Almost 100,000 visitors at Astra Museum this summer

Situated in the natural reservation of Dumbrava Sibiului, on the road to Rasinari village and to Paltinis ski resort, 8 kilometers away from Sibiu city centre, the Open Air Museum spreads across a 96 ha area of which an area of 40 ha is covered by the permanent exhibition which is the largest open air ethnographic exhibition in Europe. The mill collection of the ASTRA Museum in the forest of Dumbrava Sibiului (central Romania) got nearly 100,000 visitors this summer, Agerpres newswire notes. “The windmills in the outdoors museum collection are pivoting, meaning they can spin around a central axis to allow an optimal capture of wind energy. This central axle is called ‘babalac’ (old geezer), and its purpose is to keep the mill body vertical,” explained museologist Stefan Paucean, the director of the Astra Museum of Traditional Folk Civilization.

Inaugurated in 1963 under the name of the Museum of Folk Techniques, the museum currently has over 400 monuments of folk architecture and technique as well as an impressive collection of ethnographic heritage objects. The collection of mills, the wooden churches, and the traditional homesteads are very popular and very much appreciated.

There are 23 types of mills overall in the outdoors museum, and they are all functional. A unique piece is a mill on stone foundations, with a system of 12 sails. Its’ whole energy capture and transmission system is much lighter and more efficient. This type was widespread in the Mediterranean zone, which is why it is often called the Mediterranean type. The oldest mill in the museum of Sibiu was built in 1833.