Cultural Manifestations Organised by the Astra Museum For the Campaign "Europe, a Unique Patrimony"

The Open Air Museum "ASTRA"- European and Universal Archives of the Traditional Folk Civilisation

The "ASTRA" Museum, placed in Sibiu, with an area of 100 ha, is an ethnographical museum, specialised in research (discovery), saving (transfer) and representation in a natural environment - as much similar to the original one - of some monuments of vernacular architecture, into the context of the folk Romanian civilisation. The museum's values are of European and universal importance, including samples who have features of the architectural identity into the Carpathians' perimeter, by elements which are common for the cultural synthesis of the humanity, in identification forms of the national Romanian characteristics and of the nations which were in contact with Romanians for historical periods. The architectural monuments constitute archives, which contain over 186 transferred monuments and 30 monuments in a development project.

Animal farming sector in the Open Air Museum Homestead for hemp process-ing, Sasausi, Sibiu County

The museum's structure contains 6 presentation sections for monuments connected with trades, homesteads and public monuments illustrating a history of the house and settlements of different models: temporary inhabited huts ( refuges and human housing ) with annexes for animals, pastoral and agro-pastoral buildings and homesteads, specialised handicraft homesteads, architectural complexes who are specific for different areas and traditions, social and public monuments, reconstitution of some types of archaic settlements, monuments which represents a temporary stage of civilisation, of inhabiting in the 18-19th centuries, on a technical-constructive and esthetical plan.

• the museum's monumental background - expression of zone and European interference,
• availability of the research stuff for international co-operation,
• a structure for the research program who contains:
  • the history (genesis) of the buildings,
  • the geographical-zone position of the buildings, o the technical-constructive typology,
  • the relationship architecture-environment,
  • the structure of the buildings and homesteads,
  • the forms and types of settlements,
  • the traditional constructive techniques and materials,
  • the organisation of the interiors,
  • the esthetical value of the traditional architecture,
  • the ways of preservation of the folk architecture monuments,
  • the terminology of the folk architecture.

• information exchanges,
• selection of the program's themes
• documentation visits,
• exhibitions,
• emphasising the compared values of the folk vernacular architecture,
• financing common projects into the presented structure.