Skip to main content

Gumbo's Pic of the Day, September 21, 2014: Gypsy Houses in Huedin, Romania

 

gypsy

Driving through Transylvania, Romania we passed these unfinished palatial houses in the town of Huedin, I was fascinated why would anyone build these grandiose, gaudy looking houses and leave them unfinished. Some even looked deserted.

 
It turns out that under Romanian law, a house is not liable to real estate tax until it is finished, and many houses leave some windows undone, or an upper floor not finished to avoid the tax.
 
The houses I saw belong to a family of Romany (gypsies). Prejudice against gypsies is common in Europe, in part because of a popular belief that most of them live by crime; as a result these have been called “Pickpocket Houses.”

 

20140517_162341

 

Attachments

Images (2)
  • gypsy
  • 20140517_162341

Add Comment

Comments (1)

Newest · Oldest · Popular
Post
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×