Manastirea Snagov – La mormantul lui Dracula
 
E sambata dimineata. O zi superba afara. Dupa cateva zile de ploaie, razele soarelui sunt o binecuvantare. La meteo cu o seara inainte tocmai se anunta ca in weekend va fi o zi frumoasa … totusi dupa atata ploaie nu mai speram. Si uite ca era o zi superba de octombrie. Cum tot vroiam sa ajung la Manastirea Snagov, ma urc in masina si pornesc la drum. 45 de kilometri. Nu e mult. Daca nu e aglomerat, poti ajunge relativ repede. Si asa a si fost. Sambata dimineata la ora 10, traficul pe DN1 nu era asa de intens. Probabil cei care doreau sa ajunga la munte plecasera deja.
 
In octombrie e probabil perioada ideala pentru o asemenea plimbare. Nu e nici cald sa te topesti cum e vara, nici frig, zapada sau polei cum e iarna. Si pentru ca lucrurile sa fie si mai placute, nici noroi nu era pe jos. Ca sa ajungi la Manastirea Snagov, cel mai bine este sa mergi pe DN1 pana in localitatea Ciolpani. Acolo … atentie mare la indicatoare, pe partea dreapta. Sunt mai multe indicatoare care te indruma catre diverse obiective din Snagov. Doar unul singur arata cand trebuie sa faci dreapta spre Manastirea Snagov dar trebuie sa ai rabdare pana apare dupa alte indicatoare spre Snagov. Altfel poti vizita ceea ce a mai ramas din faimosii Codri ai Vlasiei, ceea ce nu e deloc rau. Padurea este superba in octombrie. Mie mi-a placut.
 
Ajungand la indicatorul catre Manastirea Snagov, faci dreapta si intri pe un drum asfaltat foarte bun, chiar daca e de doua benzi. Dupa ce ai iesit din localitate … atentie mare. Un indicator destul de mic iti arata spre dreapta drumul catre Manastirea Snagov. Daca mergi cu viteza si nu esti atent ajungi in localitatea Gruiu. Eu din fericire am vazut la timp acest indicator. Drumul iarasi este in conditii excelente. Imediat ce intri in Snagov, un alt indicator iti arata sa faci stanga spre manastire. Apoi dupa ce mai mergi iarasi un pic, un alt indicator te directioneaza pe Strada Manastirea Vlad Tepes. In capatul strazii trebuie sa opresti.
 
Ajung in capatul strazii si … din pacate asist la un incident … un barbat nervos trecut de 60 de ani, care aflu ca pazea o vila din zona, luase o scandura sa loveasca un calugar. Din fericire, un bodyguard il opreste politicos incercand sa il potoleasca. Gasesc cu greutate un loc de parcare unde sa pot lasa masina pentru a merge la manastire. In cele din urma acel barbat furios imi idica un loc unde sa pot lasa masina “ca nu se intampla nimic … am eu grija”. Il intreb ce s-a intamplat si spune ca “cei de la manastire ii fac probleme”. Il las in pace si merg sa vad cum se ajunge la manastire. O alee scurta coboara spre lac. In capatul aleii se afla un pod metalic … iar peste lac … se vad insula si turlele Manastirii Snagov. Podul arata foarte bine iar traversarea se face usor. Privelistea e superba iar ziua insorita completeaza frumusetea peisajului. Pe pod niste tineri carau baloti de paie la manastire. “Sunt pentru ponei si pentru celelalte animale de la manastire” spun ei.
 
Coborand de pe pod poti admira manastirea si clopotnita construita in timpul lui Mircea cel Batran. Vad in dreapta hambarul unde tinerii duceau balotii. Mai departe sunt gospodariile calugarilor. Clopotnita arata foarte bine. La fel si manastirea. Se vede ca oameni gospodari au grija ca timpul sa nu lase prea multe urme. La intrarea in manastire, Nicoleta asteapta vizitatorii sa le ofere informatii si sa incaseze taxa de vizitare. Biserica actuala a manastirii a fost construita in timpul lui Neagoe Basarab probabil pe ruinele altor unei biserici sau capele mai vechi din timpul lui Mircea cel Batran. Totusi aici au fost descoperite unelte si vase din epoca bronzului, o necropola dacica si monede romane si bizantine, ceea ce arata ca insula a fost locuita din timpuri stravechi. Pictura restaurata se prezinta relativ bine. Aici este cel mai vechi. mai mare si valoros ansamblu pictural mural medieval care se afla intr-o biserica din tara noastra. Pe un panou la intrare, in mai multe limbi, este prezentata istoria manastirii. In fata altarului se afla o lespede de piatra sub care se presupune ca a fost inmormantat poate cel mai celebru domnitor al Valahiei … sangerosul Vlad Tepes asociat in toata lumea cu Dracula. In comparatie cu mormintele altor domnitori ai Valahiei, acoperite cu lespezi de marmura, acest mormant pare foarte umil pentru un domnitor atat de mare. Insa probabil faima de care se bucura compenseaza acest lucru.
 
In spatele bisericii manastirii se afla o fantana sapata de niste prizonieri turci. Iar pe celalalt mal al insulei in partea opusa podului metalic se afla amenajat un debarcader. O plimbare cu vaporasul pe lacul Snagov ar putea fi interesanta. Ma intorc spre biserica. Aici am norocul sa il intalnesc din nou pe staretul manastirii, Varahiil Banateanu. Spun din nou deoarece il vazusem mai devreme atacat de acel barbat furios. Bucuros de oaspeti, staretul imi daruieste un cd cu Manastirea Snagov. Acelasi dar il face si altor turisti care se aflau la manastire. Imi povesteste cate ceva din istoria manastirii si ce planuri de viitor mai au. Cu mari eforturi dar si cu ajutorul lui Dumnezeu si al oamenilor, au reusit sa restaureze biserica si clopotnita si sa construiasca acel pod metalic peste lac. Fara acel pod, accesul pe insula ar fi fost foarte dificil si s-ar fi facut doar cu vaporasul. Anul viitor podul va fi adaptat normelor Uniunii Europene in sensul ca ii va fi adaugata si o rampa de acces pentru persoanele cu dizabilitati. Ii spun ca singura problema acolo e ca nu prea exista loc de parcare. Din pacate acest lucru nu permite accesul multor turisti, iar pentru un autocar ar fi aproape imposibil sa ajunga acolo. Staretul explica si incidentul pe care il vazusem mai devreme: acel om, paznic la o vila din apropiere, s-a apucat sa ceara taxa de parcare celor care veneau sa viziteze manastirea. In urma reclamatiilor primite de la vizitatori staretul a rugat unul din bodyguarzii care pazesc manastirea sa aiba grija ca vizitatorii sa fie lasati in pace.
 
Imi iau ramas bun si plec spre masina. Paznicul era la poarta vilei. M-a privit dar nu mi-a cerut taxa de parcare. Ar fi bine ca primaria sa gaseasca o solutie in acest sens. Pentru ca Manastirea Snagov este pe langa importanta religioasa, un obiectiv turistic valoros ce merita vizitat. Si nu numai pentru ca aici se presupune ca se afla mormantul faimosului si temutului Dracula. Atmosfera de liniste si pace care exista pe insula te incarca cu energie pozitiva. Iar poneii care pasc linistiti pe pajistea de langa manastire pot face deliciul copiilor. O excursie la Manastirea Snagov merita facuta pentru cei care doresc sa descopere o parte din istoria noastra dar si pentru cei care doresc sa petreaca momente de liniste in acest loc incarcat de frumusete.
 
In masina ma uit la DVD-ul primit. Rasfoiesc un pic si ghidul turistic cumparat de la manastire. In ghid scrie ca in apropiere se afla Manastirea Tiganesti, Manastirea Caldarusani si Manastirea Sitaru. Dar despre acestea … cu alta ocazie.
 
Eugen Apateanu – octombrie 2013

Carta (Kertz) Fortified Church – The Legend of the Haunted Abbey
 

“Red people, a tad shorter than our kind, came out of a mountain riding red horses. There were about two hundred of them, and they started preaching all sorts of things in front of the people. Suddenly, they ran all over the people who were listening and returned to their cave, never to come out again. They vanished, all but one, who got caught by his hand by a man. Alas, the little devil turned that man’s hand forever red and then ran off. During the following year, some kind of misfortune came upon almost all who witnessed that terrible event.”

 

Western Europe heard a lot of red creatures on red or fiery steeds, of demons and doomsday visions. But it is for the first time that the western imagination finds its way into the east, at Carţa, in Transylvania. What could have determined this transfer and, more precisely, what caused the appearance of a Transylvanian Saxon settlement in a western chronicle?

The exact founding date of the Cârţa monastery (Latin: monasterium beatae Mariae virginis in Candelis de Kerch) is unknown but is estimated that it was founded by the Cistercian Rite Monks between: 1202–1206. It is one of the oldest Cistercian monasteries in Europe and the oldest in Eastern Europe, representative for the early Gothic style. The Church was built in shape of cross. It was one of the most important and impressive fortified churches in Transylvania and the territory on which it was built was donated to the King Benedict of Transylvania by King Andrew II of Hungary. The first documentary attestation of the church dates back since 1223 in a document from the times of King Andrei II which confirms a donation of a Cistercian monk, Gocelnius, to the monastery. This document states that the territory, on which the monastery was built, was awarded by magister Gocelinus, for the blessing of his soul, through the Transylvanian king Benedict. This land, stated the document, was ”terra exempta de blaccis” or land taken from the Walachia’s. Benedict was Transylvanian king between 1202–1206 and 1208-1209. This means that the founding date must fall between 1202 and 1209. An additional document, the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order from 1206, further narrows the date of founding, mentioning the presence of a Cistercian monk from Transylvania, most probably from Cârţa, at the Cîteaux Abbey, in Burgundy, the main abbey of the Cistercian order. Summing up this historical data, the date of the monastery’s founding by the Cistercians monks can be established between 1198 and 1208.

 
How the Fortified Churches of Carta appeared
 

In the 12th century, the King Geza II of Hungary began an intense period of development in Transylvania, the area being colonized with Germans. This is the period when the Teutonic Knights appeared in Transylvania, together with the Cistercian Monks, who built the first monasteries. The Church has always played an extremely important role in the society and during troubled times it was used as a shelter by those chased away by the foreign invasions. Thus, the churches were properly built with thick walls, in order to offer protection to the ones it sheltered. The Saxons of Transylvania continued building fortified churches long time after the invasions ceased.

The Church ruins can be seen on the road between Brasov and Sibiu in the Olt valley. Over time, the Church was damaged several times by Turks and Tatars, in 1241 being almost entirely destroyed. Nearly the entire church needed to be rebuilt in 1250. The new building was executed in what is called early or Burgundy gothic – a style that still used a fair amount of typically Romanesque building techniques. At the same time that construction was taking place at the Carţa building site, this early gothic style was also being used at the Saint Bartolomeu church in Braşov. Although less visible now, the Cistercian style had a strong influence on the churches of Prejmer, Hărman, Sanpetru and Feldioara. Elements of this style were also adopted in other buildings in the Hartibaciu valley, where the church of Carţa was regarded as a worthy model. In 1474, the King Matthias Corvine abolished the Church due to numerous complaints he received from villagers of Carta, oppressed by the higher and higher taxes imposed by the Church Abbot of that period, Raymund Barenfus. Even though it was abolished, the Fortified Church of Carta continued its activity and the religious sermons are still celebrated today.

 
What you can see at the Fortified Church of Carta
 

All that is left of the old cells of the monks is a high wall located south of the church that still preserves a two-party window and round-arch ones. Inside the courtyard of the parish house, the little hammers on the water mill still knock on wood. They almost seem to say that time will always keep passing.

The Church preserves only the choir, the apse and south wall of the cells. The church choir consists of arches that join in a keystone which depicts the Virgin Mary, who is also the protector of the religious place. Other decorations of the church are the sunflower plates and round stained glass windows, arranged in six lobes. The former central nave of the Church of Carta houses a cemetery, built in memory of German soldiers fallen in the First World War, during the Battle of Sibiu. In the churchyard, there is also a water mill with little hammers.

The Cistercian monastery introduced and helped develop Gothic art in the region. The first buildings of the monastery were built, according to Cistercian customs, using perishable materials, most probably wood, in the founding period (1205–1206). A few years later, approximately 1210-1215, a stone chapel of small dimension (around 8–10 m) and massive walls, the oratorio, was built close to the original wood buildings. The construction of the main stone edifice started a little bit later, most probably between 1220 and 1230. The construction occurred in two stages, separated by the Great Mongol invasion of 1241. In the first stage of construction, the main elements are of Romanesque influence. The general plan was traced and the walls were erected up to a height of about 3–4 m. In 1260 the works were restarted under a new architect trained in the mature Gothic architecture, and with the help of a new masons’ workshop. During this period, the old stone oratorio was dismantled and on its foundations was built a part of the north wing of the transept and a part of the choir with the polygonal apse. At around 1300, the church and the east wing of the Cărţa Monastery were already finished and the works on the south side will continue for about two decades.

 
The Legend of the Haunted Abbey in Romania 
 

The old Cistercian Abbey from Carta attracts thousands of tourists annually due to its architecture and history, but also due to the legend that the church would be haunted by the old monks that used to live there. The legend says that cistercian monks fasted all year and sometimes ate cheese and boiled beech leaves. They all slept in one room on hay. They would wake up at three o’clock in the morning and by the evening they would have service every three hours. Because of the poor life conditions, the monks died at the age of 35-40 years and were buried at the Abbey. Their graves are in the yard of the monastery. Some people say that the place is haunted and that in the cellar the chairs are sometimes moving and the walls are vibrating. It is said that even the priests that served there witnessed that phenomenon.

 
The Cistercian Order 
 

The Order of Cistercians – Latin: Order Cisterciensis or, alternatively, OCSO for the Trappists (Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance)) is a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monks and nuns. They are sometimes also called the Bernadine’s or the White Monks, in reference to the color of the habit, over which a black scapular is worn. The emphasis of Cistercian life is on manual labor and self-sufficiency, and many abbeys traditionally supported themselves through activities such as agriculture and brewing ales.

The term Cistercian (French Cistercien), derives from Cistercium, the Latin name for the village of Cîteaux, near Dijon in eastern France. It was in this village that a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery of Molesme founded Cîteaux Abbey in 1098, with the goal of following more closely the Rule of Saint Benedict. The best known of them were Robert of Molesme, Alberic of Cîteaux and the English monk Stephen Harding, who were the first three abbots. Bernard of Clairvaux entered the monastery in the early 1110s with 30 companions and helped the rapid proliferation of the order. By the end of the 12th century, the order had spread throughout France and into England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Eastern Europe.

The keynote of Cistercian life was a return to literal observance of the Rule of St Benedict. Rejecting the developments the Benedictines had undergone, the monks tried to replicate monastic life exactly as it had been in Saint Benedict’s time; indeed in various points they went beyond it in austerity. The most striking feature in the reform was the return to manual labor, especially field-work, a special characteristic of Cistercian life. Cistercian architecture is considered one of the most beautiful styles of medieval architecture. Additionally, in relation to fields such as agriculture, hydraulic engineering and metallurgy, the Cistercians became the main force of technological diffusion in medieval Europe. The Cistercians were adversely affected in England by the Protestant Reformation, the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII, the French Revolution in continental Europe, and the revolutions of the 18th century, but some survived and the order recovered in the 19th century. In 1891 certain abbeys formed a new Order called Trappists (Ordo Cisterciensium Strictioris Observantiae – OCSO), which today exists as an order distinct from the Common Observance.

The Legend of Arges Monastery

 

Downward the Arges river, in a beautiful place, as the most famous Romanian legend (The Legend of Master Manole) says, the Black King (Negru Voda or Basarab the 1st) make a stops with his soldiers and, enchanted by the surroundings, decide to choose this place to build a monastery – the most beautiful monastery ever seen in Wallachia.

According to the history, the monastery of Arges was built in three years (1515 – 1517) during the king Neagoe Basarab, on the place of the former Mitropoly of Wallachia built in 1359 during the Black King period.

The monastery is not large (18 meters length, 10 meters wide and 25 meters high) but is one of the most beautiful monasteries in Romania. As a curiosity, the naos and the pronaos are not separated by a door, but by the frame of a door, placed between two columns. Its dedication day is the “Assumption of the Virgin” on August 15. The paintings inside the church were executed by Master Dobromir during the reign of the King Radu of Afumati, in 1526. In the pronaos were burried great rulers of Romania: Neagoe Basarab King and his wife Despina, Radu of Afumati King, King Carol I and Queen Elisabeta, King Ferdinand and Queen Maria.

Curtea de Arges Monastery is the place where “The legend of master Manole” was born. According to the legend one day, a very wealthy and religious Walachian king, the Black King, rode with nine stonemasons and their master Manole to find a place and build a church more beautiful than anyone may have seen before. They founded a very nice place and the stonemasons started to work, but whenever they almost reached to the top, the walls would collapse before they could ever finish it. After a dream of Manole, they decided and made a vow that the first women seen by them to be sacrificed in order to see their work done. And it so happened the Manole’s wife showed up to bring her husband’s lunch. Manole prayed to God to start a storm and turn his wife back, but despite the strong wind and rain, Ana, Manole’s wife, arrived to his husband. So Manole had to keep his vow and immure his own wife alive within the church walls. The place of this immolation can still be seen between two walls of the southern front side of the church. This is how the monastery could be finished, and the prince was pleased to find that it was the most beautiful as ever he saw.

After that, the prince would not want Manole to build another church that could be more beautiful and he ordered to remove the scaffolding, which left Manole stranded on the roof. In an attempt to escape, Manole made himself a pair of wings from shingles, but they were of no avail, and he would crash to the ground like Icarus and die. Upon his crash, on that place, a wellspring has spring out, which is now called Manole’s well. Today people would throw coins in its basin, to make their wishes come true.

Another legend refers to Saint Filofteea’s holy relics, the relics of a 12 year girl that are to be found in the chapel of the monastery. It is said that the girl used to carry food to the workers hired by her father. But one day she gave the food to the beggars encountered in her way. Then her father killed her with one hit of the axe. The corpse of the girl could be lifted only when the name of Curtea de Arges Monastery was mentioned. That is the reason why the priests have decided to put the relics in this monastery.

In Curtea de Arges there can also be visited the remains of the first Royal Court of Wallachia and the Royal Church of Wallachia, finished in 1352, where is buried The Black King (Basarab the 1^st), the founder of Wallachia.

TROVANTS – the living stones – unique phenomenon in the world in Costesti, Valcea county

 

They are strange, quite bizarre, most of them have spherical or ellipsoidal shapes, or have the shape of 8 figure. They have different sizes from several centimeters to several meters. They are “born” in a sandy hill where the open air of the Trovanti Museum (unique in Europe) is located on a surface of about 1,1 hectares. The name of trovant has Romanian origin from the geologist George Murgoci.

Trovants or the grease rocks are local cements grown inside the sand deposits that contains them and the ununiform secretion of the cement make the creation of these trovants with different shapes, sometimes very strange. The trovants from Costesti Museum are unique in the world because of one particularity – small trovants are growing on the surface of other bigger trovants. And they are the biggest trovants in the world.

The origin of the trovants comes from the tertiar period, 6,5 million years ago. In that time (the tertiary period or the Moetian inferior) in this area was a delta, and a sedimentation basin. The sand deposit where the trovants get outside from, was formed by the successive deposit of the material transported by the rivers on the continent. Together with these sediments in the water were deposited also chemical products (carbonated products) in exces. Upon the first layers of sand were deposited other sand sediments that pressed the first sediments and the water got outside through the holes that existed among the particles and the granules cimented together.

When among layers of sand is accumulated enough carbonated products, because of the cimentation the greases appears. So the trovants are silicated greases.
Some people says the trovants have extraterestrial origin and you shall take care of them because they can revenge. People are adviced to put water on them because this way trovants can grow and evolve. Scientists are considering that trovants are the link between the minerals and the vegetals. Some trovants have terminations looking like roots. If these roots are cut the section looks like one of a tree with coloured rings.

The big diversity of shapes and sizes of the trovants from Costesti and the beauty of these stones that grow alone (growth estimated to 1 cm in 100 years) and also the beauty of the nature of this area (after half hour of rain the sand is transformed into stone) makes the trovant open air musem an attractive place to be visited.

TROVANTI – le pietre vive – fenomeno unico al mondo in Costesti, Distretto di Vâlcea

 

Essi sono strani, piuttosto bizzarra, la maggior parte di loro hanno una forma sferica o ellissoidale, o hanno la forma di figura 8. Essi hanno dimensioni differenti da alcuni centimetri a parecchi metri. Sono “nato” in una collina di sabbia dove si trova all’aperto del Museo Trovanti (unica in Europa) su una superficie di circa 1,1 ettari. Il nome di trovant ha origine rumena dal geologo George Murgoci.

Trovanti o le rocce arenarie sono cementi locali cresciuto ​​all’interno dei depositi di sabbia che li contiene e la secrezione non uniforme del cemento rendere la creazione di questi trovants con forme diverse, a volte molto strane. Le trovants da Costesti Museum sono unici nel mondo a causa di una particolarità – piccoli trovants crescono sulla superficie di altri trovants che cresce più grandi in questo modo. E questi trovants sono i più grandi trovants del mondo.

L’origine dei trovanti viene dal periodo tertiar, 6,5 milioni di anni fa. In quel tempo (il periodo terziario o l’inferiore Moetian) in questa zona era un delta, e un bacino di sedimentazione. Il deposito di sabbia dove i trovants uscire fuori da, è stata costituita con il deposito successivo del materiale trasportato dai fiumi del continente. Insieme a questi sedimenti in acqua sono stati depositati gli prodotti chimici (prodotti gassati) in eccesso. Sui primi strati di sabbia sono stati depositati altri sedimenti di sabbia che ha premuto sulle primi sedimenti e l’acqua che è andato fuori attraverso i fori esistenti tra le particelle ed i granuli cimented insieme.

Quando tra strati di sabbia si accumula molti prodotti gassate, a causa della cimentation i arenarie appare. Così i trovanti sono silicatiche arenarie.

Qualcuno dice che i trovants hanno origine extraterestrial e si prendono cura di loro perché possono vendetta. La gente è consigliato di mettere l’acqua su di loro perché in questo modo trovants può crescere ed evolvere. Gli scienziati stanno prendendo in considerazione che trovants sono il collegamento tra i minerali e le Vegetals. Alcuni trovants hanno terminazioni cercando come radici. Se queste radici vengono tagliate la sezione si presenta come quella di un albero con anelli colorati.

La grande varietà di forme e dimensioni dei trovants da Costesti e la bellezza di queste pietre che crescono solo (crescita stimata a 1 cm in 100 anni) e anche la bellezza della natura di questa zona (dopo mezz’ora di pioggia la sabbia è trasformato in pietra) rende l’aria aperta trovant musem un luogo attraente da visitare.