At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries the Poles of Bukovina founded their own libraries, societies and community houses. The Polish House in Suceava was built between 1903 and 1907 and became one of the main centres of Polish life in the region. Today it houses the seat of the Union of Poles in Romania.
Every Polish village now has its cultural house or a hall where the ensembles and the children's groups meet. The Polish House in Moara, near Suceava, is where the Days of Polish Culture open: the programme usually starts there, with a concert and an exhibition.
These buildings are what community halls are in Poland: the place where children learn to dance, the choir rehearses and cake is served after mass. Without them there would be neither ensembles nor festivals.
In 1948 more than half lived in towns. Today nine in ten live in villages. The Polish Houses in the villages are what is left of that urban cultural life.
The figures: Tiberiu-Constantin Ambrosie, „Considerații asupra evoluției istorice și demografice a etnicilor polonezi din partea sudică a Bucovinei”, Yearbook of the National Museum of Bukovina, and the censuses cited there.
Czytaj dalej
Your base
Câmpulung Moldovenesc is an hour from the Polish villages and an hour from the painted monasteries. The whole house, seven beds, parking in the yard.
Via Transilvanica