Sambata de Sus Monastery (called also Brancoveanu Monastery)

Built on the river Sambata, at the bottom of the Fagaras mountains in Transylvania, in the wildness of the forest, far away from the civilized world and its sins. Thus was the environment centuries ago when, in 1696 Constantin Brancoveanu replaced a small wooden chapel with a stone church for the hermits in the area. All his life the  king tried to develop the Romanian arts and culture and was a strong defender of the Orthodox Church as his belief was that religion was a powerful tool of creating and strengthening national identity. Thus he transformed the small local hermit community at Sambata into a large monastic site to be a proof in time of Romanians’ religious and national unity. Later on he sponsored the foundation of a “Grammar school”, a wall painting school and a small print shop.

Unfortunately after only one century, in 1785 the Austro-Hungarian Empire destroys the monastic site – the monks are cast out, their cells destroyed and the monastery goes to waste for the next 140 years. This was not an isolated case – more than 150 orthodox churches were battered down   as the catholic rulers of the Austro-Hungarians were decided to ban orthodoxy and impose the catholic religion in the conquered Transylvania. The restoration of the Sambata monastery begun in 1926 and step by step everything was restored, new cells were rebuild, new walls were added around the monastery site and a museum was set-up too. The church – despite the destruction it suffered – still preserves the original old wall paintings.

The new and modern monastery with Brancoveanu church in the middle – successful joining of tradition and a modern style, of the old with the new, of history with contemporary life, welcomes the visitors within this heavenly beautiful and calm place, where the ripple of the river Sâmbata interweaves with the whispering of the praying monks. In spring and summer the monastery yard and gardens are invaded by astonishing beautiful flowers. The museum hosts one of the richest old glass paintings (most of them dating back 18th and 19th century) exhibitions but also a wood painting exhibition and a valuable collection of old books and manuscripts. Access: from DN1, E68 Brasov – Fagaras – Sibiu motorway, starting from Voila village residence (comuna) take the 13 km road to Sambata de Sus village.

Mogosoaia Palace

Situated on the border of Lake Mogosoaia at only 10 km from Bucharest the palace, built between 1698 – 1702 for Stefan, Brancoveanu’s second son, is another great example of Brancovenesc architecture. Centuries ago, at the very beginning of the building existence, its vast yard looked a bit different from what we can see today. The courtyard was filled with servant's rooms, kitchen, icehouse and various other deposits and sheds while the rich apartments were placed upstairs in the palace.

There is also a church – Saint George (Sfantul Gheorghe) – built by Brancoveanu in 1688 and large gardens. In those times, the palace often hosted big parties and meetings, and therefore it was a very popular posh residence. These happy times came to an end after Brancoveanu’s tragic death when the palace was robbed and even turned into a Turkish inn for a while. Soon after, its structure was severely damaged by the Ottoman raids, in the 18th century.

More recently, the palace existence is connected to another Romanian great family of noblemen – Bibescu, which from Gheorghe Bibescu was governor of Wallachia for a short period of 5 years during the first half of the 19th century. He was the first one from the family to start the restoration of the palace and its once marvelous gardens. His work is continued by other members of the family and the gardens, the orchard, the surrounding walls of the domain, the church and Vila Elchingen (accommodation added later on) got renovated.

Today the Mogosoaia Museum exhibits oil paintings, stone engravings, gold or silver embroideries, rare old books and manuscripts among other treasures. The visiting area houses the Mogosoaia Palace, Vila Elchingen, Church Saint George, the icehouse, an old kitchen, a restaurant and the gardens – so, you can visit the Mogosoaia domain, have a walk or play in the gardens and in the end have also a delicious meal at the local restaurant.

Author: Irina Petre

Photographs by: Dan Polizu-Micsunesti, Cristian Tanase, Cristian Bortes

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