Transylvania, the Land of Enchantment

Cantacuzino Castle (photo: Ileana 2015)

Transylvania is a land of enchantment of middle and northern Romania with its breathtaking and spectacular landscapes, its rich and tumultuous history, bloody battles, occupations, and a proud population that maintains its distinct culture and art.

It is bordered on three sides by the Carpathian Mountains that appear on maps like a natural boundary between Transylvania and Wallachia, the province made famous by Vlad the Impaler, “Dracula,” Prince of Wallachia, who made Bucharest its capital in 1459. The pristine and wild countryside of Transylvania (Latin for “across the forest”) is sometimes impassable to humans.

Transylvania has a distinct Hungarian and German influence which can be seen in its fairy tale Hansel and Gretel architecture, its cuisine, the spotless streets, order and civility, in how successfully cities are run, and the seriousness on the faces of its population. However, many ethnic Germans have left in the 1970s when the communist Romanian state signed an agreement with West Germany.

Romanian settlements dating back to the Iron Age were found in the southwestern part of Transylvania. Because the area has been part of the Hungarian and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire for hundreds of years, there is a strong Hungarian and German influence everywhere. Schools, colleges, and theaters are still operating in Hungarian and German languages.

Hungarian kings had invited Saxons (from the province of Sachsen) in the 12^th and 13^th centuries to settle in Transylvania. Some of them were gifted goldsmiths, others were wood carvers  and builders. Their presence is reflected in the beautiful medieval citadel churches built in southern Transylvania.



Bran Castle in Brasov (photo: Ileana 2015)

Hungarians and Germans left behind castles, imposing manors, palaces, and churches in towns such as Cluj-Napoca, Alba Iulia, Sighisoara, and in the old Saxon city of Sibiu (Hermannstadt) with its famous medieval houses with rooftop “eyes,” roof vents that look like watchful eyes.

The miners and farmers in western Transylvania called “Moti” trace their roots for thousands of years. The Apuseni Mountains are rich in mineral reserves, rare metals, and gold, particularly in the contentious region of Rosia Montana.

The archeological evidence found at Sarmizegetusa speaks volumes of the rich civilization of the Dacians who were conquered by the Romans in 106 A.D. and colonized into a Roman Empire province. The story of the battles between the Romans and the Dacians is vividly told in the freezes of Trajan’s Column in Rome.

According to National Geographic , the eastern part of Transylvania has “the highest concentration of ethnic Hungarians.” Buildings have a different style, ethnic costumes vary, and many inhabitants speak both Romanian and Hungarian.

Cluj-Napoca is “the cultural and economic hub of Transylvania.” Alba Iulia, the former Hungarian capital, has an interesting Habsburg baroque citadel. It was the city where Romania and Transylvania became one on the great Union Day, December 1, 1918.

Bistrita, in the northern part, is the location where Bram Stoker set his novel “Dracula” in 1897. His fictional character, Jonathan Harker, spends the night in Bistritz (Bistrita) on his way to Tihuta Pass (Borgo Pass in Hungarian) where Voivode Vlad Tepes’ real castle ruins are located.  Bram Stoker never traveled to Romania; he used geographical information from his local library.

Sibiu house with "eyes" (photo: Ileana 2015)

Sibiu is the largest medieval town in Romania, built in the 12^th century with three concentric fortified walls (a few have survived), squares (a large and a small one), stairways, and strongholds built and fortified between the 13^th to the 18^th centuries.

The two famous battles of Sibiu on March 18 and March 25 1442 were fought nearby between the army of the Hungarian Empire and the army of the Ottoman Empire. Approximately 4,000 Hungarians and 15-20,000 Turks were killed in the two battles which resulted in a defeat and push back of the Ottomans.

Tiny restaurant in Sibiu (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

The Large Square (Piata Mare) served as a grain market in 1411, medieval executions, and later used for carnivals, meetings, and now rock concerts. The little restaurant called Butoiul de Aur (The Golden Barrel) has been serving patrons since the 15^th century. Houses dating back to the 13^th and 14^th centuries are the oldest surviving homes with colorful tiles, sometimes mosaic-ed in beautiful patterns and with “eyes” on the roof for air venting.



17th century iron vial (photo: Ileana 2015)

The tiny four-room pharmacy museum, that used to be a 17^th century apothecary, displays curious instruments and recipes for potions perhaps made by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), the father of homeopathy.

Sibiu Church (photo: Ileana 2015)

The largest Catholic Church in Sibiu stands majestically between Piata Mica (Little Square) and Piata Mare (Large Square). Interestingly, on the day I visited, it was displaying a large banner at the back entrance urging people to stop fracking for natural gas and to stop mining in Rosia Montana.  Since the Pope is now a climate change expert and population control expert, why not turn the church into an environmentalist NGO?

Brukenthal Museum courtyard (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

Brukenthal steam porcelain stove (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

Brukenthal Roman lapidarium (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

Medieval door (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

The National Brukenthal Museum is a treasure trove of art collections which Baron Samuel Von Brukenthal, the former Governor of Transylvania (1777-1787), housed in his Palace built in the Grand Square in Sibiu. Showcased in the baroque and rococo interiors are famous masters like Jan van Eyck from 1420, German and Austrian painters, Romanian painters, personal favorites like Teodor Aman and Nicolae Grigorescu, gold and silver coins, jewels, engravings, intricately carved furniture, books, weapons, silver and gold drinking cups and goblets, medals displayed in his former library, sculptures, costumes of the era, whimsical porcelain steam stoves interconnected throughout the palace, a novelty for that period,  a lapidarium with statues of Roman gods, Roman roads mile markers, and votive altars from Apulum and Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, dating to the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries A.D.

ASTRA barn with carriages (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

 

Interior of a floating mill at ASTRA (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

Four miles south of Sibiu, in the forest of Dumbrava, we found the largest Museum of Popular Traditional Civilization ASTRA in the country. Spread on 237 acres of rolling hills and lakes, it is the largest museum in Europe that showcases homes from different parts of the country, windmills, boats, barns with complete carriages, and many implements and tools necessary for everyday living. Each home is surrounded by a typical yard with ploughs, carts, barns, and interiors are decorated just like people were still living there and have left for the day to tend to the gardens or crops. The smell of old wood, mildew, wildflowers, and crushed fruits was overwhelming. A slow-moving red fox, accustomed to human presence, crossed the nearby yard.

ASTRA home interior (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

 

ASTRA home interior (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

The outdoor ASTRA museum is so hugely popular that locals use it for recreation, boating, and celebration of major life events. On the day we visited, there were three weddings at the wooden chapel and brides and their entourage were taking photos on the premises. I was fascinated by the various windmills displayed, and particularly a floating mill that used hydropower to grind grain.

All the workshops manufacturing silk and hemp, distilleries, forges, wine presses, paddle-wheel ferry, the blacksmith’s shop, and other machinery used by Romania’s country folk were actually in working order.

It is only fitting that this huge outdoor museum with its well-preserved history is called ASTRA. ASTRA was a patriotic literary society of the 18^th century, located in Sibiu, which was instrumental in Transylvania’s unification with Romania in 1918.

To the east of Transylvania is the famous Seckler Land. The Secklers are Hungarian-speaking people which are called “secui” in Romanian. They use their own language, have fascinating traditions, customs, delicious cuisine, and schools. No industrial development has touched this plateau where old farming methods are still used today to cultivate the land. It is a land where Hungarians have migrated to in the 9^th century from the Don River. The Hungarians were given land in exchange for the promise that they would protect the western Hungarian border against the invading hordes of Turkish tribes. There is a Crusader’s cross decorating a church in Tusnad as evidence of Christian support against the invading Muslims. Signs abound both in Magyar (the Hungarian language) and Romanian language.

The Hungarian king Endre II brought in the Teutonic Knights in 1211 to protect the southeast border of Transylvania from the Cumans, a migratory Turkic tribe.  It was these knights who built stone castles all over the area surrounding Brasov.  According to National Geographic, because the Teutonic Knights liked this magnificent area called Barsa Land and were going to claim it for the Pope, King Endre II forced them out in 1225 with Saxon help.

Brasov (photo: Ileana 2015)

The jewel of Transylvania is Brasov (Kronstadt). There are so many significant places in Brasov  and its vicinity that it merits a story onto itself.

Prejmer Citadel and Cetatea Rasnov

Prejmer Citadel walls
Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015

Leaving our hotel in Brasov and barely avoiding two collisions from impertinent drivers who seem to be in so much hurry that they triple and quadruple pass other vehicles close to dangerous curves and impassable hills, we made our way a few kilometers north to the neighboring Saxon villages of Prejmer and Harman.

According to National Geographic Traveler, the villagers who emigrated to German-speaking countries have abandoned their terra-cotta tile homes built very close to the road and gypsies have moved in (p. 146).

Harman’s Citadel has four turrets which indicated that “the people of Harman had the right to pass the death sentence.” The 12 meter tall walls were built in the 15^th century to protect the citizens from the many outside invaders, eager for loot and tribute. A 12^th century Gothic church with a 13^th century funerary chapel are enclosed within the citadel rock walls. The chapel contains fragments of Gothic frescoes.

Prejmer Citadel Inner Walls
Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015

Prejmer’s Citadel walls, built between 15th and 18^th centuries, protected inhabitants from constant siege coming from Austrians, Tatars, Turks, and other neighboring provinces. The inside walls had 272 rooms on four levels, refectories, a school, and galleries to accommodate the entire community during an attack. A circular passageway connected the top level. The middle courtyard was dominated by a Gothic place of worship built in the Rhineland church style. The Citadel had an exterior portal, a 17^th century wall, the original 15the century defensive wall, and a 19^th century wall extension and entrance passageway with a dropping gate with sharp wooden spikes that could impale someone unfortunate enough to be in the way when the gate dropped.

Pigeons, lilacs, and blossoming trees were shading the courtyard between the Gothic church and the sleeping quarters accessed by steep and dangerous wooden stairs, not for the faint of heart or wobbly jointed. I could not climb all the way to the top where the very thick rocky retaining walls and ramparts were slightly separated six feet from the residential part of the structure.

Prejmer Citadel 19th century entrance Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015

 

Prejmer citadel tools Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015

 

When the Citadel of Prejmer was under attack or times were dangerous, the local population took refuge inside the fortress. According to museum archives, an old school functioned here, with its first teachers mentioned in 1460 and then in 1556. The surviving classroom decorated with frescoes from the 18^th century was used as late as 1853 when a new school was built in the village of Prejmer.  

Inner Gothic church Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015

 

Prejmer Gothic Church Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015

 

Prejmer Gate Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015

 

One hundred-year old trees and purple lilacs bloomed in the courtyard, overwhelmed by the strong scent of mold and old, dry wood. The green grass made a lovely contrast with the dark and foreboding sleeping quarters now painted white, with black stained beams. Centuries ago, this citadel must have been an island of peace and protection from the constant Ottoman Empire attacks which continued for hundreds of years. Every time they were pushed back, they returned with a vengeance.

Prejmer residences Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015

 

Ten miles from Brasov, after a pleasant drive through valleys flanked by blue mountains and lush green meadows with billowing in the wind tall grasses, wheat, and wild flowers, we found the city of Rasnov with its Citadel built by Teutonic knights in 1215. The fortress is perched on a rock about 400 feet above town. Because its location is difficult to access, the medieval castle was only conquered once in 1612 by Gabriel Bathory. The observation tower, which can be reached by steep, creaking, and difficult to climb up or down stairs, gives a breathtaking 360 degree view of the Carpathian Mountains. The movie Cold Mountain was filmed not far from here.

Rasnov Citadel Photo: Ileana Johnson 2015

Archeological digs found evidence of a fortified Dacian settlement during the first century B.C. and first century A.D. named Cumidava/Comidava.  Earthen moats, ditches dug around the rocky peaks, and wooden palisades protected the population from the numerous invasions. Parts of the fortification are still standing on the north side and in the surrounding forest. Houses, some carved in stone, were located inside the fortifications. Buried Items who were unearthed suggest a prosperous settlement with trade relations. When the Dacians were conquered by the Romans, a new Roman castrum was built on Ghimbasel Valley, bearing the same name, Cumidava/Comidava.

Three buses of American soldiers were visiting the fortress that day, climbing to the citadel on foot, while children and less physically-abled adults were ferried up by a tractor pulling a train of sorts. Humidity was low, the sun was shining, the temperature was a balmy 72, and the rocky remains of the former castle were buffeted by strong winds. A Romanian flag was proudly displayed on the highest peak of the castle.

A resident cat disappeared below a big drop through an open window, as if jumping to her death. We found her later at the entrance, safe and sound, eating a treat dropped by one of the American soldiers.

We have met several Americans the night before, dining in an outdoor pizzeria near the Black Church in Brasov. Some of these young men, part of the “show of force” exercise in Romania which ended in Brasov, were happy to be off and around so many beautiful young Romanian girls.

A couple of soldiers were now interviewed by a young Digi-24 crew about their stay in Brasov. Romanians at large were buzzing with fear in cafes and on the Internet that the Americans have come to occupy them, albeit it too late, one older man joked. “We could have used American help during WWII,” he said. We certainly did not need the Soviets, he added with sarcasm.

We bought two walking canes; besides an interesting display in the office, the canes were quite handy for climbing or steadying when walking on cobble stones or rocky terrain. And this fortress is difficult enough because it was dug into the Carpathian Mountains.

The Carpathian Mountains chain covers about one third of Romania and once formed Europe’s largest volcanic link. There is only one extinct crater left with its volcanic lake Sf. Ana north of Brasov. The U-shaped mountain chain runs from the northwest to the southwest of Romania.

The drive back took us through the Poiana Soarelui Street, a road winding up with constant hair pin curves and dizzying drops until we reached Poiana Brasov, a popular tourist destination in summer time for outdoor recreation and horseback riding, and a fabulous ski resort in wintertime.

Copyright: Ileana Johnson 2015