Eftimie Murgu

An English language article about the watermills of Rudăria can be found here.

The best way to get there is by driving a car.

The village is known for the watermills, which have been continuously used for hundreds of years. Before 1955, more than 50 watermills were in operation. A flood in 1955 left only 22 watermills, which continued to operate until the fall 2014, when most of them were destroyed by another flood. Today, only a handful of watermills still operate. The watermills of Rudăria are interesting not only from an engineering perspective, but also from a social perspective. From the very beginning and until today, all watermills were collectively owned, in a way similar to joint-stock companies: each mill has two dozen or so "shareholders" which are responsible with the maintenance, and can use the mill once a month, when their timeshare is due. "Selling" one's stock is possible, but the existing shareholders have a preferential right to acquire it - selling to outsiders can only be done when none of the existing shareholders wants the share. Each mill also has a "chief" (called pecter), which is elected for life. He holds the key to the mill.

All mills have names, some of them are:

• 🌍 Moara de la Tunel. (updated Mar 2015)
• Moara Viloanea. (updated Mar 2015)
• Moara Bățolea. (updated Mar 2015)
• Moara Îndărătnica dintre Râuri. Destroyed during the flood in 2014 (updated Mar 2015)
• Moara Îndărătnica de la Perete. (updated Mar 2015)
• Moara Pățoanea. (updated Mar 2015)