Buzescu () is a commune in

Teleorman County Teleorman County () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria. The name ''Teleorman'' is of Cumanic ( Turkic) origin. It literally means ''wild/crazy for ...

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the rarely used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in Ro ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It is composed of a single village, Buzescu. It is well known for its wealthy

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

inhabitants and their extravagant Romani

palaces A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

. At the 2002 census, 77% of inhabitants were ethnic

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

and 22.9%

. However, more recent estimates place the number at around 35% Roma. The town runs along a single street filled with various Romani

mansions A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... from the Latin w ...

. Most Romanians live outside the town in the surrounding rural area. The Romani usually only occupy a portion of their houses due to the cost of

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

. The Romani citizens abide by their own code of honor that emphasizes silence called ''omerta''. In terms of religious affiliation, 94.9% identified as

Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...

and 4.7% as

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

History

Following the abolition of

slavery in Romania Chattel slavery existed on the territory of present-day Romania from the founding of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia in 13th–14th century, until it was abolished in stages during the 1840s and 1850s before the Romanian War of ...

in the 1860s, the first recently freed Roma families settled in this part of Romania to work as metal smiths. Because of this profession they became known as the

Kalderash The Kalderash are a subgroup of the Romani people. They were traditionally coppersmiths and metal workers and speak a number of Romani dialects grouped together under the term Kalderash Romani, a sub-group of Vlax Romani. The Kalderash of the ...

clan. Nowadays, the town has changed much with the new extravagant mansions of wealthy Roma that contrast with the rural cottages of Romanian peasants in the countryside. The Kalderash Roma of the town are said to have made their wealth trading scrap metal in a previously unregulated market. However, since

joined the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

more regulations have been put on this trade and only a handful of Buzescu’s families are extremely wealthy.

Tourism and culture

Buzescu’s unique

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

attracts many western tourists interested in the

Romani culture Romani culture encompasses the regional cultures of the Romani people. These cultures have developed through complex histories of interaction with their surrounding populations. Romani people constitute the largest ethnic minority in Europe. ...

. Each building represents the family that lives in it through the use of certain colors in combination with lines or elements of oriental architecture. The size of the building represents the wealth and social standing of its owner. In addition, the Kalderash Roma of Buzescu adhere strictly to cultural clothing practices. Each cultural costume has a certain significance. The colors of the costume worn by women and girls, the number of skirts, and the color and ornamentation of the shirts, all are significant in the Kalderash Romani culture. Tourists have the opportunity to understand the significance of each color in relation to the age of the person wearing that particular object plus the knowledge about Romani family life and customs. Jewellery, especially made of gold, accompany the traditional outfit, individualizing each person.

References

* {{Authority control Communes in Teleorman County Localities in Muntenia Romani communities in Romania Romani-related controversies Kalderash