Transylvania Trust

Rimetea – tourist map

Tourist map / Traditional Furniture, Furnishings and Heating Systems

Many of the houses in Rimetea contain traditional furniture. These mainly comprise dowry chests, racks, tables, chairs and recessed cupboards. Painted beds, chairs and cupboards can also be found but are generally more rare. These are richly decorated with floral motifs. Normally, the base colour is either dark green, blue or red whilst the design is applied in red, green, white or another light colour. The name of the buildings’ owners and date of construction are usually painted on furniture made as marriage gifts. A large amount of this furniture was produced at the turn of the 20th century. However, traditional furniture with different types of decoration and colours survives from the second quarter of the 19th century. Large tulip motifs can be found on many of these pieces. Some of the houses still have traditionally furnished rooms with painted furniture, tapestries, curtains, embroidered pillows and beds.

During the second half of the 19th century dark brown, carved furniture had become desirable and examples of this furniture type can be found in many of Rimetea’s houses.

Historically, the kitchens of Rimetea’s traditional dwellings had cowl domed ovens. These were used for baking bread and cooking. There was a large pot for heating water near the dome. This was made of plastered brick. The open fireplace was located behind and this is where people prepared their meals in a cooking pot hung on chimney hook. Only one cowl-domed oven survives in the area and this is in the neighbouring village of Colţeşti. Nowadays, domed or square ovens are only used in bakeries and rarely in kitchens. Examples are found were the oven door opens within the bake-house but the actual oven is situated outside the building. Open-air ovens, partially sheltered by mono-pitch roofs, are common in courtyards. The more recent ones are much smaller than their 19th century ovens.

Historically, rooms were heated with tiled stoves. Two examples do survive, not in their original locations but in private collections. Richly decorated cast iron stoves from Calan became common at the end of the 19th century and most continue to be used. Almost every smallholding in Rimetea has an iron-stove or cooking-stove.