#Exhibit of the Month

It is a sports trophy obtained at an inter-school oina (a bat-and-ball game) competition in interwar Bessarabia. We don't know which schools participated in this competition, nor the venue, we only know that one of the winners received the second prize and that the event was held on May 13, 1934. In this way we learn about the existence of different sports competitions organized by schools, including the oina game. Oina is a beautiful and complex sports game that promotes the development of body and spirit, courage and the desire for self-improvement. Oina is a treasure of the Romanian people, which must be sacredly kept and passed on to future generations.

The oină or hoina game is considered a Romanian national sports game having a history of at least six centuries. The oina game is practiced continuously, according to the chronicles and deeds of the time at least from the 14th century, being mentioned for the first time in 1364, during the reign of Vlaicu Vodă. The game requires complex sports qualities (good running speed, fast reflexes in self-defense movements against the balls, accuracy in throwing and hitting the ball with a bat or stick). Oina is a sport that identifies us to the same extent as trânta, our national wrestling. The game becomes attractive among young people in the villages, enters the school curriculum through physical education lessons. Through the Education Reform of 1898, as well as through other ministerial decisions, Education Minister Spiru Haret introduces the compulsory oina lessons in all schools, as well as the annual oina competitions.

On May 9, 1899, in Bucharest, the first national oina championship was organized, the teams being made up of high school students. The winner was the team of Nicolae Bălcescu High School from Brăila.

In 1912, the Federation of the Romanian Sports Society (Bucharest) was created, which consisted of 13 sports commissions including the oina commission.

After the Union of 1918, the Federation of the Romanian Sports Society was reorganized in 1923, including the other oina sports commissions of Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia.

In 1932, the Romanian Oina Federation was founded.

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National Museum of History of Moldova

Events Archive

National Session of Reports “Archaeological research in the Republic of Moldova. Campaign of 2018”

18 April 2019

On April 18, 2019, on the occasion of the International Day of Monuments and Sites, the National Museum of History of Moldova, in partnership with the National Archaeological Agency, the National Archaeological Commission and under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research organized the 3rd edition of the National Session of archaeological reports.

During this meeting were presented the results of archaeological research in the campaigns conducted in 2018. A team of 48 archaeologists discussed 31 excavation reports. Scholars from prestigious archaeological institutions in the Republic of Moldova (State University of Moldova, "Ion Creangă" State Pedagogical University, Institute of Cultural Heritage of the ASM, National Museum of History of Moldova, National Archeological Agency), Romania (ARHEOINVEST Platform by A. I. Cuza University, Iași, Botosani County Museum, Olga Necrasov, Research Center, Iași), Germany (Deutsches Archaologisches Institut (DAI) Berlin, DAI Frakfurt, Universität Regensburg), Poland (Uniwersytet Rzeszowski) in multidisciplinary research teams, provided the exceptional academic environment with information about the life and activity of the communities that populated the area between Prut and Nistru Rivers from the Paleolithic to the late medieval period.

The program and abstracts of communications have been published and can be found here.