ARHIVELE OLTENIEI - Universitatea din Craiova

124Nicolae VîlvoiThe “Vetre stramosesti” (Ancient Hearths) Museum in Celarucommune, Marotinu de Jos village.Its collection of ethnographic and historic objects was set up around1912-1914 in the house of school masters Zenobia and Marin Georgescu.Another group of religious art objects found today in the “Vetre stramosesti”Museum from Celaru comes from the village rectory, which was kept by priestMihail Mihailescu. Today, the museum is kept by the mathematics teacherVictor Gh. Ancuta. Although retired in 2000, he has been managing the museumsince 1990, the acquisition and protection of art objects being his main passion.The museum’s collection contains movable cultural goods of exceptionalhistoric, archaeological and documentary value, religious art objects, rare and oldbooks, fabrics, pieces of garment, ethnographic objects ensembles, objects anddocuments of numismatic value: coins, medals, decorations, badges etc.Among the valuable documents found in the collection of the museumthere is the original letter signed by Nicolae Iorga on 2 nd July 1921 and sent toIon Celareanu, former mayor of the commune. In 2001, this letter, together withother 42 cultural items (for example, an old book dated 1748, weapons from theIndependence War, etc.) were included in a restoration project developed by theDolj County Directorate for Culture, Religious Affairs and National CulturalHeritage and approved by the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs. Theselection of the items was made by specialists who took into consideration theheritage value of the cultural goods to be classified, as well as their conservationstatus. The restoration and conservation of the goods was done by the RegionalRestoration Laboratory within the Museum of Oltenia in Craiova. Today themuseum of Celaru functions because it is passionately and devotedly kept by theretired teacher Victor Gh. Ancuta. Still, it is closed almost all year round, itsonly visitors being the pupils of the secondary school in the village.“Cula Cernăteştilor” (the fortified manor of the Cernăteşti)communal museumThe fortified manor is situated right in the centre of Cernăteşti, on thegradient of Obedeanu (Calu) hill, next to the school, approximately 60 metresaway from the road Craiova - Gherceşti. Today, it bares the name “the FortifiedManor of the Cernăteşti” communal museum. The village, whose ancient namewas Cernăţeşti, is mentioned in documents dating back to 1500s. In the XVthcentury, a building was erected here by Dimitrie Cernat, a captain in the army ofMihai Viteazul 1 . At the beginning of the XVIII th century, a descendent ofDimitrie Cernat added an additional floor to the building and turned it into areinforced building that would withstand attacks from the outside 2 . The historicmonument is a rectangular medium-sized two-storied fortified manor, with its1 Marele Dicţionar al României, vol. II, p. 323, apud Jana Cernătescu, Autorportret cupisică, Bucureşti, Editura Victor Frunză, 2004.2 Iancu Atanasescu, Valeriu Grama, Culele din Oltenia, Craiova, Editura ScrisulRomânesc, 1974, p.77-79.