On December 28th Avrig is full of hustle and bustle… visitors from everywhere get together in the Gheorghe Lazăr Square to see the meteleii.
Eagerly awaited by many, the Meteleaua holiday is one of the oldest customs still practiced in Avrig. This is a holiday with pagan origins which symbolises the victory of good, light and rebirth. The costumes and especially the masks of the groups of lads become genuine allegoric images with the most widely varied subjects.
After the costume parade, at midnight the lads burn the remainder of the wood collected from the locals on Christmas Eve and say their goodbyes to the holiday.
Did you know...?
The origins of this custom go back to the pre-Christian era when people celebrated the winter solstice by lighting fires on the hills and at crossroads. The fires would chase the evil spirits and the burning of a straw man at a crossroad symbolised renewal, rebirth, the burning of the old year and the preparation for a new one.