Visiting Korond (Corund), A Place For Souvenir Buying

Korond, or Corund in Romanian, is mostly known for its famous ceramics. The artisans of Korond have been earning their living by creating and selling handmade and hand painted pottery.

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DN 13A is crossing the village, so you can't miss it.

Corund (Hungarian: Korond, Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈkorond] ) is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, in the "Salt Region" (Ținutul Sării or Sóvidék). Corund is famous for its pottery and ceramics. source

The village had a rocky past, as any other Transylvanian territory.

The village historically formed part of the Székely Land region of Transylvania province. It belonged to Udvarhelyszék, then, from 1876 until 1918, to Udvarhely County in the Kingdom of Hungary. After World War I, by the terms of the Treaty of Trianon of 1920, it became part of Romania. As a result of the Second Vienna Award, it was ceded to Hungary between 1940 and 1944. After World War II, it came under Romanian administration and became part of Romania in 1947. Between 1952 and 1960, it formed part of the Hungarian Autonomous Province, then, of the Mureș-Hungarian Autonomous Province until it was abolished in 1968. Since then, the commune has been part of Harghita County. source

There is a long marketplace in the village, where almost every tourist bus or car stops. Foreigners love these products and often buy them as souvenirs. I always loved the products created here, have a few at home and willing to grow my collection if opportunity knocks on the door. One such opportunity was on Sunday, when we passed by and stopped to have a look as you can't just drive through without stopping.

Some of these businesses have been here for ages, these are inherited in the family, while others are new as there's a possibility to earn a living. These skills are passed down to the next generation for centuries. It's not about talent, it's bout learning the ropes to make a living.

Baskets, folk costumes, rugs, embroidered table cloths, wall cloths, wooden utensils, you name it.

While walking through the market, you can admire the lovely hand carved and hand painted wooden gates, specific to the region. This one is relatively new as it's only 52 years old. It's decorated with folk elements, specific to the region, including the tulip carvings in the wood.

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The truth is, I tried to prepare myself for reality as I knew I'm not going to find solely those traditional products they used to make for decades or centuries, but what I was about to see was shocking.

Unfortunately making profit has become the primary goal and preserving tradition is ranking much lower on the priority list.

The quantity of kitschy products is unbelievably high. You see all kinds of cheap plastic products, mostly toys for kids, that should have no place here. The other thing that is disappointing is the existence of these kitschy ceramics, deer, bears, horses, cows, dogs, penguins, dolphins, tigers, you name it. That's not part of the tradition.

I tried to avoid those products, but it's literally impossible. Here I tried to take a photo of these lovely baskets. I have one at my dad's, and am using it to take photos with it, filling it with jars, to look nice 😂. However, one day I'm going to buy one, preferably with a nice red and white canvas lining, that has lace on the sides.

I'm not a huge fan of embroidered bags, but I could pick one or two from here, especially the gray one from left and maybe the red one at the beginning of the row on the left side. Beneath there were some interesting ones too.

I'm not saying this scene is perfect, but except for a few things, the rest of the products can be called traditional. They sell those craft jams, honey and toiletries, which are all tempting and dangerous to the pocket. Wooden spoons I love a lot, ceramic pots are also something I am planning to buy.

I thing there should be two separate markets. One for traditional products and the other for these.

Chopping boards made of wood and those rolls that you need to make kürtöskalács would be great, although I think I would never make kürtöskalács. It's heavenly good, if you haven't tasted it yet, don't hesitate, but there's a lot of work with it and I don't have enough experience for it.

I loved the pots.

This was maybe the only shop that was genuine, without kitsch.

Those big, handmade, hand painted plates have been on my radar for some time, but the one I liked was 50€. There's a lot of work with it for sure as it's done manually.

Good thing I was not prepared to invest in such things as I would not know which one to choose.

More baskets (for me 😍).

This was the other shop that I could call authentic. They were selling traditional fold costumes mostly.

It's not really my style, but this was lovely.

In the center, there's a costume with white shirt, red and black vest and skirt an a white, embroidered apron. This is the traditional folk costume of the region for women.

This is a traditional shirt for men. The white embroidery you see on the shirt is called vitézkötéses. I see in English it translates to Austrian knot, or Hungarian knot or alternatively warrior's knot.

An Austrian knot (or Hungarian knot), alternatively warrior's knot or vitézkötés, is an elaborate design of twisted cord or lace worn as part of a dress uniform, usually on the lower sleeve. It is usually a distinction worn by officers; the major exception is the hussars, in which Austrian knots are worn by all ranks. British cadet under officers wear Austrian knots as part of their rank insignia.

Of Hungarian origin, the vitézkötés (in English "warrior's knot") evolved as an indicator of rank among hussars of the Hungarian army, and became part of the Hungarian noble attire since the 16th century. Later, as other nations added hussars to their armies, they started to use the knot as well. The reason for this was that hussar regiments were often established by Hungarian nobles and some retained the name of their founder; for example the Ladislas Ignace de Bercheny. source

That shirt costs 40€.

This place will always be like a magnet to me and one day, when I'm going to move in to my dream house, I'm going to buy quite a few things from here. Till then, I'm enjoying the photos with you 😃.

So if you are in the area and want some unique and traditional souvenir, this is the right place and please buy traditional, not kitschy.

If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides: