on both sides by very high mountains. Stretching on both sides of the territory, the forests are reserved especially for the production of charcoal for the furnaces. The inhabitants of the village used to earn their living by working at the furnaces in the territory, but also by selling cattle at the fairs.
Outstanding personalities
Among the famous personalities of the Forest County are Petru Poantă, literary critic and essayist, Drăgan Muntean, vocal soloist of Romanian musical folklore from Ardeal and Rusalin Ișfănoni, who dedicated his whole life to studying and capitalizing on the treasure of rural spirituality that has existed for centuries in the settlements of the Padureni Land.
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