Discover Moldova with #MOLDPRES: Local traditions preserved at only Bread Museum in Valeni

The Only Bread Museum in Moldova

At the 'La Gura Cuptorului' (At Oven’s Mouth) guesthouse in Valeni, you will find the only bread museum in Moldova.

Here, local traditions are preserved through a unique collection of wedding breads and rituals. The guesthouse, managed by Vera Caminschi, provides seven accommodation spaces and, with the support of the European Union through the EU4Moldova: Focal Regions programme, it has been modernized with furniture and appliances.

Starting from 2024, it has also been benefiting from a tourist indicator that enhances accessibility for visitors.

Efficient and Accessible Tourism with EU Support

At the 'La Gura Cuptorului' guesthouse in Valeni, guests are always welcomed by Mrs. Vera Caminschi, the hostess, who receives visitors with great enthusiasm.

The guesthouse was opened in 2011 and has seven accommodation spaces, each with separate sanitary facilities inside.

Inside the guesthouse, Mrs. Caminschi also manages an original museum dedicated to bread, displaying numerous types of ceremonial bread.

Thus, 12 types of wedding breads are showcased, as well as eight types of breads related to other rituals, such as Christmas, the Lent, or Pentecost.

The breads, in turn, have various names: 'plocon', 'bride's hoopoe', 'groom's bread', 'father-in-law's bread', 'mother-in-law's hoopoe', 'bread for the wedding priest'.

The museum also exhibits items used now or in the past in village households: fig, spinning wheel, baskets, and rugs. The walls are adorned with numerous traditional towels. Old, traditional towels, each with its own story.

A the same time, various activities are organized at the museum, such as theatrical presentations of wedding fragments, where visitors can take part in the roles of wedding guests.

Museum with Exhibits and Various Social-Cultural Events

Here, you can also participate in gatherings and musical performances, where performers are sometimes fellow villagers, such as Dorică Bejenaru and Mrs. Lidia (the grandmother known for her drumming at the 2005 Eurovision performance with Zdob și Zdub band).

Workshops for bread making and other local specialties are held at the museum. Visitors are welcome to participate in cooking alongside the organizers.

As for the food, the cooking at Mrs. Vera's guesthouse is excellent and you are sure to leave satisfied. Here, you can observe the preparation of dishes specific to the area like twisty pie, baked fish, or 'plachia', along with baked goods, such as 'burnăcei' or 'cozonaci' (kind of pies). No one has ever left hungry.

As it serves as a true tourist information point in the area, various routes can be organized through Mrs. Vera's guesthouse, for example, to Beleu Lake, in order to see blooming water lilies and to photograph birds resting on the lake.

Correspondent: Lilia Grubii