Dobrogea’s most beautiful traditions and customs

Dobrogea, a unique region of Romania, reveals its charms through its cultural diversity and traditions, preserved over generations.

This region, which includes the counties of Constanța and Tulcea in Romania and the regions of Dobrici and Silistra in Bulgaria, has witnessed the passage of legendary civilizations: the Persians, the Geto-Dacians, the Greeks, the Byzantines and the Ottomans, each leaving their mark on local traditions and customs. 

At Christmas and Easter, the traditions of Dobrogea make the celebrations a truly authentic show of diversity. In the following you will discover the most beautiful traditions and customs of Dobrogea, which highlight the cultural diversity and hospitable spirit of the region. 

• Christmas traditions and customs in Dobrogea 
• New Year traditions and customs in Dobrogea 
• Easter traditions and customs in Dobrogea 
• Other traditions and customs from Dobrogea 

Christmas traditions and customs in Dobrogea 

How is Christmas celebrated in Dobrogea? This region is known for its cultural diversity, as it preserves deep-rooted ancient traditions, offering unique and fascinating holiday customs. 

Caroling and masquerades 

On Christmas Eve, carol singing is a deep-rooted tradition in the communities of Dobrogea. Groups of carol singers, known as ‘cete’, go from house to house to bring their hosts good wishes for good luck and good health.

The groups may be made up of children, lads or married men, and each group has a leader and a well-established hierarchy. The carols range from amusing songs for the little ones to wishes for the young unmarried, fishermen or shepherds. 

In areas such as Adamclisi, the caroling is accompanied by the game “țurca”, also called the goat game, where one of the youngsters wears a special costume, depicting a deer with a stork’s beak or a stork with a deer’s beak and dances with the carolers. 

As a reward, the carol singers receive money, cake, colacs, boiled brandy or fruit, and unmarried girls give flower crowns to the boys. 

In other localities such as Niculițel and Greci, there are caroling customs with masks, such as “Capra” or “Brezaia”, which are meant to ward off evil spirits. This is one of the most popular Christmas customs in Dobrogea.

On Christmas Eve, carol carolers also go with the ‘Bear’ or ‘Oleleul’, where one of the members of the group either disguises himself as a bear or puts on a mask and horns to inspire fear. The Olele only visits the homes of the wealthy, where they are rewarded with money and feasted. According to tradition, the boy who plays the role of the olele is not allowed to enter the church for the whole of the following year. 

Moreover, in Dobrogea, two traditional carols, “Raza Soarelui” and “Chiti-Mitii,” have been attested for more than a century in Rasova and Oltina. These folk songs are still sung today, keeping alive an important part of the cultural heritage of the area. “Chiti-Mitii” impresses not only by its age, but also by its unusual name, which may remind you of the world of cartoons. Here is the text: 

“Chiti-mitii after the sack 

Scratch your eyes at the colac 

Give your collar and horn 

That we’re going to another home 

She’s the prettiest girl 

And the bacon tastier.” 

The traditional dress of the Dobrogen carol singers 

The carol singers in the large flock, made up only of lads, wear dark-colored clothes: woollen trousers, a coat of linen and a woollen shirt. In addition, the astrahan hat may be accessorized with a wreath of immortal flowers or crepe paper, which is given to them by their fiancées in the village.  

As an accessory to complete the festive outfit, they have a bat on the top of which the first received colac is fixed. 

Decorating the Christmas tree 

In the Dobrogea area, tradition says that the Christmas tree is decorated on Christmas Eve, so that Santa Claus can leave presents under it. In the past, Christmas trees were rare in rural areas because they were hard to find.  

The first decorated Christmas trees appeared in people’s homes, and the ornaments were handmade and could be: 

• fir cones;  
• nuts wrapped in tinfoil;  
• colored paper tinsel. 

At the top of the tree, there is always a star, as it symbolizes the Magi’s guide to the place of Jesus’ birth. Over time, decorations have evolved, and nowadays glass globes and other ornaments from the shops are placed on the tree. 

Christmas preparations 

For Christmas Day, traditions and customs in Dobrogea start before the holiday, when housewives start cleaning and the kitchen becomes the center of preparations.  

On the tables of the Dobrogen people you can find sarmale, goose stuffed with apples and fish dishes, and the slaughter of the pig, followed by the pig’s alms, is an important moment in the culture of the Dobrogen people, having a religious significance. 

In a room in the house, called the clean room, considered the heart of the house, are placed the colas for the carol singers and the “Christmas Carol”, a special ritualistic animal baking offered at Epiphany to bring health and abundance. 

Christmas morning is marked by going to church, where all Christians dress in festive clothes. Lipov Russians are noted for their traditional dress:  

• men wear a rubasca with a woolen waistband and black trousers;  
• Women dress up in iubca and rubasca, married women complete their outfit with a headscarf, while young girls braid their hair into a ponytail. 

After the service, family and friends gathered around the festive table, and the custom of binding the legs of the table with chains symbolized the protection of the house from evil. 

New Year traditions and customs in Dobrogea 

After celebrating Christmas, the Dobrogenes begin preparations for the New Year, with traditions such as Sorcova and Plugușorul, which involve the following: 

• Sorcova – children go from house to house with ornamental twigs, wishing their hosts good luck and good health; 
• The Plough – both children and young people go from house to house to make a wish for harvest and prosperity. 

In addition, in Tulcea, the dance of the horses is a special custom, full of meaning in the community, symbolizing strength and youth, as well as the close bond between rider and horse. 

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On the first day of the year, children go from house to house, throwing grains of wheat or rice and wishing their hosts prosperity and plenty. Where there are girls to marry, tradition demands that the sowers be young boys, to bring good luck to the family. 

As on Christmas Day, the festive meal includes local dishes such as fish and traditional desserts. What’s more, the legs of the table are bound with chains to ‘keep evil away’ in the coming year. 

Dobrogea’s Christmas and New Year traditions and customs combine ancient, multicultural and community-specific elements, creating unique moments. 

Easter traditions and customs in Dobrogea 

Easter, as in other regions, is the biggest Christian feast. Preparations for the Easter festivities begin with a general cleansing and renewal of clothes, signs of hospitality to guests. 

Before Lent, traditions and customs in Dobrogea include rituals symbolizing the purification of nature. These include Olaria or Hurhumbalul, where a fire is lit from plant debris, marking the regeneration of nature. Another specific custom is the throwing of a wheel wrapped in straw from a hill, symbolizing the sun and its cycle in the sky. 

Another custom is linked to the day of Lăsatul Lăsatul Secului, where young people take part in the “baterea alviței”, a playful ritual linked to good luck. A piece of a bird is hung from the rafters of the house and participants have to catch it with their mouths, without using their hands, making a wish if they succeed. 

Traditions and customs in Dobrogea during Passion Week 

During Holy Week, each day has specific meanings and customs. Monday is dedicated to cleaning up the household. On Tuesdays, traditions prohibit work to protect the crops and milk of the cows, and those who ignore this belief risk illness and inconvenience. 

Wednesday marks the end of the hemp spinning, symbolically overseen by the ‘Joimărița’ or ‘Joimărica’, an imaginary deity who punishes lazy women. 

Maundy or Black Thursday is the day of the cult of the dead, when families go to the cemetery and tend the graves, light fires and offer offerings to the departed. Also on Thursdays, in the past, the “Shouts over the Village,” where public judgment was passed on deviations from community norms. Also on this day, fires are lit in the churchyard and eggs are painted in the households. 

Good Friday is a day of black fast, dedicated to gratitude for the Savior’s sacrifice. No vinegar or oil is consumed and no work is done, the only activity allowed being the preparation of the Passover. The faithful also participate in the Prood and pass under the Holy Air for health. There is no cooking on this day. 

Saturday is reserved for final preparations, such as painting the eggs for those who didn’t make it on Maundy Thursday, or preparing the Easter food if it wasn’t done earlier. 

On Resurrection night, they go to church to take the holy light. 

Easter traditions 

On the first day, Easter cake and red eggs, symbols of the body and blood of the Savior, are consecrated and the family gathers around the table to enjoy traditional dishes such as lamb soup, drobul and cozonac. 

On the third day, Lipov Russians practise Paparuda, a rain-calling ritual in which a procession of women adorned with flowers and branches dance and sing, and two of them wear masks. They walk from house to house and the host sprinkles them with water.  

Another custom, the Caloianul, is dedicated to the fertility of the crops and the land. It involves burying a clay doll in a field and digging it up and breaking it after a period of between 9 and 40 days to bring abundance. 

Even if some traditions have been forgotten, those that have been preserved reflect people’s deep connection with nature. 

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Dyeing and egg-laying 

Eggshaping is not a custom specific to Dobrogea. In this area, simple coloring predominates. In the past, color was obtained from plants: 

• red onion for the red;  
• izmă, for green;  
• viorelle, for the blue. 

The motifs drawn on the eggs include the cross, a protective symbol, the wheat ear, linked to essential nourishment, and the “wandering path,” representing the way of life. Other common symbols are flowers, geometric shapes, the church and the fish, marking the link with the Christian faith. 

Other traditions and customs from Dobrogea 

In addition to Christmas, New Year and Easter, there are other traditions and customs in Dobrogea, which are held throughout the year. 

Wedding traditions in Dobrogea 

A wedding in Dobrogea combines Romanian, Turkish and Tatar customs, all taking place from Thursday to Sunday.  

On Friday, the mother-in-law and godmother-in-law bring the bride’s veil and organize a small women-only party, and the bride and groom don’t see each other until Saturday. 

On the wedding day, the godmother arranges the bride and presents her with jewelry, make-up and perfume, and throughout this period she cannot be seen by any man. After she is dressed, she places flowers on the chest of the guests and the bridal hora is danced. 

The groom comes with his retinue to look for his bride, who is hiding, and when he finds her, he gives her a gift and money in her shoe for prosperity. Other customs include: 

• The godmother breaks a necklace over the bride’s head before going to the church; 
• in the church, the groom sits on the bride’s dress to have an obedient wife. 
• At the end of the party, the godmother presents the bride with a handkerchief, symbolizing the transition to wifehood; the veil is given to an unmarried girl and the bridegroom’s flower to her fiancé. 

In some villages, the custom of the Sunday horei is still preserved. This is a small party with godparents, in-laws and close relatives. 

Other traditions and customs in Dobrogea throughout the year 

On St. Nicholas’ Day, December 6, children polish their spats and place them by the door, and tradition says that the good ones get sweets and the naughty ones a bauble. 

Dragobete, the Dacian god of love, is celebrated between February 24 and March 25, depending on the area. On this day, birds find their mates and build nests. Young people meet to fall in love and, when the weather is fine, they go out in the forest to pick the first flowers, and married women gather water for beauty rituals. 

The cuckoos are celebrated on the first day after Easter with a parade of masks. The group of 15 men is divided into two groups: one of cuckoos and one of cuckoos. The ritual includes fights between the two groups to drive away evil spirits, followed by dances and hore in every house in the village. They symbolize the coming of spring and the purification of space. 

Drăgaica, the goddess of harvests and love, is similar to the Sânzienele of Moldova. She is born with the spring equinox and becomes complete on June 24. Girls gather sanzenias to make wreaths for gates and windows, attracting good luck and abundance.

If they want to get married, they sleep with a bouquet under their pillows to dream of their fate, and married women wear them in their hair or in their breasts to make themselves more attractive. If not celebrated properly, Mânziennes turn into maidens and bring storms and disease. 

In conclusion, the traditions and customs of Dobrogea represent the close link between community and nature, many of which have been preserved for decades.

If you visit Dobrogea, you will have a unique experience, unique in our country, where ancient beliefs and rituals speak of continuity, abundance and love. Stay in one of the accommodations available at Green Dolphin Camping and experience authentic rural life, enjoying the hospitality of the locals and the beautiful scenery.

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