The "Gogu lu' Moacă" Museum

The "Gogu lu' Moacă" Museum

- open space museum, with stone sculptures :-)

 

       Going up from the Roman Castrum, towards the „Cloșca cu puii de aur” treasure, we found an open space museum, set up in the home of uncle Gogu, stone sculptor,  author of the wonders we find on the side of the road, along his fence and in his household, in the entire courtyard. 
       Uncle Gogu, who will be 73 this September, is waiting for us not only with sculpted objects, 

        but also with water from his own fountain ( ), clear, fresh and cool water, and also with Romanian plum brandy, homemade, kept in original stone recipients. 

.

       The statues do not look one like the other, even the ones who represent people, or the ones who represent animals or birds; each one has its own personality. The way they are positioned has meaning, each one tells us a story.  
       Thus, the gate of the museum is protected by a Mongolian soldier, 

    

then we enter "The World of Silence", represented by the Father of the Stone, 
() and in "The Rediscovered World", in the Dacian and even the Egyptian one: we arrive in the Valley of the Kings where we are met by a pharaoh and his wife. And of course there are also the discoverers of the „Cloșca cu puii de aur” treasure: Stan Avram and his son-in-law, Ion Lemnaru, then a few Romanian music and film idols, such as: Draga Olteanu-Matei or, with an emperor crown on his head, as it is written on the statue - „Neculai Guță”. Even political and historical personalities salute us from uncle Gogu's museum:  Mihai Viteazu and Ceaușescu, both riding a horse, then king Mihai, etc.

Animals and birds also have their place in this museum, they all tell a story: it is not without reason that the fox has her muzzle pointed towards the chicks, or that the mama bear has a bear cub  hanging on to her. And perhaps even Ion Creanga (greatest Romanian story teller) 's place is not chosen randomly, as he is found near the fox and bear, to which he gave voice in his story "The Bear fooled by the Fox".

He builds crosses also, and very tall statues: a statue of 3.5m, made by uncle Gogu, can be found in Valenii de Munte, (Prahova county).

Near the grain mill, 75 years old, but representing a type of mill used in the Neolithic, there sits a...Chinese man. A Chinese man similar to the terracotta soldiers from the mausoleum in Xi'an (ancient China capital city, where they found the terracotta army of Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huangdi).  Therefore we find here representatives from all around the globe and we walk through time, in the past, through the history of many countries.  :-) Besides, everything fits into one small country household! 

After seeing and hearing all this, nothing should surprise us anymore regarding this museum: we can also find wooden statues. Yes, uncle Gogu also sculpts wood and he tells us how he boils and treats the wood to prevent cracking.  

Now, don't believe that that was all that was interesting: without having been taught by someone, uncle Gogu knows how to play the accordion, the drum and also to sing, all at the same time! And he is the one who invented and crafted the drum he plays at. And lastly, for the 'set' to be full, he offers his visitors a short musical performance in place of "Goodbye and please come again anytime!". :-)