A commune in Bucovina region, northern Romania has been recently included in the top ten of Europe’s most colourful destinations by Lonely Planet.
According to the renowned travel guide, Ciocănești commune in the Carpathians area of Bucovina comes as the sixth most colourful travel destination in Europe.
The village has become famous long ago due to its merry painted houses, adorned with traditional motifs.
“The very name conjures up images of vampires, werewolves and bewitched forests. But in the historic Bucovina region, Ciocănești busts every spooky cliché: after all, what could be less terrifying than an entire village painted like Easter eggs?”, reads the Lonely Planet’s presentation.
The travel guide says that the egg painting decorations have been a tradition in this village for centuries, but it was only in the 1950s when residents started painting the colourful designs on their homes. “The embellishments proved so popular with locals and visitors that in 2004, local authorities decreed that the exterior of every newly-built or refurbished home be decorated with folk motifs,” the guide also reported. Read which are the other most colourful destinations in the Lonely Planet ranking here.
A real touristic village now, Ciocănești, located in the southwestern part of Suceava county, is lying on both sides of the Golden Bistrița River and is surrounded by scenic pine spruce forests and fertile meadows. It is close to the Vatra Dornei resort, only 22 km away, and 100 km away from Suceava city, on Iacobeni-Borșa road.
Locals inherited the house painting tradition from their parents and grandparents. It all began with villager Leontina Țăran who came up with the idea of placing traditional motifs embroidered on the folk costumes and on the Easter eggs also on the houses. She talked to the most skilled painter in the village, Dumitru Tomoioagă and he immediately put her wish into practice.
As it happens, one of painter Tomoioagă’s sons was elected mayor of the village and, due to the high number of Romanian and foreign tourists who had taken the village by storm to admire the captivating houses, the mayor decided that every new built house or revamped one should be garnished with folk motifs outside. And the village mayor’s office is paying for all painting expenses.
You can read more about the exquisite village’s history and its original houses, and you can admire more photos of the painted houses here.