Are you interested in how our ancestors lived in Wallachia? Do you want to experience the unique Wallachia right in its heart? If so, then you are in the right place in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. In my opinion, the Wallachian Open Air Museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm is one of the most beautiful open-air museums in the world. It was founded by Jaroňk siblings in 1925 and is even the oldest museum of its kind in Central Europe. I wondered what still attracts me to visit it after all these years. I went to the open air museum almost every year as part of a camp trip in the nearby village of Hutisko Solanec. At the time, I was more interested in whether I would be able to buy a treat or a whistle there. 🙂 Today I know that I liked it and actually still like it, that it is a living museum, where forgotten traditional techniques, folk art and customs of our ancestors still live. It is an ideal place for a day trip with children. However, in the early evening before closing, we just sat here and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere of the countryside and old cottages. In this village, it is as if time has stopped.
LITTLE WOODEN TOWN
Little Wooden Town is the oldest area of the Wallachian Museum and you can find everything about how life was in a small town from the mid-19th century to the first quarter of the 20th century. There are very nice burgher wooden houses and original shops, an old post office, a cemetery with a church where many important Czech personalities are buried. You will also find a market full of handicrafts by local creators, as well as lots of goodies from growers and manufacturers. For example, you can buy products made from sheep’s wool, honey, wood, bones or some nice embroidery. You can taste Wallachian trdelník, frgály, korbáčiky and cheese spears. The inns offer blueberry dumplings, buckwheat with cabbage or bryndza dumplings.
FOYST FROM VELKÉ KARLOVICE – BZOVÉ
A copy of the building from 1793. The dwelling of the most famous farmer – the fojt, the representative of the village lord. The large room on the ground floor served as a living room, and was also where the subjects met to distribute the harvest. Beer was also served here and dance parties were held.
HIVES FROM KLATOVY
Some of the hives are decorated with human heads with bees flying out of their mouths. Access to the honeycombs was secured from the back by a door.
ROŽNOV CITY HALL
The original house from Rožnov Square from 1770. It was the first building to be transferred to the museum. The ground floor serves as a demonstration of the town shop and post office. The upper floor has preserved the meeting room for the town council and a small room for the accommodation of state officials.
BILL’S TOWN HOUSE
The original building from the Rožnov square from 1750. The residence of a burgher who, in addition to farming, also made a living as a tailor. The family lived on the ground floor. The unheated chambers on the first floor were later converted into spa rooms and rented to patients. They came to today’s climatic spa to treat lung and heart diseases.
CHURCH
Reconstruction based on the church from Větřkovice near Příbor, which burned down in 1887. The furnishings correspond to the appearance of a Catholic church in a rural town in the mid-19th century with the main altar of St. Anne. The interior is truly beautiful.
ROŽNOV CEMETERY – VALAŠSKÝ SLAVIN
The honorary burial ground of prominent personalities of East Moravia includes the following: Emil Zátopek (athlete, four-time Olympic champion in endurance running), Jiří Raška (ski jumper, Olympic champion and Czech skier of the century), Jan Karafiát (evangelical pastor, writer, author of the book Broučci) and Jarmila Šuláková (folklore singer, sometimes nicknamed the “Wallachian queen of folk song”).
WATER MILL VALLEY
Water mill valley is the youngest area of the Wallachian Open Air Museum. Here you will find functional technical buildings, mostly water-powered, such as washboards, a mill, a hammer mill and sawmills. The objects come from Velké Karlovice and Ostravice. You will also come across a residential house from Trajanovice, a forge from Horní Lidč or a barn from Velké Karlovice – Podťaté. There is also a very nice exhibition of means of transport in Wallachia. These are means of transport that were used in agriculture, forestry, trade, passenger transport and other crafts.
WALLACHIAN VILLAGE
The Wallachian Village is the largest area of the Wallachian Museum in nature and I must admit that I probably like it the most. Because it really lives here! You will find farmsteads, mountain buildings, a mill and a blacksmith shop. The whole thing will remind you of a real village located somewhere on the slopes of the Beskydy Mountains.
The individual furnishings of the houses reflect the way of life from the mid-19th century. Almost every house has well-kept fields, gardens and fruit trees, reminiscent of the cultivation of old crops. And you will also find many domestic animals and sheep.
HOUSE OF A COTTAGER FROM THE WALLASIC POLANKA – NO. 21
The timber-framed house dates back to the 19th century. It is an example of the living conditions of a cottager whose main source of livelihood was agriculture. Inside, you will find an exhibition that relates to the period between the two world wars and shows the situation characteristic of many families in Wallachia who engaged in weaving as one of their sources of livelihood.
THE HOMESTEAD OF THE FARMER FROM NOVÉ HROZÉNKOV – NO. 24
This residential house is a copy of a building whose original design was part of one of the largest and oldest estates in the village. Around 1880, a family with seven children, several servants and maids lived here. You will find a large room with a tiled stove. A wedding reception is currently taking place in the room. You will also find storage rooms. Part of the land was reserved for the family’s residence.
Behind the kitchen is a so-called cottage – a living room without a fireplace rented to a family who permanently helped out on the extensive farm.
THE BACHELOR’S COTTAGE FROM NOVÝ HROZENKOV
NO. 25
The interior of the living room represents the living space of a bachelor in the 1950s. You will find a modern stove, a washstand with a pull-out sink, and the usual electric lighting.
ŠTURAL’S BAKERY MANOR FROM VELKÉ KARLOVICE – PODŤATÉHO
The homestead was built in a mountain clearing in the second half of the 18th century at an altitude of 700 m. It is a timbered house with farm facilities – stables and a barn.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FROM VELKÉ KARLOVICE – MILOŇOV
A single-classroom elementary school with a study gives an idea of the appearance of a schoolroom and the means used for teaching at the end of the 19th century. The school from Velké Karlovice − Miloňov was built according to the preserved plans of a building from 1888, which is no longer standing.
FOYST FROM LIDEČKA – NO. 29
This is a rare original timber-framed two-story farmhouse with a porch. It dates back to 1812. The house was not only used for living, but also for manufacturing and repairing parts for the mill equipment. The upper floor was used primarily for storing flour and sacks of grain. And who was the farmer? Well, today’s mayor.
SUMMER BARN OF KAROLINKA – RÁKOŠOVÉHO
Summer barn is a term for seasonal barns built by shepherds on mountain pastures. Shepherds drove the sheep to the mountain pastures in mid-May and returned at the end of October.
CHAMBER OF SENINKA
The chamber, as a separate building, used to be an important part of the farmyard. It protected the most important wealth – the harvest, on which the life of the inhabitants of the estate depended. This two-story building originally stood in the village of Seninka in the Vsetín region, and as the inscription on the shield states, the chamber was “built by Ján Bělyček with God’s help in the year 1882.”
The open-air museum hosts various events throughout the year, such as fairs, festivals, demonstrations of traditional crafts and folk customs, and tastings of Wallachian specialties.
The life of our ancestors will probably never cease to fascinate me. I think that sometimes it doesn’t hurt to combine life with modern technologies with ancient traditions and a natural way of life.
WALLACHIAN CUISINE
Wallachia has always grown potatoes, buckwheat, sloes, and sheep. All of this is reflected in Wallachia cuisine.
WALLACHIAN SOUP “KYSELICA”
A healthy part of the Wallachian diet is kyselice, or kyselica, a soup made from sauerkraut with sausage, i.e. cabbage soup enhanced with cream. Sauerkraut has always been a storehouse of vitamin C for the whole winter and you can find it in almost every stylish pub in the Beskydy Mountains. It tastes different in every restaurant, but I liked it the most in Mlýnská dolina.
WALLACHIAN “FRGAL”
Do you even know what the word “frgál” means? When housewives didn’t make good cakes, they referred to them as frgál, or failed cakes. But that’s no longer the case, and on the contrary, frgál are a popular delicacy. They have been baked according to the same recipe for several centuries. Their magic lies in the thin dough and lots of fragrant fillings such as pear, cottage cheese, poppy seed, apple, walnut or jam.
EXHIBITIONS IN THE OPEN AIR MUSEUM
UNDER THE PROTECTION OF SAINT JOSEPH
Why St. Joseph? St. Joseph was a carpenter, which is why he became the patron saint of carpenters. The exhibition tries to convey the story of the carpentry trade. You will learn about the education of carpenters and their guild organization. You will find carpenters’ tools here, from various types of axes, planes and saws to various measuring tools: rafters, squares, compasses, etc.
LIBUŠÍN REBORN
The exhibition will take you through all the stages of the restoration of Libušín, from the fire to the grand opening. I think the restoration of this icon is an extraordinary achievement and everyone who participated in its restoration should be proud of it.
WALLACHIAN VILLAGE – A REALLY LOST WORLD?
At this exhibition you will get a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors. You will realize that Wallachian life was based on respecting nature and can inspire us in many ways. The exhibition is located at the entrance to the Wallachian Village and I recommend visiting it before entering the Wallachian Village complex, so that you can better perceive the environment that you will subsequently visit.
TOWN UNDER RADHOŠTEM
Here you will have the opportunity to observe the changes in everyday life in the East Moravian town and gain insight into its history. The period when there was a climatic spa is not left out. There is also a spa promenade, a pastry shop, a pharmacy and ordinary households from the 1930s and 1950s.
THE COSTUME GOES, SO DO THE DRESS
So I was really looking forward to this exhibition. Here you will find out what people in Wallachia wore in summer or winter, what materials the costumes were made of and what people wore on different occasions. You may be surprised that the costume did not always look the same and that it changed over time. And because women always tried to be original, you will encounter a variety of colors, embroidery and materials.
Many fairy tales, films and TV series have been filmed in the museum. My favourites include The Twelve Months, Hanele, Perinbaba, Doctor Martin, The Secret of the Castle in the Carpathians and The Emperor and Tambor.
So what? Did I entice you? I think so. 🙂
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