A.R.C.A - the Museum of the Transylvanian Armenians
| Memories from suitcases | ||
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Welcome to Dumbrăveni |
The town of Dumbrăveni is a town with around 8500 inhabitants first documented in 1332 which in the 18th century represented one of the main development poles in Transylvania and a very important centre of an Armenian ethnical group. Much of the Armenian part of the town is still in place and that offers the town a certain distinctiveness and exotism in an area dominated by Saxon communities. The town – originally named Elisabethopolis – and its Armenian inhabitants were granted for two centuries imperial financial and administrative privileges, which were the basis for the transformation of the former noble feude of the Hungarian Apafy family into a powerful cultural, commercial and craft centre. Of the old cultural metropolis, history visibly kept only the constructions – a true treasury of built heritage. The movable heritage mostly is dispersed, together with the descendants of the founders of the town. Dumbraveni is located at 20km from Sighisoara, on the road to Medias (E60).
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| The Museum of the Armenian community from Transylvania, Dumbrăveni, Sibiu |
In 3 rooms and a generous hallway of the Apafi Castle in Dumbrăveni, it was established the Museum of the Armenian community from Transylvania, part of the ARCA project - Actions for the Regeneration of the Community of Armenians. Its authors: the National Network of Museums in Romania and the partners: Dumbraveni Local Council, Armenian Foundation Dumbraveni, and Transylvania Trust Foundation. It is but a recollection of the memories symbolically gathered by the Armenians in the suitcases with which they came to Transylvania, centuries ago. There are images, objects and ideas which tell the story of the history, the religion, and the domestic life of the Armenian community in Transylvania, a distinct and exotic branch of the Armenian Diaspora in Romania – Catholic, Hungarian language spoken, and officially acknowledged, in those times, by the Habsburg Empire. The exhibition proposes a sudden stop between coming and going. The suitcases simulate a certain stage of unpacking/packing up, the alternation between settling in and abandonment, between finding a new home and exile. |
| Visiting hours and reservations for guided tours |
Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 am to 03.00 pm Monday closed.
For groups larger than 15 persons guided tours can be provided. For details contact the curator: Mrs. Angela Ivan +40757030171 |