It’s a beautiful region to visit for walks, hikes, and nature and to live a farming life rooted in nature and biodiversity. 

Țara Cǎlatei/Kalotaszeg lies to the West of the third biggest city of the country, Cluj-Napoca/Kolozsvár and it is bounded by the Gilău Mountains in the south, the Vlădeasa Mountains in the west and the eastern range of the Meseș Mountains. Our territory of interest lies within this historical bioregion, on a rectangle of 1,500 km².

The Apuseni Mountains are nearby, which includes one of the oldest nature parks in Romania, Apuseni Natural Park. Interesting to see also that in this bioregion, it is still visible how peasant land was distributed. Since the Middle Ages, agriculture has been represented by small-scale family farms, usually with self-sufficient and local market-oriented agriculture, orchards and livestock around the house, and crop field parcels scattered around the village.

It is situated in northwest Transylvania, Romania. We call the bioregion Țara Călatei (in Romanian) and Kalotaszeg (in Hungarian). Why?

It is not a legally bound region with set administrative borders. It is a region that is formed of parts of two different counties: western part of Cluj/Kolozs and southern part of Sălaj/Szilágy county.

This bioregion became special because of its preservation and conservation of cultural heritage, and biodiversity. Even today, many of the traditions are kept, people living in peasant houses, and their land being worked in ancestral, traditional ways. 

In many areas, next to the Romanian population it has a significant Hungarian ethnic population. It roughly includes around 40 communes in a vast area of rolling hills.  

Biodiversity

It is very rich in its biodiversity. For example, we have peat bogs around Călățele/Kiskalota and Dealul Negru/Bánffytelep  which are over 27,000 years old! These wetlands act as natural archives, preserving pollen and plant materials for thousands of years, helping scientists understand past climates and ecosystems​

Țara Călatei is home to unique and rare plant species that thrive in the region’s semi-arid and dry grasslands, which are disappearing due to land-use changes. 

Furthermore, since it has been a peasant region, the soil has been well-kept and nurtured with traditional methods. It is a viable place to start a farm. 

Traditional architecture 

Villages have a special natural built folk inspired houses. In this region there has been careful emphasis put on woodwork and carving. 

Peasant houses are mostly naturally built with a rock base and wooden frame plastered with clay and whitewashed. Traditionally, with shingle roof with a wood carve design on the outside (e.g. roof design, fences) and famous porch part in-front of the house, which we call târnaț/tornác.

History

Folk wear

People living in Kalotaszeg have their own traditional folk clothes. It is not something they would wear on a daily-basis however it is still part of their culture, and they wear on formal occasions or for celebrations (e.g. weddings, graduation etc). 

It is decorated with the famous embroidery of Kalotaszeg (that is also found on various household items e.g. pillowcases, table cloths, bed linen and so on). This is done typically with red yarn on a strong white material (but the colors can vary to white embroidery on red or black, blue yarn on white surface and so on, or white on white) with famous motifs, such as tulips, pomegranate, acanthus lead and rosette. 

Folk traditions

Kalotaszeg is also very famous for its crafts that have been unique to the region: woodcarving, painted furniture, they even had a separate profession who was a combination of carpenter and a painter who created the wooden ceilings in the protestant churches.

As you can imagine, if the culture is so colorful and elegant, the people from Kalotaszeg also valued folk music – they even had their own regional dance:

Photo Credits: Lonay Arthur