“Gheorghe Ionescu Șișești” Museum – Asociaţia Pro-Mehedinţi

Thematic Route: The Cultural Heritage Route

Name of the Touristic Attraction: “Gheorghe Ionescu Șișești” Museum

Location: in Șișești Commune, Mehedinți County, at 39 km from Drobeta Turnu Severin. Șișești Commune can be reached from Drobeta Turnu Severin, on DC16 and then on DJ671E.

Description: The museum is hosted in a special designed space in Șișești High School and it is composed of two distinct sections: history and ethnography. Its reference area is the Sisesti hearth, and as a specific area, Mehedinti Plateau, on the middle course of the Coşuştea River. The museum exhibits invaluable objects staring with mammoth teeth, iron or stone axes, spear tips, Dacian helmets, writing tablets, worship objects, adornments, looms, vintage objects and ending with old newspapers and hauling weapons. Șișești is famous for the ceramics workshops here and the pottery craftsmen who have honored this tradition. Historical documents prove that the pottery has appeared on these lands since Dacian times. Thus, a special corner in the museum is dedicated to the traditional ceramics in the area, where dozens of pots, streams, bowls, jugs and water jugs are exposed. The most valuable piece in the museum is considered to be a poisoned iron sword. These swords were used by the locals to stop the invasion of the Turks from Ada-Kaleh Island, who came here and in the neighboring villages and devastated the households of the people.

Legend/ Story / Impressions / Recommendations: Șișești school museum was born out of the initiative of a bunch of enthusiastic teachers. In 1930, it functioned as an exhibition of pupils’ works (ceramics, wood, braids, stitches), and later became a museum point in the new building of the school, built in 1939, in Şişesti, at the initiative of the minister Gheorghe Ionescu-Sisesti. Extending, he will also include a part of the ceramics workshop of master Dumitru C. Popescu, who will later become its custodian. Being a fresh graduate of a specialized higher education institution, he sets up a ceramic workshop, where students practiced their handmade work for over a decade. It was he who transformed the ancient occupation of the locals into a true art, with material results that he made known both in the country and abroad. The one who would give the museum, its full glory was Professor Dragos Ebetiuc (1931-1981), a dedicated researcher and a man who harnessed the local historical and ethnographic sources. He re-organizes and enriches the museum, enters it in the circuit of national values, attracting the attention of the specialists, the press and the general public.

Conditions:

No visiting tax.

Visiting Program: Monday – Friday: 09:00-16:00

Information and Contact:

The museum is located on the administrative territory of Șișești Commune:

City-Hall: phone: +4 0252-384144

Route close to other Thematic Routes:

In the area you can also visit: