The 'csango'-s

Moldavia is the territory, beyond the East Carpathian mountains, belonging to Romania today, where there were Hungarians arrived in several waves. From the 13th to the 18th centuries there were several migrations of Hungarian settlers to Moldavia. Their descendants are the people we call 'Csango' today.

They established their own settlements in Moldavia and have preserved their independence from the Orthodox Moldavian Romanians. Thus their culture has medieval European and Asian elements as well as Romanian, Balkanian, Slav and Turkish ones due to living close to those peoples. This is true for the music, as well as the dances, that are diverse even in their forms: beside round and pair dances, the so - called chain or line dances are also characteristic. Gregorian melodies, laments, ballads and new-style folk songs can be found in their culture as well as chain and line dances of ancient origin, the renaissance 'kettos'- a walking and fast couple dance-and the 19th-century Hungarian csardas.

On 23rd May 2001, the Permanent Committee of the General Assembly of the European Council accepted the Finnish Tytti Isohookana Asunmaa's report which stated that the Csangos of Moldavia speak a former version of Hungarian and have archaic traditions, colourful folk art and culture which are of special importance for Europe.

National Geographic - 2005     (further information>>)