Avram Iancu Memorial House in Incești

The home of the «Little King of the Mountains»

Avram Iancu (1824–1872) was a lawyer and one of the leaders of the Romanians of Transylvania during the revolution of 1848–1849, popularly nicknamed «Crăișorul Munților» — «the Little King of the Mountains». He was born in the village then called Vidra de Sus, which now bears his name: the commune of Avram Iancu in Alba County, in the very heart of the Moți country (Țara Moților), an ethnographic region of the Apuseni Mountains. Iancu is buried in the village of Țebea near the town of Brad.

The museum occupies the family home that Avram's parents, Alexandru and Maria Iancu, built around 1800 in the hamlet of Incești. It is a typical Moți house with a very tall, steep roof ending in four semicircular arches. In 1924 the ASTRA association of Sibiu added outbuildings and founded a museum here; until 1972 the annexes served as classrooms of the village primary school. For the centenary of Iancu's death in 1972 the exhibition was reorganised, with history and ethnography displays in the annex. In 2010–2013 the whole complex — memorial house, museum, school and church — was restored, and it reopened to visitors in September 2013. Today the museum is run by the commune of Avram Iancu.

Why go

For Romanians this is one of the most important places of memory of the 19th century, and for travellers it is a chance to see a genuine Moți home among the Bihor Mountains: tall shingle roofs, wooden porches and the quiet of a mountain valley. The exhibition is small and personal: objects that Iancu himself held, and everyday items of his fellow villagers. The museum is easy to combine with a walk to the Pișoaia waterfall and a trip to Găina mountain, where the famous «Girls' Fair» takes place in summer.

What to see

• The memorial house with its tall roof and four arches — an example of Moți folk architecture.
• Avram Iancu's personal belongings — a cannon, sabres, a shepherd's flute (fluier), weapons and flags.
• Documents — his school certificates from the gymnasium in Zlatna, the royal register in which Iancu is recorded, his will and papers on the events of 1848–1849.
• The ethnographic exhibition — Moți costume, local pottery, tools for making wooden tubs, tulnic alphorns and carts.
• The village school and church, part of the restored complex.

Practical information

The complex lies in the hamlet of Incești in the commune of Avram Iancu, on county road DJ762, about 20 km from the town of Câmpeni and 35 km from Abrud. From Ukraine the most convenient route is via the Solotvyno – Sighetu Marmației crossing and on through Cluj-Napoca and the Arieș valley (about 350 km from the border). Public transport in the valley is limited, so a car is better; the road is narrow and mountainous.

According to the national museum register (cIMeC), the museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–18:00, closed on Mondays; contact +40 747 014 946. Official sources do not state a ticket price. The visit takes 40–60 minutes; with the walk to the waterfall, half a day. The rooms are in old village buildings with thresholds and steps, so wheelchair access is limited. Check before you go, especially outside the summer season.

Nearby

• Pișoaia waterfall — a cascade on the edge of Avram Iancu commune, a few kilometres away.
• Găina mountain — the site of the traditional «Girls' Fair» (Târgul de fete) every summer.
• Apuseni narrow-gauge railway — the Câmpeni – Abrud ride.
• Roșia Montană — Roman gold galleries, a UNESCO site.
• Gold Museum in Brad.

Official website: ghidulmuzeelor.cimec.ro

Photos: Maria.popescu22, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro, Wikimedia Commons; Ela Vaida, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro, Wikimedia Commons; Țetcu Mircea Rareș, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.