The Christian communities of Transylvania celebrating Christmas ? the Lord`s Birth, consider it the most important religious event of the year. The people from the villages of Dragus, Vistea and Sambata De Sus, lying at the bottom of Fagaras Mountains, consider this holiday to be really important and, as in the past, they role play characters specific to Christmas Eve. The choice of Ceata (the group) of young men plays an essential role in the life of the community, during winter holidays.
The "Herodes" Play
Before the holidays start, boys aged between 10 and 14 gather and prepare carols for Christmas Eve. A teacher from the village guides the children for the preparation and organization of carol singing. The cast is selected for the local version of the "Herodes" play: the Angel, the Herode, the Officer, the Magi (Melchior, Baltasar, Gaspar) and the Shepherd. All carol singers wear adorned cardboard conical hats and hold wooden swords with which they beat to the rhythm of the carol recitation. Herod`s hat is unique and the Angel holds a star in his hand.
Winter sports
Dragus has a ski slope of medium difficulty, called Motul Dragusului, and a natural skating rink not very far from the Spring of Priest Arsenie Boca. There are six boarding houses in Dragus. Apart of them there is also the Chalet "Casa Zmeilor (the house of zmei)" (which is the Romanian translation of the German name of Dragus, Drachendorf) situated on DJ102 G county road, at nearly 5 km from Brancoveanu Monastery. Not far from this monastery and very close to the mountains there is the Tourist Complex Sambata offering numerous accommodation facilities, boarding houses and hotels. Along the Valley of Sambata there is the Chalet Sambata (at 1400 m altitude) and, next to it, the Shelter Salvamont.
Promotion projects
"We have several projects undergoing for the promotion of customs and traditions, because genuine cultural events have become an increasing attraction for the tourists from the country and abroad. They are very happy to be able to interactively take part in such events and get to know the traditions of each village. We also intend to create a village museum containing several collections of national costumes and common items used in the peasants` households. This project will be carried out using EU funds. I want to use this opportunity and wish to all our collaborators a happy New Year," said Mr. Gheorghe Sucaciu, Mayor of Dragus.
