Transalpina (DN 67C) 
Photo credit (c): SIMION MECHNO/AGERPRES ARCHIVES

“The County of Sibiu is crossed by the highest national roads of Romania and the most spectacular we’ve got. It’s about the Transfagarasan, recognized as the utmost spectacular mountain road in Europe, and the Transalpina. Also from the road transport infrastructure we should talk about the A1 speedway, which is going to link the Black Sea (eastern Romania) with the West of Romania and which is operational on 40 km in the Sibiu County (…) the maximum distance from Sibiu to any corner of Romania being of up to 400 km, all this infrastructure will attract investors and develop tourism. The Sibiu County draws most of the tourists of Romania, after Bucharest, all year long, not only seasonally”, the deputy-chairman of the Sibiu County Council Ioan Banciu explained for Agerpres.

According to him, the tourist area of the Fagaras Mts., the one crossed by the Transfagarasan displays a significant development. Here, the Sibiu County Council has invested massively ensuring a modern Salvamont (mountain rescuers) station with permanent patrols and more importantly upgraded access roads to make the connection with the Transfagarasan.

“Our intention is to develop the Fagaras, Balea, Valea Porumbacului northern area. The possibility to place some slopes at 2,000+ metres altitude shows that it will be a zone of future in developing the winter sports “, Ioan Banciu added.

Transfagarasan (DN 7C) 
Photo credit (c): SORIN LUPSA/AGERPRES ARCHIVES

The Transfagarasan, re-discovered by the Romanians especially after the British with the Top Gear have promoted it as the most beautiful road in Europe is full of tourists in this season. This road was built to connect the two historical Romanian provinces, Transylvania and Wallachia, the first crossing of the Fagaras Mt. taking place on September 20, 1974. After a titanic 4-year work, the 5,000 constructors most of them military have succeeded to put into use the road which will be known and well-known by anyone who sees in the photographs or with one’s own eyes the meandering sinuous curves to the steep mountain ridges.

The road also known as the DN 7C (DN means National Road, while 7C is a variant of a communal road) is 151 km long; it starts from Kilometre 0 in Bascov (Arges County) and ends in the Cartisoara commune (Sibiu County), where it unites with DN1 (E68).

Breathtaking landscapes — the serpent-like road, the Balea fall and the glacial lakes — the 2,034m altitude the road is reaching in the proximity of the Balea glacial cirque, the crossing of the longest route tunnel in Romania (887 m) make the Transfagarasan the track preferred by drivers, cyclists, motorists and amateurs of mountain wanderings. Not randomly the Top Gear specialists called it ‘a fabulous road, the most amazing we’ve ever seen!’

Transfagarasan (DN 7C)
Photo credit (c): SORIN LUPSA/AGERPRES ARCHIVES

Capable to be breathtaking even to the most skeptical, the Transfagarasan crosses the Golul alpin Fagaras Mountains National Park and the Fagaras Mountains and the Fagaras Piedmont Natura 2000 sites. With a bit of luck of good weather, one could still spot chamois jumping among the rocks or could admire meadows full of mountain peony crowning in the summer a spectacular flora.

The marked mountain trails’ network eases the access of the mountaineers to the highest peaks of Romania’s Carpathians — Moldoveanu (2,544 m) and Negoiu (2,535 m). Next to wandering, in summer one could practice alpinism, cycling, riding, paragliding, the flying fox, sport fishing or sport hunting.

The various offering of tourist services and amusement are extra reasons to choose this area as a holiday destination. The tourist infrastructure — lodges, hotels and guesthouses — with 900 places and categories of comfort from 1 star to 4 stars/flowers compete in offerings and various services.

Descending the northern side, to the foot of the Fagaras, one could reach the Cartisoara village, one of the ‘most beautiful villages of Romania’, the birthplace of Badea Cartan, the memory of whom operates today the Ethnographic Muzeum with the same name. The locality is proud with its two churches made of stone, erected at the beginning of the 19th century, whose painting bears the signature of the Grecu family of painters, well-known in the entire area for their personal, moralizing way of interpreting the Biblical scenes and the society and transpose them into icons.

The spectacular Transfagarasan annually challenges the professional athletes to test their abilities within the international competitions: the Cycling Tour of Sibiu, Red Bull Romaniacs.

The following events much awaited by the public are the Cuca Festival (August 29-31) and the Cultural Days of the Sibiu County (September 27-28).

“Dear travelers, the alpine road is only opened four months per year from July 1 to October 31. Timer is on. Don’t forget the proper outfit and the cameras. In the country of the clouds you will spend a holiday you will have to tell about”, says Simina Manea, the AJTS manager.

Transfagarasan (DN 7C)
Photo credit (c): MARIOARA PAULESCU/AGERPRES ARCHIVES

According to her, “the official statistical data indicate the doubling of the number of visitors in the first quarter of 2014, as compared to the same period of 2013. The degree of tourist attractiveness of the area is also proven by the increase by 50 pct of the accommodation and by 10 pct of the hotel tax’ receipts.”

Remarkable achievement of the communist era, the Transfagarasan has entered a rehabilitation stage this year, with the intention to exactly could be circulated more months per year. Discovered and rediscovered by the Romanians, and in particular by the foreigners, this road was declared in 2012 the most beautiful road in the world by the CarsRoute magazine. The US-based said publication has carried out a top 15 of the world roads which need to be travelled by any earth inhabitant, the renowned Romanian road being followed by the Stelvio of Italy and the Lysebotn of Norway, according to auto.ro.

In 2009, Top Gear with the BBC has also placed the Transfagarasan on the first place among the most beautiful roads in the entire world.

In competition with the Transfagarasan, the Transalpina crosses the Sibiu County too. Many legends are about the Transalpina. The link with the Transalpina in the Sibiu County is done on a county road modernized by the County Council, its most spectacular segment being Jina — Sugag.

“After modernizing the Jina — Sugag road, many tourists have travelled on this segment. This road offers a great opportunity because it passes through a reputed area, Marginimea Sibiului. Even if it has not an official name, the Cheese Road /Drumul Branzei passes through Marginime, this being the area with the shepherds the most known in Romania. The Sibiu cheese is a national brand, not only local”, Ioan Banciu said.

Transalpina (DN 67C)
Photo credit (c): SIMION MECHNO/AGERPRES ARCHIVES

About Transalpina they say it has been built firstly by the Roman armies themselves on their way to the Sarmizegetusa Regia fortress (the strategic 4th Corridor).

A shepherds road, the Transalpina has been crossed the long of the centuries by the shepherds who took off for transhumance over the mountains, to the Danube’s plains. In the ’30s, after a visit in the region and at the insistence of the locals, King Charles II has had the road paved with stone. Ever since, the road linking the Salistea Sibiului to Novaci (the Gorj County) is called ‘The King’s Road’.

During the WW II the German armies have revamped the road, a strategic access way to and from Transylvania. In the past two years, the Transalpina road (DN 67C, the road that links the Sebes city, Alba County of the Novaci commune, Gorj County on about 130 km) was partially covered with asphalt and opened to the tourist access. Thus, the road crossing six mountain massifs? Cindrel, Sureanu, Lotru, Parang, Latoritei, Capatanii ? has become the highest road in the entire Carpathians.

The King’s Road starts at Saliste, passes through the Tilisca, Poiana Sibiului, Jina shepherds’ villages and descends 7 km till Dobra (the commune of Sugag) where it meets the DN 67C. From here, the road climbs slightly, passes nearby the Tau and Oasa dams in order to reach the Obarsia Lotrului (thye place where the Lotru is springing). The segment between Obarsia Lotrului and the Ranca resort is the most impressive: narrow serpentines are meandering softly in an overwhelming landscape through its spectacular; sheepfolds are gathering spread on both sides of the slopes.

The maximum altitude the road is reaching is 2,145 m in the Urdele Pass. It is the point where one can see the skies mating the earth. The road continues on the ridge of the mountains and slightly descends to the Novaci commune (Gorj County).AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Medias Municipal Hall

‘The inclination is something characteristic to the Trumpeters’ Tower. The cause is the loading of the tower with three extra storeys in 1551 and through this its basis subduing to a too big pressure. Once it started to lean, this inclination became bigger and bigger, so that today the tower is part of the most known inclined towers “, Alina Stefan explained.

The history of the defence walls begins at Medias in 1437. The Turkish incursion in Transylvania in 1437 — 1438 leads to an accentuated decay of the Medias fortress, from the economic and the demographical viewpoint. With the ceaseless Turkish peril there, between the 15th and 16th centuries, the villages and smaller fairs which couldn’t ensure their long-length walls’ defence have resorted to the churches’ fortification. The same is the point with Medias, which in a first stage in the middle of the 14th century erected some walls on a restricted area, strengthened with two towers. Subsequently, after the year 1400, the existing walls are over-raised and is projected the construction of another three towers united in-between with belts, foreseen with water ditches and watch roads, erected to protect the area around the Saint Margaret Evangelical Church. The ensemble of these fortifications will be named Castle (a term derived from the Latin castellum, which means a place reinforced, a redoubt, a fortress), its first documentary attestation dating 1450.

The first documentary mention of the Saint Margaret Church dates 1414. The chronicler Georg Soterius writes that the year 1488 is the year when the construction was finished. The church’s dimensions are huge: it is 20m large, 52m long, its central nave is 350m˛ and 12m in height, with 3,000 people capacity.

The church’s tower was erected in 1550, its current height reaching 68.5m and a deviation of 2.28m from the vertical, inscribing among the 12 first constructions of this kind worldwide. In the castle’s structure are also included the defence towers: The Bells’ Tower, the Taylors’ Tower, the Ropemakers’ Tower and Mary’s Tower.

On the occasion of its over-elevation, the tower’s crest was framed by four corner towers which symbolize the right of the city to pronounce on the capital punishment (jus gladii). The city’s trumpeter used to live in one of the small towers and inform the citizens through his trumpet sounds the enemies’ nearing, the fires’ outburst and the entrance into the city of the prince or of other high dignitaries. The trumpeter is officially mentioned in documents ever since 1508. This how it came to be called the Trumpeters Tower.

The cause of its leaning was the fact that the tower has been over loaded with three extra storeys in 1551 and, by doing this, its basis was subdued to a too much pressure. Once it began to lean, this inclination got more and more accentuated, so that today it is part of the most famous inclined towers. Its leaning has determined the people in charge to take steps to strengthen it. So, an external belt was walled up, including the northern and western sides of the tower, and two buttresses in the northwest and northeast corners and a reinforcement of the foundation inside the tower. Sharpened to its peak like a blade lance, over the clocks measuring for ages the terrestrial time of the people of Medias, the roof’s helmet was framed with other four small towers attesting the fact that the city used to have a court and the city’s right to pronounce the capital punishment.

In Medias, if one was found guilty one could receive a capital punishment through a court sentence. The city used this right among other things to burn at the stake some ‘witches” in the 17th century, the last event attested in this respect being from 1752. During the time, various repairing works were necessary at the Trumpeters Tower. An extreme, yet necessary solution, has been adopted in 1927-1930, when in order to avoid the sharpening leaning of the Trumpeters Tower to the northeast, the tower was embraced both on its interior and on its exterior in an armed concrete belt up to the level of the 3 storeys at rd 14m high. On this occasion, the wooden statue of Turre Pitz (Petrica of the tower) was dethroned, which for three centuries had watched the city and could be admired today at the municipal museum and replaced with another oak wood statue, Roland. The legend says that during the building of the tower a worker fell from the roof. In his memory the statue of Turre Pitz was put in place. Roland was considered the city’s protector. In 1984, Roland was replaced with a copy, manufactured by Kurtfritz Handel.

Photo credit: (c) VIOREL LAZARESCU/AGERPRES ARCHIVE

In the Castel’s composition are also included the defence towers: The Bells’ Tower, the Taylors’ Tower, the Ropemakers’ Tower and Mary’s Tower.

The city’s fortress was built between 1490-1534, after a decree by Matei Corvin Hungarian King in 1486, which compelled the two Saxon Seats of Seica and Medias, respectively, to erect the stone fortifications. They count together for 2,360m total length of the walls, 0.8m in-depth and cca 7m height. There were three main access gates to the fortress strengthened with defence towers: The Steingasser Gate, to the north, the Zeckesch Gate, to the east, and the Forkesch Gate, to the south. The citadel was over-fortified in the next period, its peak being reached in the 18th century when it numbered 19 towers and bastions, the three main gates having been added another four secondary gates to.

Recently, this July, The City Hall of Medias announced that fortress’s towers and walls will be rehabilitated by 26 million lei from the European Union through the 2007-2013 Operational programme, the sustainable Development and tourism promotion.

With this investment 7,736 sqm of fortification walls and three tourist spots will be rehabilitated: the Cutlery Bastion, the Masons’ Tower and the Wheelers’ Tower.

“I wish to stress that the fortress’s towers and walls rehabilitation project is a complex one aiming to carry out works of area’s planning, respectively passers-by alleys, and bicycles’ tracks too, banks, informational poles, as well as parking lots. I find it our duty to rehabilitate, to preserve and to promote Medias tourist spots. We’ve got one single step for this goal come true and I trust that after it is completed, the tourist potential of Medias will soar. At the same time I want to thank the citizens who have understood the significance of this project for Medias and started to disband the garages in the area”, mayor Teodor Neamtu said.

The most leaned tower of Europe is the well-known Pisa Tower, Italy. The tower’s erection began in 1173 and went on (with two big interruptions) during two hundred years, with the goal to observe as much as closely the original project, whose architect is unknown. Besides its beauty, the tower is famous
For its leaning which is increasing with the time, due to the bad quality of the soil. It is 55.86m high on its inclined side, and 56.70m on the other side. Its weight is estimated to 14,500 tonnes. The tower’s leaning as against its vertical axis is 5.5 degrees, which means its body moves its weight centre at the basis level by 4.5m.

Photo credit: (c) Medias Municipal Hall

Because of its importance to the tourism industry of the city of Pisa, the Italian government implicated seriously in the last consolidation works that started in 1990, due to which they hope the life of the historical monument be prolonged by 300 years. The Tower of Pisa stabilization works lasted for 20 years, since 1990 until 2010. AGERPRES

Photo: (c) Cristian Nistor / Agerpres Archive

The Year divinity is born, grows, ages and dies along the calendar year and revives after 365 days, and 366 in leap years.

St. Basil is the first of the holidays celebrating the important saints of the Romanian religious and lay calendar, some of the saints are young and some are elder. On every January 1, St. Basil, a joyful young man who likes love and fun, is celebrated.

On the New Year Day, the caroling bands wish people be in good health, rich and wealthy and joyful, and they receive fancy breads, wine, sausage and money, in exchange.

Shouting over the village is a night ceremonial when lads play judges sentencing those who broke the community laws and rules Perched on hills, trees or roofs they say whipping words to the spinster, the elder singles, the old women who put bad spells on people, the men who abandon their wives, the lazy, the thieves and the drunkards.

The whole community is looking forward watching the show. For cleaning and removing the evil and the bad, and fires are lit.

On the first day of the year, on St. Basil day heavens are said they stay open and prayers come true, and beasts and animals can speak like humans. This is the day of ceremonials called the Plow and Sorcova, when people are wished well and prosperity. Newly wedded men go caroling the Plow. This is an ancient agrarian custom, a fertility rite. The plow song wishes rich crops in the arriving year. The Plow carol tells the story of the farming works like ploughing, sowing, taking care of plants, harvesting and carrying the grains to the barns. The plow carol is always accompanied by whip cracking and ringing bells, and sounds of an instrument mimicking oxen’s mooing.
Photo: (c) AGERPRES Archive / 1940

The ritual sowing is another custom, at this time of the year. The carolers bear small bags full with wheat, barley, oats grains and maize sometimes, they step in houses and throw grains mimicking the sowing in the field and wish the hosts to be in good health and harvest rich crops. They are than given apples, fancy breads or money. After they leave, the housewives gather the grains spread on the floor and take them to the stable because they are believed they should keep the cattle healthy throughout the year.

Last but not least, Sorcova is anther New Year’s day custom, and it is the delight of every child. Sorcova is a twig full of buds or a stick decorated in colored paper flowers. The name Sorcova originates in the Bulgarian word surov meaning green and tender, hinting to the freshly budded twigs. The Sorcova is slightly directed to a person and plays somehow the role of a magic wand that has the power to give vigor and youth to the person it is pointed to. The words of Sorcova song remind us of charms wishing you to be strong and powerful.AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

“The idea of a tourist village in Romania emerged in the ’60s at Sirnea, and became a reality in 1968, and in 1973 by an order of the Tourism Ministry the following villages were declared tourist villages: Halmagiu in Arad county, Rucar and Leresti in Arges county, Tismana — Gorj, Bogdan Voda — Maramures, Rasinari — Sibiu, Vatra Moldovitei — Suceava, Murighiol and Sf. Gheorghe in Tulcea county and Vaideeni in Valcea county. At that time, the tourist village implied a lot of things, first of all the geographic positioning of the settlement. Sirnea is a quiet village located between the Piatra Craiului Massif and the Bucegi Massif where the landscape, the climate and the seasons are amazing, where professor Nicolae Fruntes used to live, the person who got seriously involved with the idea of a tourist village in Romania, and the specialist press of that period brought to the fore the results of this experiment. Water at Sirnea, in that period, was tested and analyzed, being taken as a yardstick in south-eastern Europe as the purest water,” Professor Radu Fruntes, the son of Nicolae Fruntes, told AGERPRES.

In order to develop the village and attract as many tourists as possible, Professor Nicolae Fruntes initiated two feasts: “The measure of milk and the meeting of the village sons” held every June and “Winter at Sirnea”, aimed at presenting the customs of the villagers, both during summer and winter. Launched in 1969, the feast “Winter at Sirnea” entails a skiing race with torches in hands, sleigh rides and parties organized at the Cultural Centre.

“The Olympic Day”, celebrated for almost 30 years every June 23, is about the lightning of the Olympic flame, the Olympic flag, the parade of the athletes who attend various sports competitions. Other feasts are “The Sanziene Night” celebrated on June 24, “The Nedeia of the Mountains” on July 20, a traditional pastoral holiday, “The Fire of Sumedru”, the night of Oct. 25 when a big fire is lit on the hills of the village, called the Fire of Sumedru, the event being attended by all villagers.

“Until 1986 when my father died, the village of Sirnea was visited by over 3,000 tourists every year, from 22 countries and Romania. After visiting the village, tourists from Canada, Egypt, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Israel remained highly impressed by our traditions and customs and this can be seen in the Book of impressions guarded at the Sirnea Village Museum. It was a project of the ONT [the National Office for Tourism], called Seven Days in Brasov, and the tourists used to visit one tourist attraction each of these days, and also the village of Sirnea. Tourists were expected nearby DN73 national road by 10-20 cars or sleighs in the winter, pulled by horses adorned with bells, they were offered boiled plum brandy and they visited the house of one of the people who carried them by cart or sleigh. The project lasted until the ’90s,” Radu Fruntes said.

According to him, this pioneer project was beneficial for the entire area.

“Tourism has further developed at Bran, Moeciu, Fundata, other villages belonging to these communes. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer tourists decide to make a stopover at Sirnea. The road is pretty difficult from DN73, no repairs have been done for the last 15 years, there are no direct means of transport from Brasov as they used to be until 1990. The centre of the village and the museum need maintenance works and repairs, but there are no funds. The local and county authorities should do a lot more for Romania’s first tourist village, considered a brand of the county,” Professor Radu Fruntes also said.

Worth visiting at Sirnea are the Old Orthodox Church dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God, the Ethnographic Museum “Nicolae Fruntes”, the Monument of Lieutenant Colonel Ghe. Poenaru-Bordea, the first officer of the Romanian army who died during the First World War, the Piatra Craiului National Park, the Moeciu Gorges, the Cave with Bats in the Pestera village.AGERPRES

Photos by Bogdan Barbulescu /AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The first documentary mention of the custom dates from 1728 and appears in a charter kept in the archive of the First Romanian School in Schei. In this charter, the brethren of the Juni is mentioned as “a tradition passed down from the ancestors”. Among others, in connection with the passage of the mounted Juni to Solomon’s Rocks, where they were supposed to celebrate on Easter Week Wednesday, the document also states: “Let them pass unbothered, nicely, one by one, as fitted, and whoever does not allow the passage of the holy crosses through this garden, let him be accursed by the Lord and the 318 saints.”

“This custom of the Juni reminds us of the history of these places, because they acquired new features in various stages of history. As proof, we don’t have only young Juni (in Romanian ‘june’ signifies ‘lad’ — Ed. Note) — this is no pleonasm — they are actually unmarried, we have cavalrymen, footmen and turkey feather hat wearers, by the model of the uniform of the soldiers who fought for Romania’s independence. In memory of the events of 1877, when we were in Transylvania and weren’t allowed to fight for independence, we adopted the uniforms of the cavalrymen, footmen and turkey feather hatted musketeers across the Carpathians. Four of the seven groups of Juni wear a hat tailored after the model of Michael the Brave’s hat, three wear costumes like in 1877, and thus, simply by their appearance, they put together certain history values,” Professor Vasile Oltean told AGERPRES.

The seven Juni groups are: Junii Albiori (the White Hatted Juni), Junii Rosiori (whose dress takes after the uniform of the cavalrymen), Junii Brasovecheni (who wear a hat trimmed with the tricolor), Junii Dorobanti (dressed like the footmen of the Independence War), Junii Curcani (the Feather Hat bearers), Junii Batrani (the Elder Juni) and Junii Tineri (the Young Juni), with the leader, the senior provost marshal and the second provost marshal, the 100-men commander, the standard bearer and the piffero player marching up front. The piffero, a sort of trumpet that produces high-pitched sounds, is the preferred musical instrument of the Juni.

The leaders of each group carry a mace with tricolor, as a symbol of bravery and dignity. Each group also has its own banner which confers a profoundly patriotic character to the celebrations and actions of the Juni. Every group has a specific, very old garment type they put on only for special events such as the Bright Week and at the Juni Parade, which takes place every year on the streets in the center of Brasov, on Saint Thomas Sunday.

The first time the Juni get out to celebrate is on Annunciation Day, on March 25, when they assemble in Prundului Square in the sound of the piffero, and then go uphill Prundului Coast, where other groups of Juni are waiting for them; they hold mace throwing competitions and then visit the open-air crosses in the surroundings. Then, on Palm Sunday, they commemorate the Juni who died and, according to the cited source, “there is an impressively long roll call in the memory of the fellow Juni, as they deeply respect their forerunners.”

Then come the Bright Week celebrations, the pinnacle of which is the parade on Saint Thomas Sunday, with thousands of onlookers. On Monday, accompanied by the violin player, they go visit the girls and receive red eggs, then they dance the ring dance and throw the mace in Prundului Square. On Tuesday, they go to Prundului Coast with pies, and all passers-by receive a piece of pie. Then they make merry at the pastoral historic cross on Prundului Coast. There are 64 open-air crosses in Scheii Brasovului, and each group of Juni sees to several crosses. On Wednesday they go to Solomon’s Rocks, on Thursday there’s the blanket tossing, when men are thrown in the air on a blanket in Prundului Square, and on Friday they are said to lament over their days. On Saturday they prepare for the great Sunday, when they go parading in the old city.

Near the Museum of the First Romanian School in Scheii Brasovului is the Museum of the Juni, which has various exhibits related to the brethren’s existence on display, such as the seven types of suits for both males and females, an extremely old inkle loom with 22 shuttles used to weave the yarns that adorned the clothes of the Juni. The museum also accommodates archaeological items found near Solomon’s Rocks, as well as household items, and very old pictures and paintings of the brethren members, added Professor Vasile Oltean. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) BOGDAN BARBULESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Libearty, founded in 2005 and opened to visitors in 2008, is located in the deciduous forest near the town of Zarnesti, two kilometres away from the national road DN73 between Rasnov and Sibiu.

The reservation stretches on 69 hectares offered by the municipality of Zarnesti. It currently hosts 80 bears rescued from captivity throughout Romania. The 1.5 million dollars necessary each year came so far from donations of animal lovers worldwide.

‘No one offered such a large piece of land to bears so far. Unlike other sanctuaries, the one in Zarnesti helps bears to get used to their natural environment, providing the most effective help for forgetting the captivity pain. Oak forests are bears’ natural environment, helping them to overcome psychological trauma. The first bears were brought from Poiana Brasov in 2005; they were previously held in cages near several restaurants of that resort. We can say that over the 10 years since the founding of the Libearty sanctuary, we settled 90 percent of the cases of captive bears in Romania, including those kept in improper conditions in zoos. Those who think this reservation is a zoo change their mind after visiting it, and see wild animals — especially bears — in a different ways; for animal lovers, it’s a delight,’ Libearty manager Liviu Cioineag told AGERPRES.

Each bear there has their own story of years of captivity, misery, hunger and torment. Now they have the best conditions, including a pool. A 24-seat little train carries the tourists through the reservation; a second line in the southern part of the sanctuary is to be opened this year, connecting it to a future summer camp for children and to an underground observation point.

An observation point in a tree is already available for photographers. The underground facility will allow seeing the animals very close, through secure glasses, avoiding direct contact between humans and bears.

‘We want to homologate the summer camp for children in 2015. It will be kind of unique in Romania, being set up in a bear reservation. Children will live in a true Indian tent made by a family of Indians living in Canada. [editor’s note: the term ‘Indian’ for Native Americans or Canada’s First Nations carries no negative connotation whatsoever in Romanian; it was kept exactly as used by AGERPRES’s interviewee]. We want to provide a different kind of education here, without mobile phones and tablets. We are also preparing an educational centre to provide a link to the business, with a conference hall capable of hosting meetings in a special natural environment, even available for pupil and student lessons and research. Children will also learn about wild animals, through games. Over the next four or five years, we’ll talk more about education in the sanctuary, and less about tourism. Even nowadays visits are not mere visits — there’s a permanent guide, a documentary film about the sanctuary is shown to those who come see the bears, as well as many stories and lots of information about bears. This will actually be the purpose of the sanctuary in the near future — more education, less tourism,’ the manager explained.

Students from the United States, England, France, Australia and Russia come every year to the reservation of Zarnesti as volunteers and to study animal behaviour. Several organizations and foundations of England, Germany and France are supporting the sanctuary’s operation. Animal lovers can also virtually adopt a bear or — for Romanian contributors — redirect 20 percent of their income tax to the sanctuary.

The oldest bear in the reservation is a 32-year old female; the youngest — a 10-month cub named Pluto, saved alongside his mother from the zoo of Resita.

Cioineag says there are still some captive bears in Arad (western Romania), in a private farm; legal proceedings are underway to rescue them. A captive bear for which the owner has no authorization is the mascot of the resort of Streaja.

Libearty is open between 10am and noon, Tuesday through Sunday; the entrance is 40 lei (less than 10 euros) for grown-ups and 10 lei for children. AGERPRES

Bran Castle
Photo credit: (c) BOGDAN BARBULESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Peasants’ fortresses of Rasnov and Rupea were built prior to the settlement of Teutonic Knights in the region. Fagaras had its first fortification before Transylvanian ruling prince Stefan Mailat thought of having a stronghold residence there. Brasov, a citadel, has each bastion named for the Transylvanian Saxons’ trade guild that built, equipped and maintained it. The Bran Castle is first mentioned in a 1377 document of the chancellery of Louis I of Anjou, King of Hungary, who granted Transylvanian Saxons the privilege of building a new stone fortress, at their own expense; it was endowed with serf villages to maintain the building and the garrison.

Recent economic value has added lately to the historical heritage. Brasov and Bran have established tourist reputations; the peasant fortress of Rasnov has 200,000 visitors per year; the fortress of Rupea, a ruin for many years, has been restored in 2009, on European funds, and now attracts tenths of thousands of tourists annually, as part of international circuits.

Fortress of Rasnov
Photo credit: (c) SIMION MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Some theories say the fortress of Rasnov, placed as a sentry above the town, was built also with the contribution of neighbouring villages of Vulcan and Cristian. The Teutonic Knights left the region in 1225, leaving a wooden fortification; local peasants maintained it and then rebuilt it using stone, most probably during the second half of the 13th century. The first document mentioning it refers to the Mongol invasion of 1335. Rasnov also resisted the Turks a couple of times. In 1421, they plundered Brasov, which was still undefended by a citadel of its own. Rasnov had walls five metres tall, with eight bastions. The fortification was divided into a court or garden, and the inside dwellings, with more than 80 rooms identified so far. For centuries, it lacked its own source of water, a weakness that proved fatal in 1612, when the army of Prince Gabriel Bathory sieged it. Several years later, in 1623, Saxon craftsmen were contracted to dig a well; it took them 17 years to find water, 146 metres deep.

The fortress of Rasnov is now the stage of many cultural events, such as festivals and medieval fairs, historical film and children music festivals, etc., organized by the municipality. It has become the thirds tourist attraction in Brasov County, next only to the Bran Castle and the Black Church of Brasov City.

The fortress of Fagaras was built above an older wooden fortification of the 12th century, defended by a ditch and a rampart. It was destroyed by a disastrous fire. The building of the stone and brick fortification began in the late 14th century; the four-side shape with towers in the corners had an outpost to the east. Stefan Mailat strengthened it between 1520 and 1541, doubling the inside wall and adding a gate barbican and another floor on the southern side, known as ‘Mailat’s houses.’ He became Prince of Transylvania in 1534, but his plans eventually failed and he ended in a prison of Constantinople.

Fortress of Fagaras
Photo credit: (c) SIMION MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

By then, Fagaras already had a reputation of hard-to-conquer; princes Gabriel Bethlen (1613-1629) and Gheorghe Rakoczi (1633-1648) further strengthen its fortifications and provided interior works, making it fit for its new status of princely residence. Towers evolved into strong bastions, and the space between the two walls was filled with earth. A guard barrack was built; the ditch was extended and filled with water from the Olt River. The interior decorations somehow softened the military appearance, adding open balconies, arches and pillars, wall decorations, etc. The fortress registries mention 80 rooms. The domain included 50 villages, and the citadel still stands proof of the importance of Fagaras in the Middle Ages. Recent renovations resulted in a gradually increasing tourist inflow.

Brasov’s tours are other historical tourist attractions. The 1,600 square
meters Weavers’ Bastion, built between 1421 and 1573, is unique in southeastern Europe, in terms of architecture and configuration. Since 1950, it hosts the Museum of the Barsei Land. The exhibition’s focal points are the models of the Citadel of Brasov and of the Schei neighbourhood, the way they looked at the end of the 16th century. During summer, the tower also hosts chamber music concerts and medieval festivals.

The Drapers’ Bastion was actually built by the Goldsmiths’ Guild, between 1450 and 1455; it is 20 metres high and has a diameter of 16 metres. The Drapers’ Guild took over it — and the defence of the fortifications on the outskirts of Tampa Hill — only in 1640.

The Ironsmiths’ Bastion guards the northwest corner of the citadel. It replaced an earlier tower, destroyed by floods in 1526. Water and fire damage occurred again there in 1667; partial reconstruction followed. As its military importance declined, it was given several other uses; it hosts the State Archives since 1938.

Panoramic view of Brasov City’s Black Church
Photo credit: (c) ALEX TUDOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The Graft Bastion was named after the creek coming from Schei, after works turned it into a channel, called Graft in Transylvanian Saxons’ language. The Saddlers’ Guild erected it on two floors between 1515 and 1521. Damages and restorations followed, until the latest renovation of 2004-2005, which also restored the access to the White Tower on a stairway up the hill.

The Black Tower got its name after a fire caused by a lightning on July 23 1559. It was allegedly built in the 14th century, and its high position on rocky terrain made it fit both for observation and for interior guarding. Its isolation proved useful during the 1756 plague, when it hosted the guards that enforced the quarantine of the city. The 2003 renovation added it to the list of tourist attractions, along with the White Tower, restored in 2000.

Black Tower
Photo credit: (c) GEORGE CALIN / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The White Tower is the other defence tower on the Warthe Hill; it was mentioned in documents in 1460 and 1494. Originally, two guilds contributed to its maintenance — the tinsmiths and the coppersmiths; the former left the association in 1678, after paying a compensation for their obligations.

When it comes to Brasov County castles, Bran is by far the most famous; in Romania, only the Peles Castle of Sinaia (Prahova County) has more visitors. More than 450,000 tourists are lured to Bran by the mirage of legends, stronger than factual history — nothing proves that Prince Vlad the Impaler ever lived here, yet the castle is identified as Dracula’s. It seems to grow out the rock; it guards the Bran-Rucar pass between Transylvania and Wallachia, taken by Middle East merchants to bring their goods to Brasov.

After the aforementioned privilege granted by King Louis of Hungary in 1377, Bran was quickly built and completed probably around 1382. History and politics subsequently gave it to German Emperor and Hungarian King Sigismund of Luxemburg, which used it as a base for the army sent to support Wallachia’s Mircea the Elder in his feud against Vlad the Usurper in 1395. In 1407, Sigismund gives it to Mircea to seal their alliance against the Turks. A couple of decades later, the Seat of Brasov cedes the ownership of the castle to the Hungarian Crown, which funded extension and maintenance works, before renting it back to Brasov at the end of the century. The city bought it back in the 17th century, taking advantage of the financial problems of the Transylvanian administration. In 1920, the municipal council of Brasov gave Bran to Queen Mary of Romania, as a sign of gratitude for her involvement in the Romanian Union of 1918. In 2009, the Romanian state restored the rights of historic heirs and gave it to Archduke Dominic of Hapsburg, which kept it in the tourist circuit. The state-owned collections hosted by the Bran Castle were moved to the Customs Museum nearby.

The fortress of Rupea, a town on the border between Brasov and Mures counties, was preceded by the Dacian fortifications of Ramidava or Rumidava.

Fortress of Rupea
Photo credit: (c) SIMION MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The Romans built a castrum they called Rupes (Rocks), the origin of the present Romanian name. Works at the fortress began in 10th century; it grew as a stone spiral with successive enclosures, guarded by polygon-shaped towers. It was a peasant fortress, with three distinct sections — upper, middle and bottom. Abandoned after a fire in 1643, it was used again as a refuge from plague in 1716. Locals finally relinquished it in 1790, allegedly after a storm blew away its roofs. Restoration was attempted in 1954, but communist authorities were rather prone to demolish it, seeing it only as a sort of basalt stone. Fortunately escaping this fate, it stood visible from the national road to Sighisoara. European funds helped renovating it after 2009, giving it its new look, more attractive to tourists.

Fortress of Feldioara
Photo credit: (c) SIMION MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Local and county authorities financed the rehabilitation of the fortress of Feldioara — a work in progress. A 1439 document states that the villagers of Feldioara built it ‘with big expense and labour’. The very name of their village comes from the Hungarian word ‘foldvar’, meaning ‘earth fortress.’ AGERPRES

Photo: (c) Cristian Nistor / Agerpres Archive

The Year divinity is born, grows, ages and dies along the calendar year and revives after 365 days, and 366 in leap years.

St. Basil is the first of the holidays celebrating the important saints of the Romanian religious and lay calendar, some of the saints are young and some are elder. On every January 1, St. Basil, a joyful young man who likes love and fun, is celebrated.

On the New Year Day, the caroling bands wish people be in good health, rich and wealthy and joyful, and they receive fancy breads, wine, sausage and money, in exchange.

Shouting over the village is a night ceremonial when lads play judges sentencing those who broke the community laws and rules Perched on hills, trees or roofs they say whipping words to the spinster, the elder singles, the old women who put bad spells on people, the men who abandon their wives, the lazy, the thieves and the drunkards.

The whole community is looking forward watching the show. For cleaning and removing the evil and the bad, and fires are lit.

On the first day of the year, on St. Basil day heavens are said they stay open and prayers come true, and beasts and animals can speak like humans. This is the day of ceremonials called the Plow and Sorcova, when people are wished well and prosperity. Newly wedded men go caroling the Plow. This is an ancient agrarian custom, a fertility rite. The plow song wishes rich crops in the arriving year. The Plow carol tells the story of the farming works like ploughing, sowing, taking care of plants, harvesting and carrying the grains to the barns. The plow carol is always accompanied by whip cracking and ringing bells, and sounds of an instrument mimicking oxen’s mooing.
Photo: (c) AGERPRES Archive / 1940

The ritual sowing is another custom, at this time of the year. The carolers bear small bags full with wheat, barley, oats grains and maize sometimes, they step in houses and throw grains mimicking the sowing in the field and wish the hosts to be in good health and harvest rich crops. They are than given apples, fancy breads or money. After they leave, the housewives gather the grains spread on the floor and take them to the stable because they are believed they should keep the cattle healthy throughout the year.

Last but not least, Sorcova is anther New Year’s day custom, and it is the delight of every child. Sorcova is a twig full of buds or a stick decorated in colored paper flowers. The name Sorcova originates in the Bulgarian word surov meaning green and tender, hinting to the freshly budded twigs. The Sorcova is slightly directed to a person and plays somehow the role of a magic wand that has the power to give vigor and youth to the person it is pointed to. The words of Sorcova song remind us of charms wishing you to be strong and powerful.AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Bogdan DUMITRESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

It was given the name of the Black Church after the Great Fire that swept through the city in 1689 left its walls blackened by the smoke and also severely damaged.

While there are many white churches in this area, such as the Bela Crkva in the southern Banat, Biserica Alba [the White Church] in Albesti Tarnava near Sighisoara, Biserica Alba in Viscri, near Rupea, there is only one ‘Black Church’, the one in Brasov, according to the representatives of the evangelical community here.

Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The things that would highlight the importance of the Black Church the best would be: the largest church building existing in Romania, measuring 90 metres in length, 27-37 metres in width, 21 metres in height, 42 metres the roof apex and 65 metres the height of the tower, including the cross. The Black Church is also the largest hall church east of Vienna, with all its aisles of the same height and also one of the largest medieval churches in between the St. Stephen’s Dome in Vienna and the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. It also has the largest pipe organ in Romania, with approximately 4,000 pipes and an especially beautiful timbre, also advantaged by the good acoustic of the church. The Black Church also has the largest collection of old oriental rugs from the Small Asia that exists outside Turkey. Moreover, it has the biggest mobile bell in Romania, weighting no less than 6,000 kilograms. The bell of the Orthodox Patriarchy’s Church in Bucharest is bigger, but it is fixed, with only its tongue moving.

Photo credit: (c) Bogdan BARBULESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Since Brasov used to be located on the southeastern boundary of the Western world and it was under the influence of the Roman-Catholic Church, its representatives sought to impress the foreign visitors who were coming to Brasov by building large churches. The one who had this vision first was Pastor Thomas Sander, who worked here from 1377 until 1419, being the main founder of this building, of both the altar and the aisle. He started to build the church, under the protection of Saint Mary, in 1383, and in 1385 the first letter of indulgence was issued to reactivate the construction works at the future church, signed by the Archbishop of Strigoniu (Esztergom-Hungary), for Brasov was under the subordination of this Diocese back then.

Photo credit: (c) Ion DUMITRU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The first partial damage to the yet unfinished church took place during the Turkish invasion of 1421. However, two centuries after its construction started, the church building was almost complete. In the 16th century, during the Protestant Reformation in Transylvania, the Latin language — that was the tongue of the Saxon faithful — was replaced by the German language, with the first Lutheran [Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession in Romania] service in German language having been held here in 1542. In the spring of 1544 they elected the first Lutheran priest, in the person of the great humanist and reformer Johannes Honterus (1498-1549). It was then when the icons and the altars that were used by the Catholics were removed from the church.

The many earthquakes that occurred during the 16th and 17th centuries also damaged the building, but not that severely, since it only needed small repairs. Several hundreds of dead bodies were buried in the church during the Great Plague of 1602-1603. Also, the Great Fire that swept through the Brasov City on April 21, 1689, affected the church too. The bells in the tower melted because of the heat and fell, destroying thus the famous tower clock. Only the baptistery that was built in 1472 remained untouched and the church treasures in the sacristy. A temporary roof was built, with new bells, and the first religious service after the fire was held in 1691.

Photo credit: (c) Aurel VIRLAN / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

They built the new roof over 1693-1694 and two years later they also built the pulpit and the choir. Over 1710-1714, they built the galleries over the lateral aisles and in 1729 they started building the columns for the vaults of the choir. The new altar, the new pews and the spiral stars ensuring the access to the lateral galleries were built between 1865 and 1866.

In the years before the World War I, they started the restoration works of the church, but they were interrupted by the war. The heating with hot air began in 1937, thanks to a generous donation made by Guardian Samuel Sachiel. The restoration works started again and they were again interrupted, this time by the World War II. They were resumed as late as in 1969, by the Direction of Historic Monuments, taking eight years to complete. The southern façade and the roof were being restored on this occasion, while the inside was restored between 1981 and 1984, with support from the Evangelical Church of Renania. The rebuilding of the northern façade continued until 1987, when they started rebuilding the western façade and the tower, until 1999. Since 2000, the Black Church is also illuminated at night. The large pipe organ was also restored in 2001.

‘The Black Church has changed a lot since the old times. So much that we could almost change its name into the ‘Motley Church.’ These many colours, however, that appeared in time on its walls, will for sure darken again, to show the future generations a new image of it closer to the old one,’ the church representatives say.

Photo credit: (c) Ion DUMITRU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The pipe organ, which is considered to be one of the most treasured items that belong to the Black Church, was built between 1836-1839 by the Bucholz company in Berlin, and then thoroughly restored by a Swiss company between 1998-2001. Tourists who visit the Church during the summer can listen here to special concerts performed by famous organists from Romania and abroad, accompanied by the Bach Choir of the Black Church, founded in 1933 by musician and music teacher Victor Bickerich, who also played the pipe organ here between the years 1922 and 1962. The choir is led by organist Steffen Schlandt.

The banks with a mobile back from the main nave were installed in the church in 1937, once with the heating system. These banks allow the visitor who in the beginning of the religious service stands looking at the altar, to change his position during the homily or during the concerts and look towards the pulpit or the organ.

Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

In May this year, the Black Church received the visit of Prince Charles, the Heir-apparent to the British Throne, who was impressed by the building and said he would come again. “One visit to the Black Church can not be sufficient. Only by returning here several times we can understand this site’s history and we can feel more at home and also more able to appreciate more this valuable part of the cultural heritage of the Brasov City,’ the representatives of the Black Church also said.AGERPRES

Photos by Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

‘Cumidava — the medieval fortress, the St. Nicholas orthodox Church, the Evangelical Church, the Promenada, the entertainment parks, the Valea Cetatii Cave, the Olympic Base — is an offer which could fill a few days in Rasnov in a pleasant, active way. Right in the vicinity of the commercial myth of Dracula, Rasnov wants to propose its visitors something else. A particular story, where the romantic legends with princesses and knights are restored in the medieval Citadel, the music of the history which is heard in the city’s churches — ?good air, good food, wise work’ as we could read on the back of a postcard sent from Rasnov in 1921. All this welcome us in the spa’s guest houses, brought back to life after half a century through the diligence and skills of the Rasnov citizens, and underneath the mountains’ shield, sportspeople from all over the world race on the biggest ski jumping base in Rasnov. Inspired by our city’s old crest, Rasnov — Rosenau we wish it became the Rose of the national tourism,’ the mayor of Rasnov, Adrian Vestea told Agerpres.

Ever since the Middle Ages, the rose used to be the emblem of Rasnov, and the German toponym’s root Rosenau seems to be also rose. The rose becomes the symbol of the Rasnov community, of the Rasnov city’s history and culture, an element of identification, representative, novel, spectacular, artistic and unique in the national tourist offer.

The first official attestation of the medieval Rasnov, under the name of ‘Rosnou’, is noted in a document issued by Hungary’s King, Charles Robert of Anjou, that refers to the place of origin of nobleman Nicolaus Magnus. Rasnov is visited by Hungary’s King, Sigismund of Luxembourg, and receives the right to hold fairs. The most important branch of the local economy used to be agriculture. The most renowned and rich guilds based in Rasnov were the Carpenters’ guild and the Weavers’ guild. Another special craft which knew a remarkable development in Rasnov was the glass manufacturing, attested back in 1526.

Although in the inter-war period several plants are remembered, they were small businesses, agriculture being the most important economic branch after the end of the WW II. In 1924, Rasnov exported to Vienna 40 wagons of barley for beer and over 500 wagons of potatoes to the Sibiu-based starch mill.

As regards the Rasnov population, the first detailed data are barely known since 1510. Then, the locality counted for 146 households, 24 widows, 10 poor, nine empty houses, four public servants, one ringer, 14 shepherds, eight houses with poor people. Dobridge, an area inhabited by Romanians, was a separate place, headed by a Romanian priest and a cneaz (the Slavic name for a local nobleman).

During the communist regime, industrialisation was the authorities’ option for Rasnov, the best known being the Chemical Plant, the Rasnov Tools Plant (FSR), also known as the ‘chief toolman’ of the machines industry of Romania. Neighbourhoods of blocks of flats were erected for the incomers from all over Romania to work here, in Rasnov, as the commune became a city in 1950.

The most important and known tourist objective of Rasnov remains the Rasnov Citadel, visited annually by over 200,000 ticket payers, and other thousands who participate in cultural events organized in the citadel, free of charge. In 2004, the new leadership of the city hall commenced to retrieving the citadel, following the 2000-2008 period when this monument was aggressively intervened upon without authorization by a foreign citizen, the new owner of the Rasnov Citadel. The citadels’ chapels were ruined irremediably, in the lower citadel, in both the Dacian and the medieval sites, it has been intervened to the citadel’s walls where various balconies were built, which finally led to the crush of one of the walls. The ruining of the citadel was stopped on July 3 2008, when the Rasnov City Mayor took back into administration the historical monument. In 2009, the illegal constructions were put down, and in 2011 the lower citadel’s reconstruction was commenced. Currently, several works are under way at the historical edifice. The Rasnov Citadel has entered Romanian cinema, as here were shot several movies, such as Dacii (1966), Columna (1967), Nemuritorii (1974). Annually, numerous medieval festivals take place here, historic movies, festivals for children, music festivals, rock events which attract thousands of Romanian and foreign tourists. Next year an entertainment theme park on dinosaurs’ evolution will be opened, a first of this kind in Romania, which stretches on 1.4 ha, close to Rasnov Citadel.

The Gorges of Rasnoava, the Valley of Glajeria are other particularly spectacular areas to be visited by tourists who get to Rasnov.AGERPRES