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All 112 Styles of Folk Costumes of Romania

Romanian Folk Costumes: TRANSYLVANIA MUNTII APUSENI Scroll down for Maps
1. Moti, Mocani de Turda     2. Moti din Tara Motilor    3. Moti de Cris

Muntii Apuseni
(transition Bihor to Apuseni)
Muntii Apuseni: Mocãnime
 Mocani (scroll down and see map) See Note 1
Beius
Valea Ampoilui
(Zlatna)
Valea Ariesului
Sãlciua
Valea Ariesului:
Turda :Lupsa - Ocolis
Valea Ariesului:
Turda: Posaga
Similar costumes:Mãgurenii, Mocãnimea Hãsdatelor, Mocãnimea Gilãului. (see map)
 
Muntii Apuseni: Tara Motilor
Moti: Tara Motilor
Muntii Apuseni: Zãrand or Tara Zãrandului
Moti de Cris
Tara Motilor / Vidra
Abrud / Bucium
Brad
Hãlmagiu
costum Populsr romanesc: Halmagiu
Woman
Photo: 3 Girls 1950
Avram Iancu,
a famous Mot
Etnographic zone Zarand, Sub-zone Brad

 Note 1.
Before 1950, Lupsa & Ocolis were located in TURDA County (Judet Turda). Today the former Turda County is devided between Cluj County and Alba County . Because Turda is a better known city, we call area Ocolis-Lupsa "TURDA."

Note 2 The Annual Fair "Târgul de fete de pe Muntele Gaina" (altitude 1485 m / 4870 ft). In Muntii Apuseni (Apuseni Mountains) villages are located at high altitude (some over 4000 ft) and are small. Living condition are harsh. Meeting people is not easy, that's why once a year on or around July 20 (Sfantul Ilie or Saint Elijah) young people meet on Muntele Gaina. After 2 or 3 summers, marriges are decided.

Note 3 In the late 1800 and early 1900, in Muntii Apuseni, the basic color for embroidery of women's blouses was red. Nowadays most blouses have black embroidery.


Why term / name MOT?
There are several opinions. The picture on the right shows the leaders of the 1784 peasant uprising. They all wear their hair braided. These braids in local dialect are called "MOT." So, perhaps, men in this region are called "MOTI" because of their unusual hair stayle.

What is a MOCAN?
The "Dictionarul enciclopedic ilustrat" Bucuresti, 1931 gives the following definiton:
Romanian Language "Mocanii sunt ciobani adreleani de la poalele Carpatilor" Astazi, prin extensie un mocan este considerat orice locuitor din regiunile muntoase, mai ales din Ardeal.
English Language "Mocan is a Transylvanian shepherd from the Carpatioan Mountains." Today, sometimes a MOCAN is considered any person who lives in the Transylvanian (Carpathian) Mountains.

There are several groups of MOCANI in The Carpathian Mountains

  • Marginimea Sibiului (Sibiu)
  • Tara Bârsei or Sãcele near Brasov
  • Mocani Valea Ariesului (this page)
  • Mocani Valea Ampoilui (this page)
  • Mures / Câmpia Clujului with 3 sub-groups. See map
         – Sieu, Sieut, Monor
         – Filea, Vatava, Morareni on Upper Mures Valley
              around Deda (of The Mountain Pass Deda-Toplita)
         – Mociu
  • Easterns slopes of The Carpathian Mountains, Vrancea Mountains (in Moldova) The people in this area call themselves MOCANI.
  • Southern slopes of : "Carpatii Meridionali" (Vadeni in Gorj, more)


    • The highlighted area represents the stonghold of Decebal, the last king of Ancient Dacia, just before Dacia became part of the Roman Empire around 100A.D. Also, in this region (Sibiu, Valea Bistrei, Hateg, Orastie, Padureni, Tara Motilor,) the Romanian Folk Costumes retain some very old features: predilection for black and white; modest amount of embroidery; shipskin vests; caps (part of a woman head-cover,) and fringes (on aprons, coats, veils.) Fringes are considered a primitive feature and can be found several places in the Balkans.

    2 Aprons,
    Either mostly black
    or red & black horizontal stripes.
    Sheepskin vest.
    Notice the "connecting" elements: back aprons are narrow with horizontal lines, just as in Central (Sibiu) or North (Somes) parts of Transylvania, while the front aprons are wider, but not as wide as those in "Tisa" or similar to Banat aprons

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