The Story of Wool

Day 1 – Tracing the wool – in the nature

A day of trekking to a sheepfold, at 1000 m altitude, under the Rooster’s Crest in the Gutâi Massif. You will learn more about rural animal breeding – how life at the sheepfold is organized, what grazing and milking the sheep actually means, you will see original cheese recipes.

We will then climb to the Rooster’s Crest, the most iconic cliff in the Gutâi Mountains – the perfect sightseeing point from which we will discover the most important wildlife ecological corridor in the Carpathians, part of the destination Eco Maramureș.

Medium difficulty route with departure and arrival in Breb – total length 22 km and +700 m level difference.

Departure time: 10:00

Day 2 – The magic of transformation

We’ll explore the villages on the Cosau Valley, visiting households and hard-working people who transform wool into items of the traditional wear or the customary blankets and carpets that garnish the local houses of Maramureș. Combed manually or mechanically with the wool-comb, powered by the water of the Cosău river, the wool is separated into roves, placed on the fork and manually spun.

Preserved in its natural colors or dyed in vegetal tint according to ancient recipes, the wool is put into the loom and woven by the devout hands of the locals. The obtained soft fabric is carefully moistened with hot water and beaten for two days in the fulling mill to thicken. Then it is washed in the whirlpool in the river, being prepared to become winter clothing: gube (hairy woollen coats), cioareci (warm felted trousers), and pieptare (fur-lined vests). If you are curious, you are invited test your spinning and weaving skills. At the end of the day, you’ll be able to take home memories …of wool … multicolored bags, slippers or blankets to keep you warm during the winter.