“The houses, same as the people, have their own souls and faces, reflecting their inner essence”, said Alexandre Dumas.
A house is a symbol of family for Gagauz people, representing the memory of their ancestors and their connection with the nature. As for the etymology of the word ev – “house”, in Gagauz language “to get married” is translated as evlenme, stemming from the word meaning “house”, in other words, “to get married” means “to obtain a home”.
In old times, a traditional Gagauz house would be a rectangular building maximum 4 meters wide and with a terrace as an essential element. Before setting the foundation for a new house, a table with bread on it was placed in that location. The houses were built with their windows oriented to the South or to the East. Inside, Gagauz houses had two chambers, same as the traditional Moldovan ones: “Casa Mare” and the living room, and in the middle was situated the hayat, meaning “life” in Turkish.
Another traditional element of a Gagauz house is the cellar. That’s where the preserves for the winter are stored and, of course, the wine. Moreover, every Gagauz house has a special place set aside for prayer.
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The Gagauz preserved certain elements of their traditional homes even at present. It includes the sofra – a small round table, and the susak – a recipient carved from pumpkins of a special shape that is frequently encountered in Gagauz households. Moreover, almost every house nowadays has a stove. Hospitality is reverenced in the Gagauz homes. Hospitality is adamlîk in Gagauz, the root of this word is adam – person, in general, regardless of nationality, language and status.
The icons have a special place in the homes of the orthodox Gagauz. They are always oriented to the East because that is where the sun rises and a new life begins.
The Gagauz decorate their homes with braided garlic hung at the windows and doors. The garlic braids are also used nowadays during the wedding ceremonies as a symbol of the family that is supposed to be friendly and united as that bunch of braided garlic.
Ecaterina Cernioglo,curator in the museum of Besalma village
This material was developed in the framework of the project “Supporting institutionalized and sustainable dialogue on Gagauzia Autonomy”, implemented by CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation and financed by Sweden. The opinions expressed in this material pertain to the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of CMI or of Sweden.