Gypsy barons. Houses of gypsy barons. Life of the Gypsies

"The gypsies are noisy crowd / They are wandering about Bessarabia / They are now over the river / In the tents of tattered ones spend the night ..." So begins the famous southern poem of Pushkin, almost 200 years ago, famous for the Bessarabian region and sowed a huge interest in society to the exotic people described in it. The romantic direction in art was different in that it contrasted the other European consciousness with a satiated, corrupted European consciousness - a "pure", natural, natural attitude to life. Therefore, the heroes of such works became independent, proud mountaineers, then freedom-loving children are dear to the gypsies, then courageous, risky pirates are smugglers without a tribe-tribe. Of course, artistic fiction embellished many things, exhibiting a lot in a special light. And how do Roma really live? We will make a small study based on the ethnographic materials of the former Bessarabia, and the current Moldova.

Three capitals

On the territory of the state there are 3 recognized centers of the Gypsy tribe. All of them are in the northern part of Moldova, in the cities of Magpies, Ataki and Edinet. This does not mean that nowhere else in the territory of the former Soviet republic you can meet these dark-skinned, black-haired people with a quick, tenacious gaze and a peculiar guttural dialect. Long colorful skirts of Roma women sweep the streets and Chisinau, and Bălţi, and Ungheni streets. But it is in the north of Moldova that the largest, numerous communities of this once nomadic people are concentrated. And every diaspora has its own gypsy barons!

Meaning of title

People of cultural, musically educated, this phrase will be associated with the famous operetta of the Austrian composer Johann Strauss. However, another meaning of expression interests us. Gypsy barons are authoritative representatives of the tribe (tabor) or the whole clan.

The Roma people, although considered to be Europeans wild, uncontrollable, are in fact not alien to some kind of organization and submission to their laws, "customs and customs." Therefore, ordinary gypsies allowed a "respectable" enough to speak above and above them, who knows how to speak blandly and brightly, who knows several basic languages of the area where the camp usually wanders or where the clan is ass. He had to settle disputes between "his" and the local population, the administration and law enforcement agencies. Another gypsy barons regulated intra-community or intra-community relations.

Wordplay

By the way, about the "baronet". The Roma people do not in fact have any high titles, the more aristocratic, aristocratic. But there is a resonant word "baro", which means "important". A rom baro is translated as "an important gypsy". What reminds this combination of people whose language is far from the adverb of "romantics from the big road"? That's right, the same "baron". So the myth arose that the leaders of the camp are aristocrats from the Aborigines. That is gypsy barons! However, those who directly touched the life of the camp, knows its nuances from within, they will say the opposite: the power there is concentrated in the hands of not one person, but the group of the most respected people. They manage the society on the basis of rather strict local gypsy laws. By the way, unwritten!

From fairy-tale to reality

Also, a huge number of rumors, legends, fairy tales encompass the life of this once nomadic tribe. Yes, long ago those days when the life of the Roma passed on wheels, under the cheerless clatter of horse hoofs and the creaking of the tents. Most of the representatives of the people began to lead a sedentary image in the second half of the twentieth century. Many parents even gave their children to schools - it's true, for a short while, a class of 3-4 to learn to read and write. In the Soviet era, the total deficit of a gypsy was sold by jeans and rubber flasks, books and cosmetics, cigarettes, purses - "chameleons" and many other very different attributes of "beautiful" life. And also the famous candy on sticks, candy, "tawnuchki", chewing gum. Naturally, at the same time they offered to tell fortunes, "tell the whole truth", bewitch, take off the spell and even heal from a sudden illness. By horse-stealing, theft in Soviet times, the poor people of the Roma traded rarely. Children, however, beg, but not explicitly, in moderation.

The situation has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. Gypsies, on the one hand, are clearly "cultivated", somewhat civilized. On the other hand, their strongest social stratification occurred. Crime, marginalization - now quite familiar phenomena among the Roma. But they still love gold, bright, colorful outfits, they dance and sing great, preserving their identity. Even the little gypsy gypsy girl has a cool mobile phone, most often "expropriated". Work in families is mostly women. The scope of their work - all the same markets, trade. Men traded in the delivery of goods and "turning" cases. Girls are forbidden intimate intimacy before the wedding. And even the custom of showing the sheet after the wedding night gypsies are honored and executed. The elderly in the family are always honored, adultery is cruelly punished, divorce is rarely taken, abortions are forbidden, children are loved and give birth to a lot - these are the basic realities of being Roma.

To the question of locks

As already mentioned, the social stratification of the nationality strikes at once, it is only necessary to pass along those streets of a small village of Edinet or to bigger cities - Atakam and Soroca, where the Roma population is concentrated. The last populated point is really the Moldavian capital of this people. Old houses with flaky window frames, cracks along the facade, crumbling plaster, standing in cluttered, neglected courtyards, appear sad and screaming about deep poverty. The picture is completed by half-naked dirty kids with obviously hungry, but very even cunning little faces.

Another thing is the house of the gypsy barons and just very rich representatives of the diaspora! In the same Soroka, under their magnificent buildings, a whole hill is set aside! And the dwellings themselves on the whims of architectural decisions, the richness of design can compete with the stars of the show business stars. And another question - who will win the dispute!

Architectural fantasies

How do gypsy barons live, you can imagine at least the external parameters of their homes. There is no one-story house. Rare in two floors. Usually at three and four. Red tiled roofs, columns and balustrades, arches, pediments, stucco molding, statues, weathercocks ... Pinnacles, medieval spiers, domes on cathedrals are also signs of "baron" palaces. Many are decorated with coats of arms, as the owners assure, ancient. True, for some reason with the images of the head of the family, which, in fact, about the history of the family and narrates. The courtyards are tiled and remind Italian patios. They have fountains, gazebos or simply benches, comfortably arranged under a canopy of trees, among the flowering flower beds. Ancient Greek gods and goddesses, the quadriga of the Bolshoi Theater, the steeple of the Admiralty, wonderful animals, peacocks are the usual attributes of the palaces in which the clan of the gypsy baron dwells. But the magnificence is often reminiscent of the title of the novel "Shine and Poverty of Courtesans." Most of the buildings have not been completed, the work goes from year to year, and the end is not visible to them.

Interior decoration

Icons, paintings, gilding, marble, natural wood, antique carpets and newfangled wallpapers, upholstered furniture make up the inner entourage of dwellings. Beating in the eyes of luxury, sometimes clearly tasteful, but more often motley and lurid, is the main element in interior decoration. A lot of rooms, including separate bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, even rooms for the reception of guests and petitioners. Gypsy barons, photos of which you can see in this article, their title is passed by inheritance, and along with them a lot of serious duties and obligations to fellow tribesmen. After all, at the present time these people have concentrated the fullness of power in the diaspora. Legal disputes, administrative, even family-household disassociations among the Roma are decided through the baron. Therefore, in their houses and separate rooms for the reception.

Instead of concluding

To say that knowing the Roma is rich is not to say anything. As pointed out by the media, in 2012, according to estimates, Baron Arthur Cherar from Soroca and his clan has an annual income of up to 40 million euros. And this is not the ceiling! Particularly impressive, oddly enough, is the funeral. Cryps from Italian marble, graves, where cars, computers, household items, furniture and many other things that the Roma consider to be needed by their relatives in the next world, along with the body, once again confirm the validity of the well-known song: "Gypsies love rings , / And gold rings ... "Yes, they love shine, noise, movement, everything bright, exotic - such as they themselves are.