Kalotaszeg: a historical/ethnographic region
of forty Hungarian-speaking Calvinist villages to the west of
Kolozsvár/Cluj in Transylvania. The peasants of the villages
are mostly farmers, with some people employed in logging, beef-cattle
raising, and handicrafts. The region is famous for its rich and
varied folk art (architecture, peasant wear, embroidery and woodcarving).
It was the vogue of Kalotaszeg folk art that opened the door to
the discovery of Hungarian folk art as such in the 1880s. The
embroidery of Kalotaszeg was famed throughout Europe, and Kalotaszeg
folk art as a whole had considerable influence on Hungarian Art
Nouveau applied arts, architecture, and graphics, as well as the
art of the Gödöllô School.