In the illustrated history of Cârțișoara, the outstanding painter of the last century, Matei Purcariu-Șimforea, occupies a distinct position, having his roots in learning the craft from his father and working in the field until 1906.
Today, other artists, such as Oscar Ionescu, have brought a new artistic expression to Cârțişoara, investigating the creativity of Matei Purcariu-Țimforea and continuing his work in the village where they settled.
The inhabitants of Cârțișoara commune, whether farmers, cattle breeders or woodcutters, practiced various crafts in the past, including pottery and glazier, and the tradition of processing flax and hemp, as well as flax products, persists to this day. Also, woodcutters in the area process the wood to create not only utilitarian objects, but even beautifully colored furniture, inspired by ancient motifs such as the snake, the tree or the sun.
The Village Museum in Cârțișoara, one of the many similar institutions in Sibiu County, offers visitors a look at the tools, objects of use and decorative elements (such as icons on glass) that made this locality famous.
Cârțișoara is also the birthplace of Gheorghe Cârțan (1849-1911), known as Badea Cârțan. Aware of the difficult conditions of the Romanians under Austro-Hungarian rule, he was the initiator of the promotion of written culture in Transylvania, traversing the country in search of books. In his efforts to spread books, newspapers and magazines across the Carpathians through the "Cuckoo Customs", Badea Cârțan was often persecuted by the Austro-Hungarian police, who sometimes confiscated his printed materials.
To explore Trajan's Column and other evidence of the Latin origin of the Roman people, the individual traveled on foot to Rome. However, one day in 1906, he recounts to the editors of the newspaper "Poporul român" his experiences traveling as follows: "One morning, in 196, the thought came to me to go to Rome and see with my own eyes who were our ancestors. So we set out. I went twenty days to Vienna and then twenty-three more to Rome. Zanardella, a remarkable man, showed me the whole city. Then I traveled to Naples, Pompeii, Capri, Ancona and returned home via Fiume."
Asked how long he stayed in Rome and what he saw there, he continued: "About four weeks. I saw all the wonders of the Eternal City, the Senate, the Parliament, the Forum, the Capitol. Wonderful city of Romulus! When with the congress of Orientalists, I was the third time to Rome. I had to go, didn't I?"
People had arrived from all parts of the earth and they all bowed to us. To tell you the truth, then once my heart was crushed. From the University to Trajan's Column, all the way, I alone carried the bronze crown. I was walking at the head of the people, like a "fishpan". Oh, what happened to people, dear lord!"
Continuing the story, Badea Cârțan explained how he witnessed the coronation ceremony of Vittorio Emmanuelle in Italy and how, in 1897, he traveled to Paris:
"Leaving Vienna, I crossed the Tyrol to Zürich, an extremely clean and well-organized city, the most orderly I have ever seen. In Zürich, the Romanian students welcomed me warmly. All the Romanian students in Zürich m -they also hosted in Paris. I spent three weeks in the "city of lights" and I couldn't get enough, I loved it so much. The French are wonderful people! On the way back from Paris, I made a stop in Rome, where I was hosted for four days by Count de Gubernatis and Cardinal Rampolla. People with big souls, true Romanians! Listen here, I tell you honestly! Bucharest and Rome, these two cities every Romanian should know in detail. It is clear: when you don't know anything about father and grandfather, you feel like an orphan and without someone. Believe me!"
How the shepherd fared on the first day spent within the walls of eternal Rome is difficult to predict: probably, by gestures or perhaps by words very similar to Italian ones, he still managed to reach the "Foro Traiano", near the Column. Dressed in his usual garb - hat, cowl, crows, and opinci, with a club in his hand and a satchel on his shoulder - he joyfully bowed before the Column, then knelt. As it was evening, he sat down near the monument and spent the night there. However, in the morning, the carabinieri discovered him. Who could that stranger be, dressed like the Dacians on the Columna bas-reliefs? They appealed to the Romanian legation in the Italian capital. Thus, Badea Cârțan began to gain notoriety. The newspapers wrote about him, he was received by our minister plenipotentiary and was invited to the homes of Romanian families in Rome and to those of the Italian philo-Romanians.
In the first ten years of the 20th century, Badea Cârțan had become a well-known figure. University professors such as N. Iorga and Spiru Haret supported him several times in the initiatives of the shepherd, traveling on three continents, since, in the meantime, he had also visited Egypt, at least in the northern part, as well as the current territory of Israel.
Badea Cârțan liked to make stops in Sinaia, Bușteni or Poiana Țapului, and in the latter locality he was a guest at the villa of the Lahovari family.
During his travels from Bucharest to Ţara Oltului, he did not go empty-handed. He carried bags full of Romanian books with him, which he distributed among teachers and priests eager for knowledge and light. Although Badea Cârțan requested books, he did not accept money or, if he had no other option, he turned them into books the next day, buying them from bookstores or antique dealers.
During one of his many clandestine crossings of the border, through "cuckoo customs", Badea Cârțan was surprised by an avalanche of snow that covered him; it wasn't until several hours later that he regained consciousness, but his feet were frozen. With efforts, he managed to reach home, in Cârțișoara, but he realized that his end was approaching.
- "You, Chivă and Marie," he said to his relatives, "I'm waiting for my end, I'm going to Father Traian and Mihai Viteazu. But you, those who remain, know that, one day, you will have one country... You will live happily, you... I'm leaving, I don't want to stay in the subjugated Transylvania, but I want to die on the free land of Romania. And when you get the news that I'm dead, give your father a crown for to remind me at church." (A.P. Bănuț: "Tempi passati" 1931).
Cârțan said goodbye forever to the Făgăraș Mountains, from the mountains of his childhood, and went beyond to die in the free country.
He retired to Poiana Țapului, where Mrs. Lahovari, the wife of the former minister of the country in Rome, had reserved a room for him in her house. On the 7th of August 1911, at the time when the tired body of the shepherd Gheorghe Cârțan found his end, and on the 10th of August 1911 he was buried in the cemetery of Sinaia, located on a mountain slope. On the cross at the grave, the symbolic words were inscribed:
"Badea Gheorghe Cârțan sleeps, dreaming of the completion of his race."
Among the books belonging to him, many were received with dedications. Among them, the "Chronicle of the Romanians" by Gheorghe Șincai, the personal alphabet of Badea Cârțan, stands out. Along with this, there is also "Istoria universală" by Petru Maior, as well as other works signed by Ioan Slavici, C. Golescu-Vartic, and others.
In the town of Cârțișoara lived the last outlaw from the Transylvania region, called Budac. The song about the outlaw Andrei Budac, recorded by the museum in Sibiu, represents one of the most harmonious ballads from Transylvania. It is familiar to village children and is chanted by women in the sitters:
"Green leaf small leaves
Budac comes from the mountain
And he entered his sister's yard
And from the yard he enters the house:
- Be healthy sister
- And you healthy brother
Where are you from and where have you been?
- I come from the woods my sis
I came and sister to see me,
It comes like that sometimes
I miss mom and dad
That's how it comes sometimes
I miss brothers, sisters."
Source: Bucharest-Sibiu (Ministry of Tourism, 1977)
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The village is located on the Transfăgărășan Road and is recognized as the birthplace of Gheorghe Cârțan, known as "Badea Cârțan".
"Badea Cârțan" (1849-1911), self-taught and passionate about national history, donated flocks of sheep to the Romanian army in 1877, when he was in the southern part of the Carpathians, and enlisted in the army. Unfortunately, he did not participate in the war due to the conclusion of the armistice between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in February 1878, during his military training.
Upon returning home, Badea Cârțan gave up his old occupation and came into contact with various cultural personalities of the era, such as V.A. Urechia, D. Zamfirescu, N. Iorga, etc.
The erudite shepherd realized the lack of education of Romanians under Austro-Hungarian rule and expressed his desire to spread knowledge through books in Transylvania. For this purpose, he began to cross the country with books brought from Romania. During his effort to distribute books, newspapers and other publications across the Carpathians, through the "Cuckoo Customs", he was pursued, persecuted and assaulted by the Austro-Hungarian authorities, who sometimes confiscated hundreds of his books.
He traveled on foot to Rome to admire Trajan's Column.
He died on August 7, 1911 in an accident that occurred while crossing the "Cuckoo Customs".
Crățișoara was famous for its craftsmen, who, in the last century, dedicated themselves to painting icons on glass, and for the glass workshop existing in its territory, an old place where glass was produced, now only a name that reminds of its original place. In the locality, many houses with traditional architecture have been preserved, contributing to maintaining an area unaffected by new constructions.
Nowadays, pottery is an activity practiced in the village, and Cârțișoara is famous for its original ornate red pottery. Also remarkable are the fabrics and carpets made by local women. Both the tradition of pottery and that of sewing and weaving are taught to young people in the section of the folk art school in Sibiu, which operates in the village.
In the memory of the locals of Cârtisoara, the story of the war hero Tarcea Axente, a deserter from the Austro-Hungarian army, who led the Romanian troops in that area, on the paths known only to him, contributing to the victory on September 17, 1916, in the plain between Sărata, Cârțişoara and Porumbacul de Sus. He was awarded the "Military Virtue" by the Romanian government.
Source: Tourist itinerary Brașov - Sibiu - Alba Iulia (Ministry of Tourism, 1982)
