#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.

Click here for a Virtual Tour of the Museum

National Museum of History of Moldova

Research Projects

International scientific project „Historic site Camp of King Charles XII of Sweden - valorisation and promotion”

I. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

Friday, April 8, the National Museum of History of Moldova organised a special event in the village of Varnița - the official launch of project „Historic site Camp of King Charles XII of Sweden from Varnița - valorisation and promotion"/SITVAR...

II. INFORMATION REGARDING PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

MAY 2016

Topographic research

Land topography

Topographic research included: Control topographic survey - 2016 Scale 1:500; were assigned: land with existing borders and all objectives, reconstituted land, land reconstituted according the cadastral plan (10.06-1992), comparison of plans for 2011-2016, comparison of plans for 1992-2011, field research from 1993. The research revealed that existing land borders differ with minor errors from the borders indicated in the documents of ownership.

Three objectives were identified on the ground:

Monument (obelisk) dedicated to King Charles XII of Sweden
Monument (stele) dedicated to hetman Ivan Mazepa
A cellar from the nineteenth century.

JUNE 2016

Land cleaning

In May 2016 were started the works for cleaning the land where the historic site Camp of the King Charles XII of Sweden is located from unnecessary vegetation. The work was coordinated by Varnița local public authorities. A group of youth and members of Association Woman. Hope. Future. were involved in these works. The aim was to prepare the land for magnetometric research. During this activity were identified a foundation of some stone structure, certain archaeological objects. In this connection, professional archaeologists from Chișinău and Odessa (V. Levciuk, I. Sapojnikov) were invited in Varnița who found unnecessary magnetometric research, but deemed necessary archaeological excavation research.

Historic and documentary research

The researchers from the National Museum of History of Moldova have studied the funds of the museum archive and the National Archive of Moldova for documents related to the history of installing the monument dedicated to King Charles XII of Sweden in Varnița. Research in the National Archives of Romania is to be undertaken.

JUNE-JULY 2016

Archaeological excavations

A group of archaeologists from the National Museum of History of Moldova have conducted archaeological excavations, their funding being provided by the National Museum of History of Moldova. During excavations a foundation of a stone structure was found, in further research the specialists will determine with exactness the purpose of the building. The shape of the structure is rectangular, size is 25x10m, south-north oriented. We can assume that this is the Chancellery of King Charles XII of Sweden, based on archive data and plans of the camp of the Swedish king in Varnița published over time.

Elaborated projects

In June and July were drafted the project of restoration of the monument of King Charles XII of Sweden situated in the historic site Camp of King Charles XII of Sweden in Varnița, project of land development of the historic site, project on conservation of discovered remains identified during archaeological excavations.

AUGUST 2016

On August 2 was held the meeting of the National Council for Public Monuments where were discussed and approved the projects on land development of the historic site, the project of restoration of the monument of King Charles XII of Sweden, the project of conservation of stone structures identified during archaeological excavations. The projects should be implemented further on.

AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2016

Conservation of the vestiges discovered during the archaeological excavations is underway, including conservation of the Royal Chancellery wall. Also the monument consecrated to King Charles XII of Sweden is undergoing restoration works. The works are conducted by S.R.L. Softconstruct (Anenii Noi).