Drăgaica fair

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Dragaica fair, by Carol Szathmari, mid-19th century. Carol Popp de Szatmary - Targul Dragaica.jpg
Drăgaica fair, by Carol Szathmari, mid-19th century.

Drăgaica is the traditional Midsummer fair held annually in Buzău, Romania. It takes place every year between 10 and 24 June.

Midsummer is the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, and more specifically the northern European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice or take place on a day between June 19 and June 25 and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different cultures. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr St John the Baptist, and the observance of St John's Day begins the evening before, known as St John's Eve.

Fair gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities

A fair, also known as a funfair, is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks.

Buzău county seat in Buzău County, Romania

The city of Buzău is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carpathian Mountains and the lowlands of Bărăgan Plain.

Contents

History

The Drăgaica fair was initially a wool trading fair held in the mountain side of the Buzău River valley, every year, after the sheep shearing. Eventually, the fair moved to Buzău, as shown by a document dated 26 August 1778 issued by Alexandru Ipsilanti by which full jurisdiction on the organization and the tax collection rights for the fair were granted to the Buzău bishopric.

Wool natural fibre from the soft hair of sheep or other mammals

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other animals, including cashmere and mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, from hide and fur clothing from bison, angora from rabbits, and other types of wool from camelids; additionally, the Highland and the Mangalica breeds of cattle and swine, respectively, possess wooly coats. Wool consists of protein together with a few percent lipids. In this regard it is chemically quite distinct from the more dominant textile, cotton, which is mainly cellulose.

Sheep shearing process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off

Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a shearer. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year. The annual shearing most often occurs in a shearing shed, a facility especially designed to process often hundreds and sometimes more than 3,000 sheep per day.

Diocese Christian district or see under the supervision of a bishop

The word diocese is derived from the Greek term dioikesis (διοίκησις) meaning "administration". Today, when used in an ecclesiastical sense, it refers to the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.

Mihai Şuţu reinforced the bishopric's privileges on the collection of taxes from the fair in a 1792 letter:

In 1806, Buzău was burnt to the ground by the Ottoman army during the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, and the city's inhabitants took refuge in the villages in the nearby hills. The fair was thus suspended until 1829, when it was resumed in a rebuilt Buzău. [1]

The Drăgaica fair is still being held in Buzău, once a year, for two weeks, in June.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Petcu, 2002, pp.34-35

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References

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