Here we arrived, longing for culture and knowledge, in front of an old aristocratic place invented in the sixteenth century, located a stone's throw from the city of Pitești. A great historical beauty was given to us to discover behind the massive gates, almost impenetrable, which caught our eye on a cold winter day.
The Golești National Museum in the village of the same name is the place where culture and education originated in Wallachia.
The territory belonged to the great scholar and son of boyars Dinicu Golescu, a true visionary and fervent supporter of education in the early 1800s.
He was a great scholar. He wrote the first travel diary and enriched his education, printing works about the Romanian Principalities, books for beginning teaching, but also translations of religious works from the Greek language.
A man open to knowledge, he visited the West many times, investing in his own knowledge, but also in the studies of his sons - they had the chance to study at prestigious schools in Germany and Switzerland.
He nurtured a deep love for learning, for "knowing." Wanting to share it with his peers, the great governor founded in 1826, in the courtyard of his estate, a school where young people from all walks of life could learn, at the expense of the boyar, an initiative unprecedented at the time.
Being among the first houses I met at the entrance to the museum, I stepped, with respect for history, into what was called the Free Public School.
I admired the benches, the "board" with a writing system in the sand, the chair with the corrective stick of the professor. Excited, we imagined for a few moments, the atmosphere of two centuries ago, the curiosity of shy children, who were given a chance to overcome, through education, the precarious material condition, as well as the birth in their small, spotless souls. , of love for learning.
Going out in the yard, an imposing aristocratic mansion was waiting for us, namely, the very place where whole generations of this family spent their lives - “Goleștilor Mansion”, built in 1640.
Currently, we warn you that it is owned by the "Goleşti cats".
Entering the mansion, on a long corridor, we were amazed by the diversity of the rooms.
There is the Guest Room, the place where they were received in the most sumptuous conditions of the time, the boyars of the surrounding lands, close relatives, as well as relatives from the West.
I visited another room, namely the Chamber of the great Carol Davila, the general doctor who entered the Goleşti family through his marriage to Anica Racoviță, Dinicu Golescu's niece.
The importance of this remarkable character deserves to be highlighted in a few words: he was the founder of the Romanian civil and military health service, of the Red Cross and the ambulance system, of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Bucharest, of the Botanical Garden, as well as of important medical journals.
We were surprised by the contrast between his achievements and the simplicity of his room, openly proving that genius has nothing to do with arivism and opulent living.
We moved to the Oriental Room, where coffee was the centerpiece. Being a serious ritual, it was served at pre-arranged hours in beautifully colored, handcuffed Turkish cups called felegene.
A painting with a frame decorated in an Oriental style by Zinca, as well as pieces of furniture with similar motifs gave the impression of an authentic Ottoman interior.
Dinicu Golescu's wife's room, namely Zinca Golescu - a name known to the people of Pitesti, as it is proudly worn by one of the city's prestigious high schools - conquered us through the femininity of the decorations, keeping the imprint of a gentle spirit.
Wonderful beauty objects are on display - mirrors, jewelry boxes, fine linen fabrics, combs covered with ornaments. Also, being a family close to the faith, the rosaries were not missing from Zincă's room.
After visiting the rooms of the mansion, we went down to the basement, in the old cellars. Here we found testimonies of the courage and patriotism of the Goleşti family, whose members did not give up their active participation in the First World War. Unfortunately, some of them gave their lives for the country on the front.
Even underground, we found the tracks of one of the "Goleşti cats", who could not stop lurking and sneaking through the cracks in the basement of the mansion.
We went out into the yard again, continuing our exploration on the road behind the mansion.
We arrived at the Ethnographic Museum, where various households and handicraft workshops from all over the country are located on undulating hills, as well as a modest wooden church.
The Golești Museum gave us an extraordinary experience. It determined us to appreciate the power of education and the impact that a small group of scholarly boyars had on social development in the area south of the Carpathians.
Some useful information about visiting this tourist attraction - prices, program and recreational activities such as zip lines, horseback riding, creative workshops - can be found by clicking here.
We parted from the Golești Museum with peace of mind after this foray into our history and we did not forget to say goodbye to the welcoming "cats of the Golești".
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