This article features affiliate links, meaning we’ll earn a small commission if you purchase through these links. Please read our Privacy Policy for more details. Iosif Alexandrovici, the last cooper standing in Plesa village, once famed for its barrel makers, demonstrates how to make a wooden barrel. Perfectly placed on a picturesque hill in Suceava County, Pleșa seems like a fairytale village. From its idyllic landscapes, with yellow rape on mountain slopes, to the way in which the quaint country cottages cascade down the hillside, this village will charm every visitor that might come here, to either relax in the lap of nature, or hike up the hill to visit the ancient faces carved into the cliff, or just wander about, talking to random locals, because the Polish community that lives here has an interesting, one-of-a-kind history. For centuries, nearly everyone who lived in this village was, in one way or another, part of the cooper trade. With the help of their sons and daughters, who learned from a fragile age how to make a wooden barrel, the men would build barrels as tall as 7 ft, pails, tankards, butter churns, tubs, and pickle jars, while the women sold them on the market. … Continue reading The Village Cooper Keeping History Alive in Pleșa, Suceava