Mârșa is ârșa commune located in north-west Giurgiu County, Muntenia, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Mârșa.
History
The etymology is lost in time. The Romanian word mârșă, meaning "lure" or "bait", has probably nothing to do with the name origin.
According to 1901 edition of Marele Dicționar Geografic al Romîniei (English: Great Romanian Geographical Dictionary), Mârșa was in the 19th century a rural commune located on Drîmbovnic (nowadays Dâmbovnic) Valley, part of Neajlov District (Plasa Neajlov), Vlașca County. Also, former property of Bolintineanu family - the poet Dumitru Bolintineanu (a.k.a. Dimitrie Bolintineanu) being even born in there, Mârșa (Mîrșia) was later divided between Mîrșia-din-Deal (en: Mîrșia-On-the-Hill), property of R. Dumitriu (later dowry to C. Nacu) and Mîrșia-din-Vale (en: Mîrșia-On-the-Valley), property of Nicolae Cioflic (Note: interpreted from original record).
Geography
The commune is situated in the Găvanu-Burdea Plain (part of Romanian Plain) on the right bank of Dâmbovnic river. It is crossed by the county road DJ601 linking Bucharest (45 km east) to Videle (10 km south).
Neighbours
North: Roata de Jos commune
East: Dâmbovnic river; farmland till Neajlov river
South-East: Goleasca village
South: Videle town
West: farmland till Teleorman County border
Natural resources
In the north side of village can be seen oil wells in exploitation. The farmland is good for field intensive crops if properly irrigated, especially in dry summers.
Awareness
National archaeological records
Tei settlement - civilian housing of Bronze Age (on the outskirts of the village, right side of Roata de Jos road, north of Gitonei Valley) Dridu settlement - civilian housing of Medieval times – 8th century AD (on the outskirts of the village, right side of Goleasca road)
Historic buildings
Orthodox Church Sf. Nicolae (~ 1890) Manor House N. Cioflic - later "Oscar Han" (1850) Manor House Dr. Lazarovici - known today as dispensary (19th century)
School
For many years, the school of Mârșa (Școala Generală) has prepared and sent its graduates to next level schools, mainly - but not limited - to Videle, Bolintin-Vale, Bucharest, most of them becoming reliable intellectuals. Radu G. Țeposu (1954–1999), literary critic, essayist and literary columnist representative in the eighties, has been assigned as a Romanian Language and Literature teacher to Mârșa school, where he worked during 1978-1983.
Music
Representatives of Vlașca's traditional folk music (muzica lăutărească), local fiddlers (lăutari) survived over time, perhaps because they are musicians from father to son.
Traditions
Ignatul
December 20 represents the starting day for traditional pig slaughter (Tăiatul Porcului) ending on Christmas Eve. The householder himself or a hired skilled neighbor will carry out the entire job, starting early in the morning. Everywhere in the village can be heard the scream of pigs. It takes three to four men to drag out from shelter and put down the animal. The skilled butcher stabs directly the pig's heart with a long sharp knife, for a quick death without suffering. The corpse is left a few minutes for blood draining. Meanwhile, the householder will treat the men who helped him with a cup of home-made brandy (țuică) or wine, preferably hot, thanking them for their help. After that, the pig's body will be cleaned and covered with straws. The pig's entire skin hair will be burned until the skin is cooked enough, all around. While cleaning and washing is done by pouring hot water, the skin is grated using knives, even bricks or simply tin cans, punctured with a nail. At this stage, the skin (șorici) becomes eatable - fresh or slightly salted. Then the hooves are plucked and the body is placed with back on top. A cross sign is cut on pig's back and filled with salt. The housewife is incensing all over and everybody is praying God for food blessing. Only after this moment, the meat can be cut to be kept raw in salt, dried or smoked, or to be prepared using various traditional recipes and kept dried or smoked or even fried in the melted pig's fat. At the end, the householder prepares a meal of pork for those who helped him, this custom being known as Pomana Porcului.