The Oltenian Bread Oven – țest - begins its journey to UNESCO Heritage

The Oltenian Bread Oven – țest - begins its journey to UNESCO Heritage

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The Oltenian bread oven, the traditional oven used for centuries to bake bread in the Oltenia area, has begun its journey to UNESCO Heritage status. The event was marked by a unique press conference, and the entire process of scientific documentation and promotion is an initiative of the Dolj County Council, together with the Dolj County Center for Culture and Art, the Oltenia Museum Craiova, the Craiova City Hall, the “LIA” Food Industry High School and the “Curaj Îinne” Association.
Titled “The Culture of Bread in Oltenia”, the initiative includes research and the creation of the scientific documentation necessary for official recognition at national level, in the first stage, as well as a complex multi-year program, with a wide range of educational, promotional and revitalization activities, targeting both aspects of the production and use of bread, as well as emblematic elements of the region’s traditional gastronomy.
"It is good to leave these customs and procedures as a legacy to our descendants and to those who want to see how life is and how it was lived in Oltenia. We initiated this initiative some time ago, because in the past, the two towers from Cernătești and Brabova were rehabilitated and restored under European projects. We started the process for these two towers to enter the UNESCO Heritage List with everything that a complex file means, with partners from the Ministry of Culture and the National Institute, with events – quite a few, already traditional, in more advanced editions –, the Brabova Traditional Music Festival and other events, either in the vicinity of holidays, in Cernătești with "Film în Sat". Now these stages for inclusion in the UNESCO Heritage List begin”, declared the president of the Dolj County Council, Cosmin Vasile.
The traditional Oltenian oven is not only an object used in Oltenia households, but brings together, in everything it manages to gather around it, hundreds of years of civilization, closeness and tradition, transmitted from generation to generation. In 2026, this traditional oven is still used, having the special charm that the hundreds of years and all the generations that, over time, have used it, lived and grew up next to it.
“Those who know this craft and the traditional recipes made in the traditional oven are very important at the national level because this is exactly what intangible heritage means as a national strategy, but also at the UNESCO level, as an international strategy. This type of traditional occupation highlights the traditional knowledge of previous generations, and this technique is very old; even the word used comes from Latin "testum", and this type of product, the simplest way to make bread, was documented even from the Roman era, for sure", explained Dr. Ioana Baskerville, president of the National Commission for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and also a UNESCO accredited expert in this field, present at the launch event.
A long and complex road lies ahead for all those involved, but the difficulty makes it even more beautiful: it is the effort of everyone – local and county authorities, communities, NGOs and all citizens – to succeed, all of us, in making the Oltenia tradition oven known throughout the world. It will certainly be #MoreThanWeImagine, here, in Dolj, at home!