What feelings do you have when you pass an old house with a porch or porch? Probably we are overwhelmed by nostalgia and memories of the time spent in the grandparents' house and the steaming bread fresh out of the oven. How could it be otherwise, when in these cottages in the country, where many of us spent the most beautiful days of our childhood, we find simplicity and modesty, utility and harmony.
How to choose the place of the house and how to build the houses in Costulenii of old? As was the case, young landlords usually built their houses on the piece of land inherited from their parents. If he was the youngest, he would build his house in his parents' yard to support the old age. In Costuleni, houses with porches, houses with porches and houses with porches were built, depending on the material situation of the family. Before starting the construction of the house, the place was incense or sanctified, in order to purify and protect the place from evils, says Elena Prepeliță (88 years old), various elements were buried in the foundation of the house, such as Holy water, incense, wine, money, salt. or bread. Vera Goian (85 years old) remembers, „that in the evening before starting the foundation, she placed two glasses of water on the prepared place, in the morning if the glasses were fuller with water it was a sign that the place is good and everything will work in the household in full, if there was less water it was a bad sign”. The orientation of the house occupied a special place, it was important that the position of the house was oriented to the south, and the main living room was to the east. First the place was prepared, leveled and cleaned. Once the place was ready, the householder prepared the materials, which varied from case to case. If they were richer, stone was brought, shingles or pots were procured for the roof. If it was a needy family, the building materials were simpler. Before the war, houses were built of woven twigs and then smeared with clay in several layers. Also, houses made of clay lamps, the roof was made of reeds, less often of shingles. Unfortunately, such houses have not been preserved in Costuleni.
Starting with the 50s of the century XX, most houses in Costuleni were built of lamps, the roof was with tiles or slate. The houses were built in the summer, when it was hot. Vladimir Prepeliță (88 years old), says that after he got married, being the youngest, his parents allowed him to build his house in his parents' yard. If you go on a trip through the village, in almost all the yards you can see two houses, one is the house where the parents lived, and the newest is the house of the young family. They tore down the old house, cleaned the place, then made a big mess with the people, making clay lamps. Until they dried, they prepared the place for the foundation. Four stakes with string were beaten to establish the four corners of the house and the outer walls, after which the ditches were dug for the foundation. The foundation was also made of lamps (the stone was expensive and the cement was not yet), the lamps for the foundation were bigger and stronger. In some houses, the cellar was also built under a room, but some householders dug a hut separately in the ground, reinforced it with wooden ducts and it served as a cellar. After the foundation was raised, clay was brought from the luthier to fill in the blanks. The construction of the walls began with the corners, first the east corner, then one by one the other corners. The connection between the lamps was made of clay soaked with water, having a soft consistency.
There was room for doors and windows. For the construction of the walls, often the households could not afford to raise a craftsman, so most of the houses in the village were built by the men of the family. In the 60's of the last century, the houses began to be built by the village craftsmen, Nicolaie and Constantin Goian, Leonte Scutelniciuc, Gheorghe Ciocan, Gheorghe Diaconu. Once the walls were raised, they went to the roof, which was laid by a carpenter, during this period the village carpenters were Ion Percic (Chetricică), Ion Rusu (Bilea), Simion Rudico (Bruja). The roof of the houses at Costuleni was in four waters. First, wooden beams were placed along the carcass or exterior walls that supported the roof. These were fastened with iron pegs and large nails. Subsequently, they were placed equally at the same distance. The ends of the beams protruded from the walls, level with the porch. On the porch, the beams rested on the pillars (posts) built in the porch. These were beautifully decorated with elements of decorative carpentry, and under the eaves there was a wooden clock. Vera Goian (85 years old) says that „after the first deer, which formed the top of the house, a wooden cross was carved into nails, carved by the main craftsman, to which a towel and basil were tied, it was a sign of thanks to God , that helped them build the house. This ritual is still practiced today.
After the roof, the house was left to sit for a while, as the elders say, so as not to crack, after that the other stages followed. A clack was organized to „put the bridges” with clay and straw, the clay was prepared the day before. The walls were also anointed (liquefied) with clay in several layers, with straw, then with chaff and horse manure. These works were the responsibility of the women, if the housewife was not very skilled, other women were called who worked during the day, it took skill and skill to handle the shovel (the main tool for gluing clay, it was composed of a piece of board with handle ). After the walls were well dried, they were whitewashed in several layers, sand was added to the first layer (plaster) to make it rougher, then the second layer followed, the last one was lime with sineal, it gave the room an azure color. The same steps were followed for the exterior works. We still have houses in the village whitewashed with lime, covered with pots, and the porches given with „pitch”. In the yard was the oven or the summer kitchen, the cellar, the place where the corn was kept, the schools for birds and animals, the household was fenced with twig fences, later it was passed to the wooden fences and wooden gate.
Currently, in Costuleni there are about 50 traditional houses, old houses that are endangered from one day to the next, only a few of them are in good condition. Time slowly grinds what is left as a testimony of past times. These witnesses of the village of yesteryear must not simply disappear into oblivion and oblivion, they are like a cry of awakening for us today.
Eudochia Goian, history teacher
The source of information: facebook.com
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu