Starting yesterday, the visitors of the National Museum Complex ASTRA Sibiu can find out more about the history, traditions and cultural heritage of Rosia Montana (Alba County), in the building donated to the museum by Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (RMGC), a press release reports.Situated in the natural reserve Dumbrava Sibiului, in the Museum of Traditional Popular Civilization ASTRA, the “Gold House” tells the story of the two-thousand-year tradition of gold mining at Rosia Montana, in the heart of Apuseni Mountains. The building dates back to 1830 and represents a typical household for vernacular architecture in the area of Rosia Montana, being made of sawed fir wood beams, with swallow tail joints. The construction, which was in a poor degree of conservation, was bought by Rosia Montana Gold Corporation in 2006 and was then donated to ASTRA Sibiu Museum. The house was restored as part of a project carried out by the Cultural Restoration-Conservation Center of ASTRA Sibiu Museum, implemented with the help of a grant fund from the SEE Financial Mechanism financed by Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The dismantlement and relocation works were conducted by specialists of the museum in 2009. The wood was then restored and the building was reconstructed within the museum premises, in the thematic area of traditional mining. Adrian Gligor, Vice President Patrimony and Sustainable Development of RMGC, explained the company’s involvement in cultural heritage conservation projects. “We pay a great deal of importance to the conservation of mining traditions in the area of Rosia Montana, which tell a lot about the history of our people. (…) So far, we have spent USD 15 M in the research and restoration of the local heritage and will invest another USD 140 M to valorize the buildings and the constructions from Rosia Montana and the national cultural heritage”, Adrian Gligor declared.
