Winter holidays in Suceava

Today well take you to Suceava, a city in Bukovina, North-Eastern Romania.

Daniel Onea, 22.01.2015, 13:35

This year, Suceava will celebrate 627 years since it was first documented. The city can be a perfect destination for this time of the year. High on the city’s cultural agenda: concerts, exhibitions, thematic parties, and folklore evenings.

You can get to know the rich history of the area visiting the city’s monuments and museums. Claudiu Bradatan, manager of the Tourist Information Centre says you can go on one-day trips to see the sights around the city:

Claudiu Bradatan: “At this time of the year, after the winter celebrations, there is plenty of accommodation, but more importantly, Suceava boasts a few sights of national importance such as the Princely Fortress, St. John Church of St. John Monastery and the Ethnographic Museum. The Bukovina Village Museum is the third largest in the country. Young people will surely be fascinated by the Natural Sciences Museum. There are enough attractions for a few days’ sojourn of a family with children. The Dragomirna Monastery, close to Suceava, could also be of interest to tourists. It has a special architectural design and the landscape around it is lovely.”

The Bukovina Village Museum in Suceava is one of the recently established museums in Romania. It was opened in 1980. Entering the museum, you can walk along narrow alleys lined by households and their annexes. In the center there are the church and steeple of Vama village, going back to 1783. You can admire traditional furniture, ovens, various textiles and decorative objects, as well as folk costumes inside the houses. The Bukovina Village Museum in Suceava gives you an insight into important moments in the life of its residents: baptism, the wedding or the funeral. The admission fee is 1.5 Euro, the photography fee is 7 Euro and the filming fee is 12 Euro.

Catalin Nechifor, president of the Suceava County Council says you shouldn’t miss a visit to that museum: “The Village Museum in Suceava boasts an impressive heritage. There you can see the mill, the traditional house and the church and become familiar with the customs in the area related to the funeral, the wedding and baptism. They are showcased by dummies, not by humans. But in the future, we’ll consider using humans too and equally bring to life the Princely Fortress of ruler Stephen the Great, lying next to the Village Museum.”

A lot of cultural events will take place in Suceava this autumn. But that is not the only reason why Claudiu Bradatan, manager of the Tourist Information Centre recommends that you should visit the area this autumn: “I recommend autumn not only because of the variety of cultural events held at this time of the year, but also because of the lovely autumn landscape. Worth mentioning among the cultural events this autumn is the Medieval Festival in the Suceava fortress. The fortress, which was first documented in 1388, is undergoing overhaul; the project, which is to be completed in March, will throw a new light on the Princely Fortress of Suceava. In addition, all kinds of harvesting feasts take place in nearly all communes in Suceava County in autumn.”

Medieval music concerts, historical playlets, tournaments, the knights’ torch parade, interactive shows are just some of the events taking place as part of the Medieval Festival in the Suceava Princely Fortress. For three days, you can also be initiated into the secrets of pottery or learn archery in the very fortress of the city.

But if you get to Suceava in wintertime, Claudiu Bradatan recommends that you visit the city’s surroundings: “ We recommend you should head for the mountains. First, stop in the town of Gura Humorului. You can even ski there; there are two ski tracks: one of them is 1.3 km long and the other one, for beginners, is 500 m long. There is also a covered Olympic swimming pool in the Arinis park in Humor, where you can swim in winter too. Close to Gura Humorului there are two of the famous monasteries with outside frescoes: the Humor Monastery and the Voronet Monastery. Gura Humorului also boasts a special ethnographic museum. Leaving Gura Humorului and heading for the mountains, you can make a stop over at Pojorata, which is a new tourist destination. From Pojorata you can climb Mount Rarau to reach the Lady’s Rocks, a symbol of Bukovina. In the Pojorata area you can also ski on four tracks and skate on the skating rink. All trekking and mountain biking routes meet on Mount Rarau. Foremost Romanian and foreign climbers get together on Mount Rarau, where there are some 40 climbing walls.”

Claudiu Bradatan says that most of the foreign tourists who came to the Tourist Information Centre in Suceava had already heard about Bukovina due to the very rich offer of active tourism. But whatever the time of the year, the city of Suceava and its surroundings will surely enthrall you.