Museum of traditional folk culture opens in Rejdová

A MUSEUM of traditional folk culture has been established in the distinctive village of Rejdová, in south-eastern Slovakia, as part of the project Terra Incognita. The project received a subsidy of €10,870. The museum resides in a renewed Gemer wooden house from the 19th century. Its aim is to preserve material and non-material cultural heritage in order to contribute to the development of tourism in the region. The museum was formally opened on August 24, during the 39th year of the Gemer Folklore Festival.

A MUSEUM of traditional folk culture has been established in the distinctive village of Rejdová, in south-eastern Slovakia, as part of the project Terra Incognita. The project received a subsidy of €10,870. The museum resides in a renewed Gemer wooden house from the 19th century. Its aim is to preserve material and non-material cultural heritage in order to contribute to the development of tourism in the region. The museum was formally opened on August 24, during the 39th year of the Gemer Folklore Festival.

Gemer is the name of a historical administrative county of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, it was united with the Kishont region to form Gömör-Kishont county (Gemer-Malohont). Today, it lies in southern Slovakia and northern Hungary.

The goal of the renewal was to adapt the interior and exterior of the wooden house, which consists of three separate rooms. In two of them, a permanent exhibition, which includes folk costumes and demonstrations of traditional tools used in households, has been installed.

The next step of the renewal will see the installation of info-boards to teach visitors of the village more about the region’s history, with an emphasis on mining and metallurgy. As the building is adjacent to a small stage used for cultural events, the third room will be used for activities such as creative workshops and craft displays.

The municipality of Rejdová is an ethnographic locality of national importance, and one of the centres of folk culture in Upper Gemer. Rejdová was founded in the 15th century due to the ancient Wallachian law. (Lex Antiqua Valachorum, meaning “Ancient Wallachian Law”, represents a collection of the Romanian pre-statal judicial system, with judicial rituals, customs and traditions, kept and transmitted from generation to generation). In the past, it was famous for iron ore mining, the SITA newswire wrote, adding that it is included as a destination in the Iron Route – Via ferraria. Currently, Rejdová is known mainly for preserving folk habits, traditions and folklore. In the village, there are several wooden and stone houses dating back to the 19th century, and a national cultural monument, the Evangelical Church of St. Michael Archangel, from the 17th century. To the wider public, the village is famous for organising the annual Gemer Folklore festival.

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