Crafts and traditions in Bucovina: decorated eggs, black pottery and the museum in Gura Humorului

Bucovina is one of the few parts of Romania where crafts are not only found in museums. Women decorate eggs outside Easter too, the potters of Marginea fire black pots the way they did 300 years ago, and the houses of Ciocănești are repainted every year with patterns taken from the eggs. Here are the places to see them, ordered by distance from the villas and, where possible, where you can try them yourself.

The Folk Customs Museum, in town

Start here, 5 minutes from the villas. The museum in Gura Humorului is small but cleverly done: instead of display cases, it follows a Bucovina family through the year, from New Year to Christmas, through the feasts that divide it. You see the goat mask, the straw bear, the masked troupe costumes, the wedding room and the everyday objects, most of them original and 200 to 300 years old.

• Address: Strada Sfântul Gavril 17, in the centre
• Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 8 am to 4 pm
• Ticket: 5 lei adults, 2 lei children
• Time: an hour. A good first contact before you see the customs live, in winter.

The Egg Museum in Vama, with workshop

25 minutes west, in the village of Vama, is the largest collection of decorated eggs in Romania: over 10,000 eggs, 3,500 of them from 82 countries, from painted ostrich eggs from Africa to quail eggs from Japan. The collection belongs to Letiția Orșivschi, a well known egg artist, who built it over more than 20 years.

The best part is the workshop. By appointment, you can learn the Bucovina technique: the egg is "written" with hot wax using a tool called a chișiță, dipped in dye, written again and so on, colour by colour. A simple egg takes two hours and you take it home. Children from 7 manage fine.

• Distance: 24 km, on the road to Câmpulung
• Tip: call ahead for the workshop, especially out of season. The museum is open all year.

The black pottery of Marginea

50 minutes north, beyond Sucevița, the village of Marginea is the only place in Europe where black pottery is still made the old way. The pots are fired in a sealed kiln, without oxygen, and the smoke turns them black. No paint is used. The shine comes from a river stone rubbed over the pot before firing.

You can walk freely into the village workshops. You see the wheel, the earth kiln and the potter at work. If it is quiet, they let you try the wheel. Prices are low: a mug costs a few lei, a large pot for stuffed cabbage rolls a few tens.

It pairs perfectly with Sucevița Monastery, 10 minutes from Marginea, for a full day. More on the monasteries in our guide to 10 places to visit.

Ciocănești, the village of painted houses

The farthest, an hour and a half away, on the Bistrița valley beyond Vatra Dornei. It is worth the drive. The houses of Ciocănești are painted on the outside, under the eaves and around the windows, with geometric patterns taken from decorated eggs: bands, diamonds, fir twigs. The tradition began in the 1950s with a single woman in the village and was taken up by all her neighbours.

The village has the National Museum of Decorated Eggs, and on the weekend before Palm Sunday it hosts the Decorated Egg Festival, with a decorating contest and artists from all over Moldavia. In August, around the 15th, comes the Trout Festival, with trout smoked over fir branches.

Humor Monastery and its frescoes, as craft

Don't forget that the biggest piece of craftsmanship in the area is 12 minutes from the villas. The exterior frescoes at Humor, painted in 1535, have survived 500 years of rain and frost because the masters mixed the pigment with slaked lime and applied it to wet plaster. Humor red is as well known among restorers as Voroneț blue. Bring binoculars to see the details in the upper registers.

How to combine them

• Half a day: the town museum in the morning, Humor Monastery after, lunch in Gura Humorului.
• A day west: Vama (museum and workshop) in the morning, Moldovița after lunch, back via Câmpulung.
• A day north: Marginea and Sucevița, with lunch in Sucevița.
• A long day: Ciocănești, combined with Vatra Dornei. Leave at 8.

What to bring home

Genuine decorated eggs, on goose or duck eggs, are sold in Vama and Ciocănești straight from the artists, from 20 lei up. Black pottery, from Marginea. Handmade sheepskin coats and embroidered blouses, at the summer fairs in Gura Humorului. And, if you have room, a carved wooden board for polenta, from the woodworkers of Humor. You already use one in the villa kitchen, so you can get used to it.