15 km North of Suceava, surrounded by powerful walls resembling those of a military fortress, there is Dragomirna Monastery, unique in Romania through its unusual proportions.

Its construction was initiated in 1602 by the Metropolitan of Moldavia, Anastasie Crimca (1560-1629), an important cultural figure of his time. He was a man of church (he first became a monk at Putna Monastery), but he also went on diplomatic missions in Poland and he founded the first known public hospital in Suceava in 1619. He was very fond of miniature drawing and he organized a school for this kind of art at Dragomirna. 25 decorated manuscripts are now spread abroad in Moscow, Sankt Petersburg or Vienna.

Initially, the monastic settlement only consisted in a small chapel, close to some water springs which were highly enjoyed by Moldavian rulers such as Stefan the Great or Petru Rares. The chapel, that can be seen even today, brought some innovations in the field of religious architecture: the shrine has a round shape, while the nave is rectangular and, instead of a narthex, it has an exonarthex, formed of three parts with three openings. The chapel is made of bricks and large stones and there is a strip of green enameled bricks surrounding the building under the windows and the other openings.

It didn’t take long and this chapel became too small for the needs of the community, so Anastasie Crimca initiated the construction of a new church, with the help of the Great Chancellor Luca Stroici and his brother, Treasurer Simion Stroici. The new edifice was built between 1608 and 1609 and it resulted in an unique construction, whose proportions amaze even today. The church, dedicated to the holiday the Descent of the Holy Ghost is very narrow and that is why is seems very tall, as it has a maximum height (considering the bell tower) of 40 m. The walls are made of yellow, resistant blocks of sandstone. The church’s shoulders and its edges are made of carved stone and they elevate to the roof; a stone belt, representing a triple twisted rope, an architectural element of Wallachian origins and a symbol of unity, surrounds the church at the middle. The tower is richly decorated with floral and geometrical motifs and the windows frames have Gothic shapes. The church’s resemblance to a ship is not accidental, as this was a symbol of Christianity.

Nowadays, churches are spaces meant to offer spiritual shelter against the exterior turmoil, but there was a time when they were key elements in assuring the security of those who built them.

The churches from Maramures share some architectural characteristics: they are made of wood, they are narrow, tall and their bell towers are heightened beyond the known proportions of an orthodox building. Sometimes, even the foundations are made of wood, the walls consist of horizontally positioned oak trunks, the shingles resemble the fish scales and they have porches decorated with geometrical motifs. The towers (tall and sharp – a reason why the churches are considered to have been influenced by the Gothic art) were used not only to call the believers to the sermon, but also as observation points, from where the locals could be warned against approaching dangers. Since 1999, eight of these churches have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The Barsana Church is located on the Iza Valley, 17 km far from Sighetu Marmatiei and 55 km far from Baia Mare. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and it was built in 1720 and, after the monks living here left it, it was moved several times by the locals, until it was definitely positioned in its present location in 1806. Its name comes from “barsan”, a sort of shepherd who used to keep the wool of his sheep long.

The church is famous for its two level portico and it has preserved the original interior decorations which were made by placing painted textile pieces on the wall, on which it was later applied a lime layer (this technique was used for the other churches, as well). The paintings are based on white, blue, red and green colors and their artistic effect is combined with the few light beams that enter the church through the small windows.

The Desesti Church is situated on the Mara Valley, 41 km North-East of Baia Mare and 26 km South of Sighetu Marmatiei. It was built in 1770 and it is dedicated to Saint Parascheva. The door frame is richly decorated, as if it were surrounded by a wooden rope. The church charms through its simplicity and through its interior paintings, of which some were executed by Radu Munteanu, an artist whose influences can be traced in several other wooden churches.

The Doomsday is thoroughly depicted in the narthex and one of the most impressive images is that of the river from hell, taking the souls of the sinners towards the Leviathan and painted in an extremely bright red on the Southern wall.

]]> http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/12/04/the-wooden-churches-from-maramures-orthodox-gothic/feed/ 0 http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/11/26/the-trovants-living-stones/ http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/11/26/the-trovants-living-stones/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:59:55 +0000 Daniel Voicu

In Valcea County, close to the road connecting Ramnicu Valcea and Targu Jiu, 8 km far from Horezu, on the land of a small village named Costesti, there are some fascinanting and mysterious stones, called Trovants, which are believed to have a life in them.

The trovants (concretions) are geological phenomena which consist in spherical shapes of cemented sand, appeared due to some powerful seismic activity. The earthquakes that led to the creation of the first trovants are supposed to have taken place 6 million years ago. The stones can also take cilinder and ellipsoidal shapes, in which case they resemble the number 8. Their strangeness comes from the fact that, although they vary in size, from a couple of milimeters to even 10 m, they are very similar, taking into account a natural law that states there are no such things as identical stones. Despite their efforts, the scientists have no logical explanations to a couple of facts: although imperceptible for the human eye, the trovants grow in size after they come into contact with water; their number has increased in time; they have some extensions many consider to be roots; if they are cut, their sections have colored rings, just like trees.

The locals call them ”living stones”, “dorobanti” or “balatruci”. They think these stones are living organisms that grow after it rains, that it is better to speak nicely to them, otherwise you’ll have headaches, or that they are relics of some extraterrestrial civilizations which visited Earth long ago. As a result, the villagers place trovants in their gardens and on the tombs of their loved ones and many tourists didn’t hesitate to steal some from the open air museum that is supposed to preserve them.

The trovants geological phenomena can also be found in other parts of the world, such as Bosnia, Czech Republic, Russia, China, New Zeeland, Canada, USA, Mexico or Costa Rica.

Valcea County is not the only place in Romania where trovants can be found. The Feleac Hill in Cluj-Napoca is the place of a beautiful legend, in which the stones are named “Feleac’s eggs”.

Feleac was a seven headed dragon that lived peacefully in a cave. He didn’t fight the humans, who respected him, gave him food, and came to him to listen to his stories, once a year. The warriors even sought his council, during dangerous times. The only thing Feleac was unhappy about was that he couldn’t have heirs.

One day, he heard a divine bell ringing, but he didn’t see anyone, when he went out of the cave. This happened several times, so he decided to stay outside and secretly watch. He didn’t wait too long and a deer, wearing a necklace of crystal bells, appeared, so Feleac took her in his cave. One day, when he returned from a battle in which he helped some human friends, the deer told him that they meant him harm, as they longed for the treasure he was guarding. She also told him that, soon, his dream of having heirs would fulfill, but he would not get to enjoy it and, in exchange for her release, she would help him. He let her go and, that evening, he saw some sparks at the cave’s bottom and he discovered a couple of dragon eggs. The deer advised him to bury them, because the humans would destroy them, and to leave those lands, passing through a certain valley, in order to escape their trap. He listened to her advice, but he was captured by the humans, he was chained and he died soon after, as his heart could not stand the pain caused by their treachery.

The humans tirelessly sought his treasures, but all they could find were some strange stones, resembling some small dragons during their hatching – they called them Feleac’s eggs, while the valley he was captured was named the Deer Valley (Valea Caprioarelor). In time, they understood that Feleac’s true treasure was the one they had wasted: his friendship.

Author: Iulian Fira

Among other Romanian monasteries, Agapia was blessed with all the gifts a cultural settlement could wish for: natural enviroment, great development and priceless works of art.

Agapia Monastery is situated on the small river in the forest of Agapia, 3 km far from the village bearing the same name and 9 km far from Targu Neamt (Neamt County, Moldavia). The first monastic settlement called Agapia was a hermitage and was built near the present location, on a hill. Because that position wasn’t very accessible, the monks decided to move down the hill, where they built a small wooden church.

The stone church, dedicated to Archangels Michael and Gabriel, was built during the reign of Vasile Lupu (1634 – 1653), between 1641 and 1643 and its construction was financed by the ruler’s brother, hetman Gavril Coci, and his wife, Liliana. The settlement was provided with mansions for the monks, a bell tower and walls and it was consecrated by the head of the Moldavian Orthodox church, Varlaam, in 1646. On this occasion, hetman Gavriil donated to the monastery a Gospel book written on parchment and decorated with miniatures of the Evangelists, as well as a silver gilt filigree cross with eight arms. Other rich donations, consisting in lands and animals were made to the new establishment.

The monastery had to endure extremely troubled times and, on some occasions, the monks were forced to take refuge in the mountains and leave Agapia deserted. The Turks and Tartars looted the monastery in 1674 and 1675 and the Polish even transformed it in stables in 1680. In the present, the monastery’s church has two exonarthexes, a narthex, a nave with its tower, and a shrine, as well as an external diaconicon and prothesis on either side of the shrine.

At the beginning of the XIXth century, during the reign of Alexandru Morudzi, the monks were transferred somewhere else and Agapia became a nun monastery. It has remained so until present times, when it hosts the second largest number of nuns in the country (300). In 1858, the prioress Tavefta Ursache decided the church some new decorations and she employed an 18 years old painter, who had previously distinguished himself while working at Zamfira monastery, Nicolae Grigorescu.

]]> http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/11/19/agapia-monastery-nature-spirituality-art/feed/ 0 http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/11/13/mysteries-and-symbols-in-romanian-sculptures/ http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/11/13/mysteries-and-symbols-in-romanian-sculptures/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:45:04 +0000 Daniel Voicu

Andre Malraux said that an object of art belongs to his time, while a work of art belongs to eternity. There are a couple of sculptures in Romania we invite you to see and judge for yourself what category they best fit in.

At the Histoy Museum in Constanta, two ancient sculptures impress with their artistic, historical and symbolic values.

The first of these is the Thinker from Hamangia. It dates since the Middle Neolithic period (around 6000 B.C.) and it belonged to a culture bearing the same name, Hamangia (a village now called Baia, from Tulcea County, Dobrogea). The members of the community that settled in this area are said to have come from Anatolia. They weren’t too technologically advanced – they lived in almost burried huts, sometimes in caves and, usually, next to water sources. They used axes made of stone and even flint (which was already obsolete in other contemporary cultures) and bone-made tools. Metalworking was underdeveloped, compared to similar cultures and pottery was not very skilfully decorated. The Hamagia culture came to an end when they were assimilated at around 5000 B.C. by the more dynamic members of the Boian culture.

The Hamangia culture is best known for their funeral customs. They used to place skulls without mandibles and statuettes inside tombs. In such a burial site, the Thinker from Hamangia was found.

In fact, it was discovered at Cernavoda, in an archaelogical site from Sofia Hill, in 1956, but it was culturally associated to the Hamangia culture. The sculpture has a height of 11.5 cm and a lenght at shoulders of 7.5 cm and it represents a man sitting on a small chair, with his head supported by his hands. One can notice the exaggerated lenght of the neck and hands and that, despite the obvious stylized manner the statuette is crafted in, the rest of the body propoportions are extremely realistic – the fingers, eyes and backbone are rendered by incisions in the Terra Cotta the Thinker is made of.

The man-statuette has a pair. Another artifact (representing a woman) was discovered in another place than the first one and, although there is no proof these two are related, it is considered to be the Thinker’s obvious female counterpart. This statuette has the same characteristics as the male and, in addition, the hips are over extended, a known prehistorical symbol of fertility. Another difference is that the woman keeps both her hands on one knee.

The Thinker has become an universal icon. It can be found on stamps, T-shirts etc. and it has even been recently chosen to be one of the ten symbols to be sent into space, to make contact to alien civilizations. Others have come up with the theory that the Thinker’s geometrical proportions match those of Khuhu’s pyramid at Giseh; the fact that both the top of the Egyptian monument and that of the statuette’s head are flat (in order the receive cosmic energies) is an argument they also invoke.

Leaving aside all the scenarios that surround the Thinker from Hamangia, what impresses most is that, in the prehistoric period, usually connected to the fight of survival, rather than intellectual achievements, some of man’s important activities, like thinking, relaxing or dreaming are rendered with such an artistic mastery.T here are periods when the Thinker can be admired at the National History Museum in Bucharest.

]]> http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/11/13/mysteries-and-symbols-in-romanian-sculptures/feed/ 0 http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/11/12/sarmizegetusa-regia-the-heart-of-the-dacian-kingdom/ http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/11/12/sarmizegetusa-regia-the-heart-of-the-dacian-kingdom/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:41:40 +0000 Daniel Voicu

From its construction in the middle of the first century B.C., until its conquest by the Romans after the wars from 105-106 A.D., Sarmizegetusa Regia (situated in the Gradistea Muncelului village, in the Orastie Mountains, Hunedoara county) was the heart of the Dacian kingdom, from where the kings exercised their military, economical and religious power.

The name Sarmizegetusa appeared in the works of ancient writers under various spellings: Sarmizge, Sarmireg, Zarmitz, Sarmizege, Sarmazege; no one could explain precisely what the name represented. Some claim to be composed of two lost Dacian words, translated as “high fortress”, an explanation that can be taken into account, considering that Sarmizegetusa Regia was placed on an elevated position, at a height of approximately 1200 m.

During the reign of Burebista, who expanded the borders of the Dacian kingdom beyond those of present Romania, a couple of fortresses were built in the Orastie Mountains and Sarmizegetusa was chosen to be the king’s residence. Some claim that the Dacians’ sacred mountain, Kogaionon, was situated nearby and that was the actual motive why this fortress became more important that the others.

After Burebista’s death in 44 B.C. (the same year Julius Caesar was assassinated), his kingdom lost in vastness, but gradually gained in strength and, in the time of Decebalus (87 – 106 B.C.), it became a real threat for the Roman Empire. Decebalus succeeded in obtaining a favorable peace with emperor Domitianus, but his successor, Trajan, was decided to put an end to the troublesome Dacian kingdom.

Two wars took place (in 101 – 102 and 105 – 106 B.C.) and the Dacians, despite their brave efforts, were defeated. Their main defense system, consisting of the fortresses from Orastie Mountains (Piatra Rosie, Costesti, Blidaru, Capalna, Banita) were conquered step by step and, finally, Sarmizegetusa itself was besieged. The defenders lasted more than a month without food or water, but they were eventually forced to surrender. King Decebalus (whose head can be seen carved in stone at Mraconia, near Orsova) tried to escape, but he was pursued by Roman cavalry who surrounded him, so he took his own life. The story of these confrontations between Dacians and Romans is depicted on Trajan’s column, in Rome (replicas of the carvings can be seen at the National History Museum in Bucharest).

]]> http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/11/12/sarmizegetusa-regia-the-heart-of-the-dacian-kingdom/feed/ 0 http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/10/27/two-sisters-from-cluj-napoca/ http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/10/27/two-sisters-from-cluj-napoca/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:54:09 +0000 Daniel Voicu

Transylvania’s major cities are multicultural communities. Cluj-Napoca, the capital city of the Cluj County, makes no exception. Romanians, Germans, Hungarians, Jews found shelter here and shared its eventful life.

Situated in the center of Transylvania, in the area that connects The Apuseni Mountains, the Somesan Plateau and the Plain of Transylvania, crossed by the Little Somes and Nadas rivers, Cluj-Napoca is a city with a history that can be traced long ago, even from Antiquity.

Mentioned by the ancient geographer Ptolemy as Napuca, the settlement became Napoca after the Roman conquest of Dacia and developed an urban civilization like many other communities throughout the Roman Empire. Little is known about Cluj-Napoca during the migrations that brought the ancient world to an end, but, at the beginning of the Middle Ages, it is first mentioned under the name of Castrum Clus (which means “closed fortified space” in Latin). The combination of the two gave the present name of the city. Its importance grew constantly during the medieval period, until Cluj-Napoca became the capital of Transylvania.

If you take the effort of climbing the hill named Feleac, situated in the Southern part of Cluj-Napoca, with a maximum height of approximately 800 m, you will be rewarded with the panoramic sight of the city and you will notice that, higher than most of the other buildings, not far from one another, there are two churches, standing like two pillars of spirituality. These monuments are the Catholic Church Saint Michael and the Orthodox Cathedral. The older of the two sisters is The Catholic Church. With a length of 70 m and a maximum height of 80 m, it is the second largest Gothic building in Romania (the largest is The Black Church from Brasov).

Its construction is related to the beginnings of medieval Cluj-Napoca. In 1316, Carol Robert of Anjou (1308 – 1342), king of Hungary, awarded the title of “city” to the settlement situated here. Its inhabitants wanted everybody to know about their newly gained privileges and decided to build a church worthy of their status. But their ambitions had to wait a little longer that anyone had expected (150 years) until the impressive building was completed. Initially, the Church Saint Michael was designed as a Roman basilica, but successive changes transformed it in a typical Gothic one. The church was first mentioned in a document from the papal office at Avignon, in 1349, which promised the forgiveness of all sins to those who would have donated money for its decoration.

The religious conflicts from the medieval period also affected Transylvania, and the Church Saint Michael was a place of worship for four different religions. In the first two centuries after its construction, its hall listened to Catholic sermons; the Lutherans claimed it (during 1545 – 1558), then the Calvinists (during 1558 – 1566) and, afterwards, for more than 100 years, the Unitarian movement dominated Cluj-Napoca. In 1699, when the Austrian occupied Transylvania, the church returned to the Catholics. In 1744, the fire that destroyed a large part of the city left the church severely damaged.

Inside, the building is richly decorated; the sacristy’s door is considered to be the most beautiful object existing in the church – it is executed directly into stone, in a late Renaissance style and it was ordered by the church’s parish, Johannes Klein, in 1528. As in the famous Western Cathedrals, the stained glasses leave the viewer in awe. The colors filtered the light and used it to create a show that had, as historians point out, not just a religious purpose, but also and educational one (in a period when the greatest part of the population didn’t know how to read and write).

]]> http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/10/27/two-sisters-from-cluj-napoca/feed/ 0 http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/10/22/craiova-s-art-museum-a-jewel-containing-other-jewels/ http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/10/22/craiova-s-art-museum-a-jewel-containing-other-jewels/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:47:40 +0000 Daniel Voicu

Craiova, the capital city of the Dolj County (Oltenia) holds several impressive buildings, but, among these, the one that captures the interest and admiration to a higher degree is The Art Museum, also known as The Jean Mihail Palace.

It is located in the City Center, on Calea Unirii street, just across the National Bank and a couple of minutes far from the City Hall or the County Hall.

Its construction was initiated at the end of the XIXth century by Constantin Mihail. The origins of his family and wealth are not entirely clear; all that is known precisely is that he had Macedonian origins. As one of the richest and most influential people in the country, he wanted to have a private mansion, worthy of his prestige. The construction lasted from 1899 to 1907, under the coordination of the French architect Paul Gottereau; the best materials possible were used: golden stucco, Venetian mirrors, chandeliers made of Murano glass, stairs made of Carrara marble. The palace had central heating and electricity.

It is said that, in his quest of displaying his opulence, Constantin Mihail asked for King Charles I permission to cover the roof in gold coins. The king accepted, under the condition that the coins should be placed vertically, not horizontally. Although this challenge did not exceed his potential, the owner understood the king’s subtle message and gave up the idea. It is also said that the great Romanian painter, Stefan Luchian, offered his services for painting the ceilings, but because of Mihail’s cosmopolitan vision, he was refused.

Unfortunately, Constantin Mihail did not get to see his work completed. In 1907, he contracted an illness that, eventually, caused his death in 1908. The palace was inaugurated several months later by his sons, Nicolae and Jean. A sculpture of Constantin Mihail can be seen today inside the palace, at the top of the main stairs.
The older son, Nicolae (1873-1918) resembled his father, led a short, luxurious life in France and spent his fortune in the Monte Carlo casinos.

The younger son, Jean (1875 – 1936) was a completely different person. Some of his contemporaries didn’t hesitate to call his a cheap stake – of all the palace’s numerous rooms, he only used one, which he didn’t heat very often. By inheriting the fortune of two relatives, Elena Dumba and Maria Colloni, he became one of the richest persons in the country (if not the richest). During the economical crisis from 1929 – 1933, Jean Mihail was the guarantor for many of the loans Romania contracted abroad. At his death, as he had no heirs, he left his immense fortune to the state, demanding that a foundation bearing his name would be established, with the objectives of raising schools, village libraries, maternity institutions and dowry funds for poor girls.

]]> http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/10/22/craiova-s-art-museum-a-jewel-containing-other-jewels/feed/ 0 http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/10/20/decebalus-head-at-mraconia-the-romanian-mount-rushmore/ http://www.unseenromania.com/2009/10/20/decebalus-head-at-mraconia-the-romanian-mount-rushmore/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:18:04 +0000 Daniel Voicu

If your steps take you to Mraconia, about 15 km West of Orsova, be sure not to miss Decebalus’ head, considered to be the tallest sculpture in Europe. It is carved directly into stone and it represents the last king of the Dacians, the indigenous people that lived in the teritory of modern Romania before it was conquered by the Romans, and one of the forefathers of this nation.

Decebalus’ head stands 55 m tall and, inevitably, reminds of the famous Mount Rushmore from the United States of America. The eyes are 4,3 m long, the nose is 7 m long and 4 meters wide. This dimensions and its almost inaccesible position are arguments why so many people come to admire it every year. Some calculations reveal that it is only 6 m shorter that the Statue of Liberty and 8 m taller than Jesus’ statue from Rio de Janeiro.

The place of the statue was not accidentally chosen, because on the other side of the Danube, on the Serbian shore there is an ancient inscription, carved in stone, named “Tabula Traiana”, celebrating the Roman’s army march against the Dacians and emperor Trajan’s victory against king Decebalus in 105 A.D. This section of the Danube’s course, called Cazane (between Dubova and Ogradena, including, of course, Mraconia) was always considered one of the most dangerous and spectacular. Dangerous because the river’s crossing between the mountains caused the appearance of water swirls that had claimed many sailor lives, spectacular because the landscapes and the experience of fighting the waves are truly breathtaking. Mraconia itself is a testimony as the name can be translated as ”hidden place”, or ”dark waters”.

Just as the monument from the USA, Decebalus’ head dates from modern times, extremely recent actually. The initiator of this project was Iosif Constantin Dragan (1917 – 2008), a wealthy Romanian businessman, who was very much in love with the Tracian and Dacian civilizations and who wrote a couple of books about them, asserting that their role in universal history was more important than that from the official versions. His ideas are still controversial, but no one can deny that investing more that a million Euros to realize Decebalus’ head was an extraordinary gift to the Romanian people. Of course, he had to take as much the credit as it can be for this – at the base of the monument it is carved `Dragan Fecit – Dragan made it`.

He had also promised to the mayor of Cluj that he will build a identical replica of the Column of Trajan from Rome, that depicts the story of the war between Dacians and Romans. His death in 2008 left this promise unfulfilled.

The sculpture was executed between 1994 and 2004, by a team of 12 men, lead by the Romanian sculptor Florin Cotarcea. As a comparison, Mount Rushmore took 14 years (1927 – 1941) and 300 men, until it was revealed to the public. The rock where Decebalus’ head stands now is a place only accesible by boat. Dynamite was indispensable and not very sophisticated eqiupments could be used, and they were carried to the top by foot, in bags of almost 50 kg each. The climbing sculptors worked in two shifts every day, from March until October every year and had to face the incredible heat of the summer, the danger of falling into the deepest waters of the Danube and the menace of the vipers. One worker was bit by such a creature one day, but was immediately taken care of.

Decebalus’ nose was the trickiest part of the project, as one big piece of rock fell apart, and the Dacian kings’ nostrils had to be stregtened with iron armature and concrete.

Author: Iulian Fira