“Ion Creangă” Memorial Museum from Humuleşti

„I don’t pretend to know what other people are like, but for myself, I seem to feel my heart throb with joy even to this day when I remember my birthplace, my home at Humuleşti, the post supporting the flue of the stove, round which mother used to tie a piece of string with tassels at the end of it, with which the cats played till they dropped exhausted, the flat ledge of the stove that I used to cling to when I was pulling myself up learning to walk, the place on top of the stove where I used to hide when we children played at hide-and-seek, as well as other games and delights full of childlike fun and charm”.

The words from Memories of my Boyhood describe even today, as real as two centuries ago, the atmosphere from the house from Humuleşti where the famous writer Ion Creangă lived. The house where he was born and spent his childhood was built in 1830 by Petrea Ciubotariul, the grandfather of the beloved storyteller, and it was set up as a museum in 1951.

Absolute tourist brands, the storyteller Ion Creangă and his house from Humuleşti offer the place a special feature, making any Romanian look for his roots here and his own memories.

In the series of cultural tourist locations of the County of Neamţ, the house of Ion Creangă from Humuleşti is the centerpiece.
Right after the inauguration, the “Ion Creangă” Memorial Museum from Humuleşti became one of the most visited museums. Beyond its historic, literary and sentimental significance, the museum represents a true representative of the folk architecture specific to the area and that time.

The “Ion Creangă” Memorial Museum from Humuleşti tells, without words, about the real life of a family from a Moldavian village. Here, simplicity blends with beauty, from the courtyard hedged with a wicker fence, to the nice interior painted in white, like a childhood dream.

In the interior there are objects specific to that time, which recall of the great writer, like the bench all around the room walls, covered with traditional Moldavian blankets, the long perch with a few clothes, the rush light, the distaff and the spinning wheel, the reel, the table where the writer learnt as a child, the letters of the book, and also the book of hours which reminds those who have read Memories of my Boyhood of his stories.

Behind the house, under a roof of planks there are several household items and agricultural tools, which remind of the description of the storyteller.
The museum exhibitions are real proofs of the simple and modest living, but also of the traditions in the spirit of which the small boy from Memories of my Boyhood was raised.

On the porch of the house there is an exposition with archive documents, letters, post cards with autograph, school books like “Metoda nouă de scriere şi citire”, “Învăţământul copiilor”, “Geografia judeţului Iaşi”, photocopies of the manuscripts and photos.

Currently, the “Ion Creangă” Memorial Museum is one of the most visited museums in the country. Annually, over 40,000 Romanian tourists choose to visit it. Children are drawn by the exhibitions in the courtyard where they can relive the stories of the great writer.