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{{Short description|Village in Ciurea, Romania}}
'''Zanea''' or '''Zanya''' ({{langx|ro|Zanea}}, {{langx|rmy|Zanya}}) is a neighborhood/village in the [[Communes of Romania|commune]] of [[Ciurea]], [[Iași County]], [[Romania]]. It is on the eastern side of the Ciurea train station and is inhabited by [[Romani people|Roma]] from the Churari and [[Kalderash]] castes (on the western side there is the [[Ciurea|main village]], inhabited by [[Romanians]] and [[Romanian language|Romanian]]-speaking Roma).
== History ==
Before [[World War II]], Zanea was a Romanian village populated by peaceful peasants. They were working in their small farms as well as in a private estate (Moșie), owned by a [[Jews|Jewish]] family.
Due to [[Antisemitic laws in Romania|antisemitic laws]], the estate was confiscated. At the end of the war, it was returned to the original owners, who proceeded to renovate and repair the place. As Romania was taken over by a [[Soviet occupation of Romania|Soviet-backed]] [[Socialist Republic of Romania|communist administration]], the estate was again confiscated in 1948 by the authorities. The estate was established as "commune property" and broke down.
In the early 1950s, 5 Roma families (gypsies) settled in the village. The neighborhood appeared in the decades 1950s–1960s as a result of the forced settlement of Roma [[nomads]] by the communist authorities (similar Kalderash and/or Churari communities in the geographical proximity are in [[Grajduri]] and in the northern side of [[Vaslui]]). These communities were already hard hit by the [[Porajmos]] ([[the Holocaust]] of the Romani people); in 1942–1944 they were deported in [[Transnistria]], where many of them died.
Additionally to the forced settlement, the savings (in gold, as is traditionally among Roma) were confiscated by the authorities. Combined with the fact that the Communist system forbade any private business (all the economy was nationalized), thus being impeded to profess the crafts that supported their livelihood, these Roma became poorer during those decades.
After the [[Romanian Revolution|1989 Revolution]] that brought democracy in Romania, it became again legal to profess the crafts. The confiscated gold was partly returned and with that capital in the 1990s businesses were started, mostly with metals. During those years, they began to build roomy houses (with more floors, for the traditional extended Romani families), having a very different architecture from that usually employed in Romania, soon dubbed by the local mass-media as ''palate țigănești'' ("Gypsy palaces" in Romanian).
Their different style is usually presented by this media and most of the non-Romani population as expressing lack of culture, while (lacking yet a public Romani point of view about this issue) some architects point out to their spontaneity and freedom of  style. Mostly the old-generation non-Roma dislike them, while the younger people and those from outside Romania (without the anti-Romani prejudices from the local context) appreciate their vitality.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/romanian/news/story/2005/07/050721_mariana_celac.shtml |title=Cui i-e frică de "palatele țigănești"?|trans-title=Who is afraid of the "Gypsy palaces"?|publisher=Romanian [[BBC]]| date=21 July 2005|access-date=30 July 2020}}</ref> Acad. Constantin Bălăceanu-Stolnici, a reputed [[anthropologist]] from Romania, declared<ref>at ''Caravana romilor''/[[:rmy:Karavana le Romengi|Karavana le Romengi]] TV Show from 24 June 2007</ref> that their different style is explained since in fact they are similar to the architectural style from [[North India]], expressing the survival of the [[Desi]] cultural archetypes even after centuries of nomadism.
==References==
<references />
{{Romani diaspora}}
{{coord missing|Iași County}}
[[Category:Geography of Iași County]]
[[Category:Kalderash]]
[[Category:Romani communities in Romania]]