Representing, with Christmas, the most important religious celebration of the Romanians, Easter is assigned a different date every year, which is calculated by the Romanian Orthodox church according to the old calendar. This explains why the Orthodox and the Catholics celebrate Easter at a date difference. This great religious celebration is accompanied by a series of customs, including the painting of eggs. The ancient art of painting Easter eggs is a craft spread in all the regions of the country. The vegetal or chemical colours and the decorative motifs usedùeither geometric or figurativeùhave precise meanings. The eggs are generally painted in red, but they may also be decorated with miniature scenes depicting religious subjects or scenes connected to the agricultural life. The decorations are minute and are vividly coloured, symbolizing re-birth and immortality. The decorative motifs are applied on hard-boiled eggs or eggs that have been emptied in advance. Decoration techniques very widely: they may include work in relief, such as in Vrancea, or the use of beads, such as in Bucovina. In an attempt to make the decoarted Easter eggs last longer, they are sometimes made of wood, like in northern Moldavia, or in clay, like in Transylvania.
For Easter, Romanians prepare a special dinner, which includes several specific mutton dishes (lambÆs head sour soup, mutton steak, minced mutton pie) and share with friends and relatives typical Easter cakes, such as ôcozonacö and ôpascπ,ö decorated with nuts and raisins. Bread or the ôcozonacö often have a ritual significance on the major religious celebrations or the celebrations connected to the main events in oneÆs life. Variously shaped, the ôcozonacö is made of flour and yeast and in some villages it is still baked in the fireplace oven. A symbol of the family, of eternity, and of the transmission of traditions from one generation to another, the fireplace is the most important element in the peasantÆs house, as it gathers around it all the members of the family and their friends.
