The Silk Processing House and Workshop from Croici-Mătăsari, Gorj County

This house, built in 1888 in Croici-Mătăsari, was added to the museum's collection in 1978. It illustrates the unique features and value of Gorj folk architecture. It originates from an area renowned for silkworm breeding and silk production. 

Constructed from oak wood on a stone foundation, the house features a hipped roof made of shingles. A notable feature of the building is the porch with carved pillars, which are typical of Gorj, located on the main façade. In the middle, the porch is interrupted by a gazebo: a small, covered resting space. Behind the house, it continues in the form of an open corridor with a bed used in the summer.

The ground floor houses the pantry, while the upper floor is the living area consisting of a căminete, the kitchen with a hearth and a wooden hood, and a hodaie, or the living room. 

In the hodaie, there were bunk beds used for raising and feeding silkworms in the spring when they developed and formed cocoons. The silk thread was pulled from the cocoon using a wheel kept in the kitchen. After this season ended, spinning, warping and weaving took place in the living room.

It was the craft of silk that gave this area its identity, a fact reflected in the name Mătăsari.