The Greek inhabitants of the Izvoarele village in Tulcea county on Wednesday celebrate the Old Lady Day, which brings to the attention of the community the midwives that used to help young women give birth.
According to the Museum of Ethnography and Popular Art, on the Old Lady Day, women used to honour the old ladies who helped them give birth."Every mother brings bundles, a towel, wine and basil. In our days, since the medical personnel took over the role of the midwives, this custom continues to honour the elder ladies in the village. Romanians also used to have this celebration in the beginning of the 20th century. Also, Bulgarians celebrate "Babinden" on January 8, and the Lipovan Russians celebrate "Babii kaski" at the same time with the Old New Year or Maslenitsa, while the Ukrainians celebrated the old ladies on January 13th, the Old New Year according to the Gregorian calendar," shows the head of the Museum, Iuliana Titov.
The data provided by the Gavrila Simion Eco-Museum Research Institute shows that Izvoarele village was first mentioned in a Turkish document back in 1543 under the name of Ali-Beg. The village, which changed its name several times, was founded by several Greek families who came here from the area around Thessaloniki. The name Izvoarele dates from 1965.