Photos by Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Few know that just 35 km from Giurgiu and also as many from Bucharest City there are still living trees from the Vlasia Forest where centuries ago ruler Vlad the Impaler himself, the founder of the Comana fortified monastery, dismounted on an island surrounded by swamps. Today, in the same places, trees of the century-old forest are still growing. The swamps of the years past became the Comana Pond, which scientists consider to be a second delta of Romania. Today’s visitors can battle the shadows of the Ottomans in a modern adventure park, climbing up secular oak trees, while accommodation places welcome them for rest and relaxation.

COMANA MONASTERY

First time travellers at Comana want to walk into the footsteps of Vlad the Impaler and get full of sacredness at the Comana Monastery. Thus, immediately as they get in touch with the local history, they learn that the monastery was in the beginning a small wooden church. For the first time on September 27, 1461, the Comana toponym was officially used in a decree issued by the Chancellery of Vlad the Impaler that mentioned the border of the monastery should stretch all the way to where it touches the Comana Pond, right into Lake Calnistei.

Vlad the Impaler, founder of the Comana Monastery

‘The history of the Comana Monastery was continued in 1588 by boyar Radu Serban of Coiani, today’s Mironesti in Giurgiu County, who started the construction of a monastery on the land inherited from his mother, Maria of Coiani. The site was chosen because it was the place where the walls of Vlad the Impaler’s older monastery were standing,’ Comana father superior Mihail Musacriu tells AGERPRES.

In 1609, Radu Serban, who became ruler of Wallachia, painted the Comana Church and added royal insignia to the paintings. Radu Serban died in 1620 in Vienna and his mortal remains were inhumed at Comana by his sister, Elina.

Elina’s son, Draghici Cantacuzino, who died in Constantinople, was also buried here in 1667, along with Constantin, the son of high-ranking royal official Draghici, with these successive burials marking the switchover of Comana to the care of the Cantacuzinos.

In 1699-1701, grand steward Serban Cantacuzino started restoring the monastery, while in 1709 he died and he was in his turn buried at Comana.

Comana Monastery — Portraits of rulers who are linked to the history of this place of worship

In December 1769, the monastery was besieged by an Ottoman detachment and in 1802 it was hit by a strong earthquake. In 1854, the monastery was redesigned and the church was rebuilt from scratch. Few people know that in 1877, the monastery housed the Prefecture House and the local school opened in another wing of the building.

In 1908, the entire architectural compound of Comana was restored and in 1932 a mausoleum of WWI Heroes of the Neajlov River Battles was added. The church was also damaged in earthquakes in 1977 and 1986, but it was fully consolidated in 1988-1990. In 1991, upon the initiative of then Patriarch of the Romanian Christian Orthodox Church Teoctist it was turned back into a monastery of monks and refurbishment works were started to prepare it for its 550th anniversary of its first written record in 2011.

Because the place is filled with the footsteps of many rulers and damsels whose tombs are here, there is a local legend that says the founder, Vlad the Impaler, haunts the enemies in the plains scaring them away. It is said that when he fell prey to his enemies, somewhere between Bucharest and Giurgiu, his body fell into the hands of his rival Basarab Laiota and it was buried without the head, which had been sent to the Porte, and without exquisite ornaments and also without a tombstone, in the nearest monastery founded by him, Comana. In the yard of the Comana Monastery, there is a small billboard with information about the famous mediaeval ruler and a modest tombstone with an inscription almost fully erased that monks claim belongs to the ruler’s tomb.

Archaeological research in 1970-1975 established that the necropolis around the small church was used in the second half of the 15th century — the first half of the 16th century, while close to the narthex of the church, damaged by the passage of time, the remains of a decapitated male were found without any royal insignia, around whom coins minted under the rule of Vlad the Impaler were scattered. People say that could be Vlad the Impaler himself.

Tombstones in the cemetery of the monastery

Legend also has it that when the ruler was decapitated, thousands of streams gushed out like tears and the land reddened by the blood gave birth to butcher’s broom unseen there before, and after the ruler’s body was buried in the monastery, monks dag a well with clear and blessed water today known as ‘The Fountain with a Walnut Tree’ or ‘The Fountain with Health Remedies,’ and the place is overrun by butcher’s broom, another reason why Comana is unique. Because the butcher’s broom (Ruscus aculeatus) is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea area, at Comana it is protected as part of a scientific research at the Comana Natural Park.

Comana Natural Park

The Comana Natural Park is a unique reserve in Europe that houses tens of species of plants and animals protected by international laws; it is also deemed Romania’s second delta, covering 25,000 hectares and including an ecosystem specific of a delta, known from times past as the Comana Pond. Specialists claim that this delta is second in terms of biodiversity, after the Danube Delta Reserve.

Comana Natural Park

‘The park was created in 2004, when the Comana Pond was declared a natural reserve for the 140 species of birds, half of which are internationally protected, more than 200 plant types and subtypes, 70 of which are about to go extinct, living in the peony, butcher’s broom and lily-of-the-valley reserves, along with tens of bird, mammalian, reptile and fish categories protected under the Berne Convention and the national legislation, all gathered in one place, the Comana Natural Park,’ Spokesperson for the Giurgiu County Environmental Protection Agency Daniela Neagu tells AGERPRES.

Comana Natural Park


Some years ago, a private entrepreneur who loves the place and says he can feel the history coursing through his veins, turned his holiday house here in a boarding house, and to prove that he is a preserver of history, he named each room of the boarding house after a ruler or damsel and designed the rooms as a combination of history and modernism.

‘The first floor is dedicated to the Cantacuzinos; the guest rooms on the second floor are dedicated to the family of Craiovesti Basarabi, while a room on the third floor is dedicated to the family of Draculesti, with a room for Vlad the Impaler,’ the investor tells AGERPRES.

The rooms have wooden floors, panels, cabinets and tables manually painted, with the wild peony flower, a protected flower in the Comana reserve, a central element. The bathrooms and utilities are among the most modern, with the room dedicated to Vlad the Impaler offering Jacuzzi and massage services.

Comana Natural Park

Those wanting to spend time in the great outdoors find something for any temperament. Thus, lovers of extreme sports can choose between tree climbing and rope walking with various degrees of difficulty as well as a zip line over an adventure lake. The most calm of them can choose boat trips for fishing, bicycle trips in the woods, while gardening lovers can pick their greens and vegetables directly from the greenhouse of the local restaurant. A cellar of the Grand Cupbearer has been recently opened for wine tasting. The tourists arriving at Comana can walk in the footsteps of history while also feeling like being in Europe. AGERPRES

Banloc Castle
Photo credit: (c) Constantin DUMA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Each castle is shrouded in a double aura: one of the past lavish lifestyle of the counts and countesses, barons and baronesses who paraded their exquisite gowns at glittering balls entertained by stylish music, the other of a curse that cut off all the glamour and drove the buildings into dereliction, leaving them hidden from curious eyes under wild ivy curtains.

The Ariergarda Timisoara Association (AAT) has made its mission of placing these sightseeing jewels on a map of tourist attractions. AAT representatives walked the region of Banat to identify these once beautiful buildings, check on their condition, find out who their current owners are and inquire into the real prospects of recommending them as holiday destinations.

Also, the local municipal and county governments are considering revamping these objectives to create tourist trails in anticipation of Timisoara becoming European Capital of Culture in 2021, offering the guests the opportunity to spend some memorable days in Banat.

“A very little known site is the former Castle of the Periam Hatter, which was turned into hat factory. In 1865, Johann Wohl was the first to produce handmade hats in Periam; his successor in the business was Johann Rudach, who set the bases of a hat factory here. In 1890, the Periam Hall and the local Craftsmen’s Guild decided the site of the future hat factory having Ioan Korber as main shareholder. The factory was effectively set up in 1892, under the name of Korber — Hat and Felt Cloche Factory, employing in the beginning 250 workers. Until the ’50s, the Periam-based factory had important business partners in Europe, but in 1948 it was nationalized and the building went into state property. After 1990, the Hatter’s Castle was claimed by an Alba Iulia citizen,” Timis County Council president Titu Bojin told AGERPRES.

In Foeni, the castle displaying a robust architectural line with a triangular frontispiece supported by six columns, was spoiled by the local administration that fitted it with energy-efficient windows and had it accommodate the cultural community center. The Foeni castle is actually a historic monument — home of the Mocioni family. Built in 1812, it was an impressive residence in that time. During the 1848 Revolution the Hungarian troops devastated the Foeni estate, which was then seized in May 1849. Jurist and politician Andrei Mocioni, son of Ioan Mocioni, bought the estate back into the family. In 1869 Andrei Mocioni retired from politics, spending his last years here with his wife, Laura Cernovici, and his father-in-law, Baron Peter Cernovici. In 1880, the Foeni estate was bequeathed to his wife and other survivors; in recent times, that is after the ’90s, a direct descendant of Mocioni’s — Antoniu, bought back the castle and arranged the Culture Centre here.

The Carani mansion became the property of a wealthy businessman, who just left it to degrade.

The Banloc Castle seemed to have a somewhat better fate: its last owner was Princess Elisabeth, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie. In 2008 the Town Hall leased it out for free to the Timisoara Archdiocese for a 49-year period, for an ecumenical center to open here. The mansion was built in 1750 on a site that was first mentioned in documents on May 13, 1400 under the name Byallak — “the buffalo’s plot.” In the time Banat was a Turkish pashalik, between 1522-1717, the Pasha had his summer residence here; later on, the land was donated by Empress Maria Theresa to Croatian Count and governor Josip Draskovic in exchange for other territories. The mansion was built in 1750 and in 1783 it became property of the Hungarian noble family Karacsonyi. Also in that time Count Lazar Karacsonyi brought rare species of exotic trees that he planted around the castle, creating the current park which covers an area of ten hectares.

Princess Elisabeth, who became a queen through her marriage to George II of Greece, later divorced and returned to the country. In 1935 she bought the Banloc estate and settled here until 1948, when she was forced into definitive exile. During communism, the mansion was successively a retirement home and an orphanage, and most of the customized pieces of furniture were stolen.

The Nako Castle in Sannicolau Mare belonged in the eighteenth century to the Nako family and had the chance to be kept intact. Brothers Kristof and Czyril Nako bought the estate at auction in 1781. Count Nako Kalman had the castle built in 1864; it was not only an architectural monument, featuring a tower of medieval inspiration, but also a veritable museum where objects of inestimable value from the personal collection of the Nako family were displayed. Paintings by Count Nako Kalman’s wife Berta, who was quite famous in that time, were exposed in the stately parlour, but also paintings from 1840-1850 by masters Franz von Lenbach and Schrottsberg, as well as carved and inlaid furniture from the Netherlands, a Carducci statuette from Venice and other such artworks. In the hunting room trophies captured by the nobleman in his first expedition to Africa were displayed.

The guest room was adorned with silver art objects, an old German gem, bronze sculptures and inlaid cabinets, paintings from the 15th century. The dining room was decorated with a collection of antique Japanese porcelain, as well as several copies of Rembrandt and Titian, which complemented the museum values. After 1919, all these treasures were lost without a trace. After WWI, the Nako family moved to Hungary, and the vast property surrounded by a huge fir forest and the 1,500 yokes of land with farms, gardens, greenhouses, winter gardens and orchards were sold. The castle was divided into two, the forest was devastated, and the furniture was scattered piece by piece.

At the beginning of the past century, the castle served as Romania’s first agriculture school and during the WWII it served as headquarters of the fascist guard, barracks and armory. The school of tractor drivers operated here between 1949 — 1951 and 1953 — 1955, then again the agriculture school, and in 1975 the castle was taken over by the Sannicolau Mare Town Hall, that organized here the Bela Bartok Museum, which opened in 1981. The castle currently accommodates the Town Culture Office and Museum.

In the 19th century, the San Marco mansion in Comlosu Mare was the center of the theatrical shows organized in the region, as well as a venue for the meetings of the aristocracy. After the nationalization, it was transformed into offices of the Cooperatist Agricultural Farm, then in a school and kindergarten. Its history too is linked to brothers Kristof and Czyril Nako who followed the Magyarization policy and bought in 1781 huge areas of land in Banat. The landed property managed jointly by the Nako brothers included estates in Sannicolau Mare, Teremia Mare and Comlosu Mare. Three years later, they were ennobled to landed gentry of Sannicolau Mare. In 1801 they decided to divide their common wealth and by lots casting, the Sannicolau Mare estate was left to the offspring of Kristof, while Teremia — Comlos, to Czyril’s son, Joseph. The latter left it to his son, Ioan, who in 1840 moved his residence from Vienna to the new castle built at the heart of Comlos. Around the building he arranged a luxurious park covering ten hectares, with wrought iron gates made in Vienna. The family crest was above the main gate, but it was destroyed by communists.

The Rudna mansion, property of baron Nikolics, is now fallen into ruins; in 1919, when the baron left Romania and settled permanently in Paris, the mansion was purchased by the renowned lawyer Lighezan, but after his death the manor slipped into ruin. In 1946 it was transformed into an officers mess, then in 1950 into barracks for the border subunit, and in the ’60s in a Cooperatist Agricultural Farm office. The chapel on the estate was destroyed in the same period. After the Revolution, what was left of the former mansion was stolen piece by piece beginning with the doors and the windows, the hardwood flooring and ending with the once luxurious furniture.

Another mansion that could become a tourist attraction is the one sitting at Clopodia, owned by former General Vintila Petala. A former Minister of the Armed Forces on behalf of the Liberals, General Petala bought at the end of the 19th century the mansion, which features a spectacular loggia enframed by two towers, from Hungarian Prime Minister Sándor Wekerle. After 1951, the General and his family fled the country. For a period the building was left in desolation and in the ’90s it was returned to the General’s great-granddaughter Marie-Rose Mociornita, who then sold it to the Erina family.AGERPRES

Photo credit; (c) cazaneledunarii.com.ro

It is the only worship place built during the communist regime and was intended for the German, Czech and Hungarian communities living in the surroundings of the Danube Gorges. The holy place, which enjoys Europe-wide fame, is dedicated to the “Immaculate Conception” and was raised under the strict supervision of architect Hans Fackelmann. Its unique look is given by the interior in the shape of a tent and the roof symbolizing a cross.

Father Mihai Sima explained for AGERPRES that despite its nonconformist appearance, the architecture of the church where he serves complies with the standards that apply to religious sanctuaries.

“Gabriel Popa’s watercolor and gouache paintings that cover the interior walls depict Calvary Road in a modern vision, with Pontius Pilate represented in the guise of Bolshevik leader Lenin, and portrayed in the crowd that witnesses the appearance of the Risen Christ are gymnast Nadia Comaneci, Beatles member John Lennon, actors Florin Piersic and Ana Szeles,” said the parish priest Mihai Sima.

He considers that the rather unconventional images do not affect the biblical scenes, but confer them more significance. For instance, the scene with Pilate represented with Lenin’s features far more powerfully suggests the persecution against Jesus Christ, while John Lennon embodies the joy over the Resurrection of the Lord.

“He who does not know the Holy Scripture cannot correctly interpret the Way of the Cross. This is where the innumerable disputes over the painter’s courage to portrait contemporaries arise from,” said father Sima.

He also stressed that quite often, towards the end of the twentieth century, Catholic Church painters resorted to such artifices to better illustrate the far from astronomical distance between the mortal and the divine world.

The Roman Catholic Church in Orsova where the religious service is celebrated in German, Czech, Hungarian and Romanian, is one of the most important tourist attractions in the region of the Danube Gorges. Its construction was funded by the German Caritas Association based in Freiburg.

“The paintings in the church, genuine masterpieces, attract by their discreet colors and the message they convey; tens of thousands of beauty loving faithful come here aboard the ships that call in the port of Orsova,” said father Mihai Sima.

The Church of Orsova also hosts organ recitals, as the building has an electronic organ and an old mechanical organ, both brought from as far as Germany, with the great efforts of the approximately 150 Catholic city residents. AGERPRES

Photos taken by: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The fortress was raised on the bank of the Danube, 500 metres away from the Roman castrum and the Roman bridge built by Apollodorus of Damascus. In the 19th century the area was discovered to also host a previous Dacian citadel that was depicted on Trajan’s Column in Rome. Archeological digs done over time have established as fact the citadel’s construction in several stages. Its heyday lasted from the 13th century until the year 1524, when the Ottomans under Suleiman the Magnificent destroyed the citadel. Its history is also tied to that of the Knights Hospitaller that name it Castrum Zewrini on the diploma issued in 1247 that granted them the right to settle in Severin.

History notes that in order to keep its status as a strategic point of defence on the Danube border, ruler Litovoi died in battle against the forces of Ladislaus IV of Hungary and later on, in 1330, Basarab I humiliated Charles Robert of Anjou in the battle of Posada.

The citadel of Severin would play, over time, an important role for Wallachia. When the Hungarians attacked Oltenia they would organise here the Banat of Severin, the first Ban (e.n. — High Steward) known to history being Luca who, it appears, had continued the construction of the citadel on top of the ruins of the citadel-colony of Drobeta. In 1259 the Knights Hospitaller retreat and the walls of the citadels remain in the sights of the Tatar, Bulgarian and Ottoman cannons.

‘The first citadel on the Danube, in 1524, when it was in the care of ruler Neagoe Basarab, was so devastated by the Turks that only the Tower of Sever, measuring 22 meters high, 9 meters long and 2.5 meters wide, was left standing. Within, in 1406, Mircea the Elder (…) signed a treaty of alliance with Sigismund of Hungary, Pippo Spano being the one chosen to restore the walls of the citadel’, said the Mayor of the City of Drobeta Turnu Severin, Constantin Gherghe.

The plan of the citadel was reconstituted, in 1936, by Professor Al. Barcacila who was executing archeological digs within the ruins, where he found a trove of archeological materials (iron bars, stone cannonballs, the bronze barrel of a cannon, etc.).

The citadel was rectangular in shape, the walls being built out of raw river stones bound by mortar. In the center of the citadel a chapel built using materials taken from the Roman castrum of Drobeta was discovered, as well as several graves, a forge, an Orthodox church, a Catholic Church and a fountain.

‘After its destruction at the hands of the Turks, the Citadel of Severin is attributed the emblematic mourning name of Cerneti (e.n. — blackened). The people of Severin built another settlement that was more protected from Turkish incursions about three kilometers north-east, across the Topolnita River. As such, the locality of today — Cerneti, that around 1602 was an estate of the Buzesti brothers, will become the commercial and administrative capital of the Mehedinti region, being used both by the Austrians and the Russians. In the years that followed, the walls of the citadel would crumble, covering up, in a sense, the history and memory of those who have sacrificed themselves for their defence’, said Gherghe.

Through a project financed by the Regional Operational Programme 2007-2013 of the European Union, the Drobeta Turnu Severin received 14 million euro to restore the Citadel of Severin and the Teodor Costescu Cultural Palace.

‘The reconstruction and preservation works, started nearly three years ago, will be finished by 2015. Then, the Citadel of Severin will regain the glory bestowed upon it, over time, by its builders. It is known that they were many, given that for 300 years, after each battle fought here against the Turks and Hungarians for the defence of Wallachia, the Citadel’s ?body’ was torn apart.

The Citadel of Severin is visited, daily, even now when it’s a construction site, by nearly 300 tourists coming from all corners of the world’, added Gherghe.

sources: agerpres

Photo credit: (c) Irina POENARU / AGERPRES PHOTO

The father of modern sculpture, as he is considered worldwide, Constantin Brancusi gifted the Targu-Jiu municipality, a few decades ago, when he decided to place here three of his works, with a very rare cultural destiny among the Romanian cities, and not only, succeeding thus in propelling it to the list of the localities with important tourism objectives, which is also proven by the large number of tourists interested in admiring and knowing the work of the famous sculptor.

Constantin Brancusi was born on February 19, 1876, in the Hobita village, near Perstisani and also not so far from the Tismana Monastery, a place which he used to visit very often together with his mother to attend the religious service.

As shown in Zenovie Carlugea’s documentary about the famous sculptor, Brancusi spent his childhood years surrounded by his father and the other fellow villagers who were used to making the objects that they needed in the household with their own hands. People made furniture, chairs and carved decorative elements into the wood and even houses, house pillars, which might be the source of inspiration for his famous work the Endless Column. His childhood was marked by a very close and beautiful relation he had with his mother, Maria, who was also the single one able to control him after the death of his father. After he graduated only three years of formal education, he ran away from home and went to Slatina, where he worked as a shop boy and later, in 1889 more precisely, he moved to Craiova, where he remained for several years, working as a waiter in various restaurants. One day, while he was working in a small public house near the Madonna Dudu Church, he took his clients completely by surprise when he showed up with a violin made by his own hands. The musicians working in the pub tried it to see how it sounded and, to the astonishment of all, the violin started to make harmonious sounds. The regulars of the pub, among whom a vestryman working at the church, sent him to the School of Arts and Crafts.

Brancusi was a hardworking student, and he finished the five years in just four. Already showing great skills as a woodcarver, he made painting frames and furniture. In 1898, he presented his first sculpture — the bust of Gheorghe Chitu — and two painting frames that can still be seen today at the first exhibition of the School of Arts and Crafts in the Dolj County, organised in the Bibescu Park in Craiova. In the same year he enrolled in the Bucharest School of Fine Arts, where he learnt from the best craftsmen of the beginning of the century in Romania, which gained him a lot of courage. He received mentions for his first works and he even got a medal, receiving many encouragements during the school year from his teacher Dimitrie Gerota, with whom he studied anatomy. He made a beautiful sculpture for which he received a prize — Ecorseul (ecorche — statue of a man with skin removed to reveal the muscles underneath), together with Gerota, PhD. In September 1902 he graduated from the School of Fine Arts. He travelled to Munich, but he didn’t feel good here and in 1904 he moved to Paris. A year later he was accepted at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Beginning with 1907, the great Romanian artist chose the nonfigurative art instead, becoming thus a familiar figure among the avant-garde artists in Paris.

It was his work the Kiss (1907) that finally individualized him from the other artists. The work came out as a huge surprise, since the technique was very innovative compared with Rodin’s art (Rodin was Brancusi’s former teacher). Through this work Brancusi managed to detach himself from the pattern of funerary monuments and such works that any of the amateur artists could make in fact at that time. His love affairs with Margit Pogany proved to be of great inspiration to him. The two had an exhibition together at the French Official Salon, and he made her, without her knowing, a portrait. Later he made a series of four variants to Mademoiselle Pogany. He gave one to her, he exhibited another one for the first time in 1913 at the Armony Show, from where an American citizen bought it immediately with 300 dollars, marking thus his entry to the art market in the United States and he brought another one to Bucharest, where he found no buyer, so that he gave it to the Storck family.

Photo credit: (c) Lucian TUDOSE / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

In 1926 he was involved in an unprecedented court battle with the US customs, when his work the Bird was subjected to customs duties. The law said that the works of art were exempted from paying the tax, but the customs officials refused to believe that the tall, thin piece of polished bronze was art and so imposed the tariff for manufactured metal objects. In the end, under pressure from the press and artists, the customs agreed that The Bird was a true work of art. Brancusi was 33 of age at the time, having his first personal exhibition in New York.

The important themes that captured his attention over the many decades of his career were — the Kiss, the Sleeping Muse, Mademoiselle Pogany, the Bird in Space, the Endless Column, the Danaide and the Cock.

In 1935, Arethia Tatarescu, the President of the National League of Women from Gorj, asked him to build a monument in Targu-Jiu in the memory of the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country. It was something that he had been wanting to do for many years, as he confessed in a later to his former student, Milita Petrascu, who was in fact the very one who recommended him to Mrs. Tatarescu — ‘I cannot tell you how happy I am to make something at home.’ The artist didn’t accept any money for his work.

According to Sorin Lory Buliga, the representative of the Brancusi Cultural Centre, it seems that the initial name Brancusi gave to his ensemble was the Avenue Heroes’ Souls. The monumental ensemble the Avenue of Heroes is the modern name of the triptic made by the sculptor over 1937-1938. The ensemble was meant to praise the memory of the heroes from the Gorj County, who sacrificed themselves during the war, as the last of a series of works of art devoted to the memory of the heroes from Targu Jiu.

Professor Zenovie Carlugea also mentioned in his documentary that the years 1936, 1937 and 1938 were ones of great effervescence in Targu Jiu. In May 1936, the city was ranked as a tourist attraction, so that to be able to draw funds from the ministries for building the monuments. In 1937, Gheorghe Tatarescu obtained 5 million lei from the Ministry of Public Works for building the Avenue of Heroes, following a straight line, from the Jiu River floodplain, through the Public Garden, to a haymarket at the edge of the town.

They soon began to make the modules for the Column in the central workshop of Petrosani (Atelierele Centrale Petrosani), assembled by Brancusi’s friend engineer Stefan Georgescu-Gorjan. The travertine blocks brought from Banpotoc, Deva, were cut and put together under the direct guidance of Brancusi, who placed the Gate of the Kiss within the Public Garden, while the League of Women from Gorj County made available 750,000 lei for expropriations along the Avenue of Heroes and also for the construction of the St Apostles Church. In the same year’s autumn, under the coordination of engineer Stefan Georgescu-Gorjan, they laid the foundation for the Column, mounted the central pillar and then put together the elements: Brancusi attended the mounting of the first elements of the column.

Photo credit: (c) Mihai POZIUMSCHI / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Next year, he covered the Endless Column in metal; he sculpted and finished the Gate of the Kiss and the two banks which he placed on each side of the Gate. He also mounted the Table of Silence from two elements he previously ordered, the twelve round chairs around the table and the thirty square chairs along the alley between the Gate and the Table, specified Professor Zenovie Carlugea.

Sorin Buliga also mentioned that the sculptures in the Public Garden were made from travertine brought from Banpotoc, while the Column was made from 16 rhomboidal brass-clad, cast-iron modules, measuring 29.33 metres in height. Each module measures 1.80 metres in its height. The Gate of the Kiss measures 2.15 metres in its diameter and 0.88 metres in its height. The distance between The Table and The Gate is of 121 metres and that between The Gate and The Column is of 1,154 metres.

Photo credit: (c) Zeno TUFEGA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

‘As regards the signification of the enigmatic elements of the Brancusian works, we know that they were the result of long and very profound meditations over the modality of reflecting (often symbolical) of the sacred in art. Although most of them have as deep source of inspiration the Romanian folklore art, they maintain at the same time a universal value, attracting artists, philosophers, scientists or simple admirers from all corners of our world,’ Sorin Buliga also said.

In the years that followed the completion of the monumental ensemble, Constatin Brancusi created just a few works, motivating that his work was already completed. Beginning with 1946, his health began to deteriorate; he retired in the loneliness of his workshop, among the sculptors that he liked to watch, as they remembered him about his life. His last exhibition while he was still alive was organised in New York, in 1955. Very ill, he refused to go to the hospital: ‘Well, I just prefer to wait for the Good God in my workshop.’ He died on March 16, 1957.

The manager of the ‘Constantin Brancusi’ Municipal Culture Centre, Doru Strambulescu, appreciated that the monumental ensemble had a sacred signification, all its elements representing a sacred cycle. ‘First of all, the monumental triptic ensemble the Avenue of Heroes has a sacred signification. It was made in the memory of the heroes from Gorj, who sacrificed their lives on the battlefield neat the Jiu River Bridge in the World War One, as an homage paid to these heroes. Of course, the symbolism of the ensemble as a whole is a vast one, if we consider all the studies that were made over the time related to it. We are talking about thousands of books, interpretations, but in its essence the Brancusian ensemble has a sacred signification. If we were to look into the water of the Jiu River, if we watch the Table of Silence, the Alley of the Chairs, the Gate of the Kiss, the St Apostles Church and the Endless Column, they all represent a sacred cycle,’ said Doru Strambulescu.

Photo credit: (c) Irina POENARU / AGERPRES PHOTO

He also said that in 1950 there was an attempt to dismount the Endless Column and use the material for other purposes, but the project failed. ‘In the 1950s the communist authorities were thinking to dismantle the Column and to use the material for user purposes. However, the project failed,’ Strambulescu said.

The Gorj county and local authorities wish that all the works related to Constantin Brancusi’s activity in the County could enjoy a better promotion. Te manager of the Municipal Culture Centre also said that, besides the idea of creating a museum to bear the name of the famous sculptor, there exist another plan to create a national institute and a big library to be dedicated to the sculptor’s memory. ‘So far, we have been discussing the plans related to the creation of the Constantin Brancusi museum. We want very much that all that we have in our country that is related to Constantin Brancusi to gain more visibility. Both at national and international level. Besides the museum we are thinking of creating a national institute and a big library where to bring documents about the great artist. I have nourished big hopes that the City Hall as well as the Ministry of Culture and the other institutes, such as the Romanian Academy, the Art Institute, will help us to think of a larger project. Besides the fact that Brancusi is a great personality, we need cultural marketing, we need to learn how to sell this image to the world,’ said Doru Strambulescu.

Photo credit: (c) Irina POENARU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

About the memorial house of the sculptor in Hobita, the manager of the Culture Centre said that, unfortunately, it was left to ruin by the local and county authorities, from unknown reasons. Another construction close to the true memorial houses was presented to tourists as being the memorial house and the authorities left it like this. ‘The memorial house in Hobita is representative for the style of the peasants’ houses that were built at that time in the areas. The one that was left to ruin is the ruin and, unfortunately, time left its mark on what was left from the house [….] However, we still hope that we will be able to do something for the true house. Either we will try to rebuild it or just to stop the deterioration process and save what it’s left of it. I believe that the Romanian state, through its authorized bodies, should take more care of everything that is related to the life and work of the great sculptor. The Romanian state has a duty to honour the genius of Brancusi and all that he left to us as inheritance,’ Strambulescu also said.

In 2007, once Romania joined the European Union, the Avenue of Heroes monumental ensemble was included in the UNESCO’s European heritage. Subsequently, the relevant authorities have initiated the procedures to include the masterpieces on the list of the monuments that belong to the world heritage, following this to actually happen in 2025.

‘We already started the procedure to include the ensemble on the UNESCO list and we hope that in 2015 this will finally happen. The files are already following its course, we just received the approval after they passed the verification stage, but we don’t know exactly when the next stage will be. I don’t believe that we will encounter any problems, since the year 2015 is already announced as one when UNESCO will add new monuments to its list,’ Doru Strambulescu said.

The French say ‘Noblesse oblige’ and Romanians should learn to say ‘Brancusi oblige!’ And I don’t mean an effort of perception or interpretation of the sculptor’s work, but the greatness of it, in its entirety. Constantin Brancusi returned the Romanian spirituality to the universal one and left us a priceless inheritance: he made us citizens of this world. We own him not because he is Romania or French, but because, due to the greatness of his work, his huge value cannot be denied. Which is something that we cannot say about many Romanians today: Brancusi is a citizen of the universe and we have the duty to follow into his steps and to cherish him. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The legends say God threw this bridge over an abyss with troubled waters, where bizarre beings were lurking to pull people into hell, in order to help Saint Nicodemus, whose name is connected with the history of the first monastery of Wallachia — Vodita, cross the water of Tismana River, so he could raise for Gods’ glory his second foundation — the renowned Tismana Monastery (1377).

‘God’s Bridge’ is located on County Road 670, linking Baia de Arama town to all the rural localities of the mountain area of Mehedinti County. It has been revamped by the Mehedinti County Council with European funds received via the Oltenia South-West Regional Development Agency.

The interim president of the institution, Aladin Georgescu, confessed that if the intervention hadn’t been done in time, the bridge, actually created by the Ponoare Cave ceiling collapse, would have crumbled and no one would have known of this piece of ‘jewellery’ which brings thousands of tourists to the area, some drawn by the legends or by the landscapes portrayed in various tourist guides and magazines worldwide.

‘The value of the works on a 35-kilometre segment of the road infrastructure going over the bridge, its consolidation, included, amounted to over 44 million lei, out of which 31 million represented non-refundable money, from European structural funds,’ Aladin Georgescu told AGERPRES.

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The road traffic no longer goes on the structure of ‘God’s Bridge,’ although it is made of massive rock, but on a winding built at the exit from Ponoarele village, for about 5 kilometres, which allows the preservation of the bridge.

‘God’s Bridge’ is a natural protected monument, the largest natural bridge of Romania and the second in Europe (30 metres long, 13 metres wide, 22 metres high and 9 metres thick), being the only one open for road traffic for over 200 years.

Underneath the bridge there flows a river which is said to have lacked life, as Nicodemus cursed the inhabitants of these areas not to have drinking water from this river, because they didn’t let him build a monastery nearby. This way, banished from these places, he miraculously reached the place of Tismana, where he built the monastery that appeared in his dreams.

Due to the project conducted by the Mehedinti County Council, the traffic in the mountain area of the counties of Mehedinti, Gorj and Caras Severin increased from 1,196 to 2,500 vehicles per day. Many tourists come to cross the bridge by foot, being positive that only this way they can enter a communion with God and thus heal from sicknesses and sadness. Maybe not by chance Saint Nicodemus, the founder of the Bishopric of Severin and Strehaia, agreed to the construction at the end of ‘God’s Bridge’ of a church with the patron ‘Saint Nicodemus of Tismana,’ for bringing the mortals to mind that God has been here, as a miracle.

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

No one really knows where the legend begins and where it ends. It is certain that ‘God’s Bridge’ exists and, for millions of years, since the birth of the Earth, it allowed man to step over a wonderful valley, to the universe of ancestral tales, where time revealed fields with limestone pavement and lilac, stars and magnificent statues carved in the limestone by winds and rains.AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The birth certificate of the museum is a first exhibition of archaeological finds from the Drobeta Roman camp located close to the ruins of the foot of the Bridge of Apollodorus (103-105), opened on May 12, 1912 in a wing of the Traian High School as a permanent exhibition. With the addition of more artefacts, some discovered at various archeological sites in Danube riparian areas and others acquired, the exhibition relocated to the I. C. Frimu Hall of the Teodor Costescu Culture Palace, where it remained until 1972, when it relocated for good to its today’s address.

Museum director Doina Chircu told AGERPRES that when it opened, the museum had four sections that today house more than 100,000 exhibits, half of them dating back to the Upper Paleolithic and the remaining covering the next eras to the 20th century.

‘The most sensational item in the museum’s collections is the skeleton of Europe’s oldest Homo Sapiens discovered at Schela Cladovei, Europe’s oldest human settlement, today part of a quarter of the city of Drobeta Turnu Severin, developed in 8,000-5,500 B.C,’ said Chircu.

She added that also at this unique archaeological site, vestiges that are of high importance to the history of human civilisation have been unearthed: the ruins of a workshop that manufactured malachite beads and part of the flint tools used for their manufacturing, a cult altar and more than 65 tombs dating from 7,300-6,300 BC.

After studying the relics, Professor Vasile Boroneant concluded in 1960 that some of these archaeological vestiges, part of which had been preserved at the Iron Gates Region Museum, are a real treasure in the historical heritage of Romania and the rest of the world. Carbon dating of the Schela Cladovei settlement confirms its age of nearly 8,750 years.

‘The artefacts found at Schela Cladovei and displayed at our museum have won world recognition, having been included in the world’s ancient history treatises and university classes. They confirm the fact that we possess clear evidence of a still unknown civilisation comparable to the ancient worlds of the Nile Valley, Tiger Valley and the Euphrates,’ said Chircu.

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

That is not all that imparts uniqueness to the Iron Gates Region Museum. Displayed in Hall I, where an exhibition of Upper Paleolithic history was mounted (about 30,000 years BC), are flint tools collected from the Climente and Cuina Turcului caves, including antler hoes for agricultural purposes, arrows of animal bone and teeth, as well as unique vessels for religious services and food storage.

Especially attractive are also urns, statuettes and ornaments of the Garla Mare civilisation that carry spiral and incised motifs, with the pottery rivalling the one of the Cucuteni civilisation.

Also in Hall I is a copy of the grand treasury of Hinova (12th century BC), discovered by the museum’s former director Misu Davidescu, that weighs nearly 5 kg of gold 980? pureness (24 karats), made up of a diadem, looped rings for hair, necklaces with rhomboid and spheroid elements, bells, earrings, bracelets and a sleeve with buttons weighing 580 grams.

‘Hall II is devoted to the Iron Age. Visitors can see here Gaeto-Dacian pottery, iron farm implements and weapons, silver ornaments and two vessels of precious metal for religious services — a rhyton of Poroina Mare and a vessel of Portile de Fier [Iron Gates], both of which are replicas of the original artefacts in Bucharest and New York, respectively. Also on display are Roman thermal baths, the face of King Decebal and the Dacians’ battle flag,’ said Chircu.

She said Hall III continues the history of Dacians and Romans, with battle scenes from the Trajan Column in Rome, a map with the road carved in a rock by Romans at Clisura Dunarii, Tabula Trajana and the navigable canal through the rocks at Cazane that allowed passage of Roman ships with soldiers. Also exhibited here is the structure built at the Roman camp of Drobeta that would house 1,000 Roman soldiers, tasked exclusively with defending the bridge over the Danube that was rebuilt in miniature in 1906 after a mock-up by French engineer Edgar Duperrex.

‘Hall V is devoted to deities. Visitors find here stone, marble and bronze statuettes that cover the entire Roman pantheon that were manufactured at the local workshops of the province in northern Danube. Some of them were imported by colonists from the Eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, including Isis, Osiris, Seraph, Aphis and Mithras, as well as Cybele. A special place is reserved to the representations of the Danubian Knights also known as the Thracian Knights,’ said Chircu.

‘The artefacts in halls VI, VII, VIII and IX provide precious information about the ancient bastions of Drobeta and Dierna, the Knights of St. John, the mediaeval bastion of Severin, the Painted Chronicles of Vienna of November 9-12, 1330, the rulers of Wallachia, Vlaicu Voda, Mircea the Old, Michael the Brave, Iancu of Hunedoara and Tudor Vladimirescu. Generous spaces are set aside for the 19th and the 20th centuries, both of which are well supported by highly valuable items, allowing visitors to find out about the history of the realm,’ said museum director Doina Chircu.

That is why, the Mehedinti County Council, the administrator of the Iron Gates Region Museum, carried out, December 23, 2009 — December 23, 2014, a European project for rehabilitating the Iron Gates Region Museum and capitalising on it as a tourist product which aim is the restauration and sustainable capitalisation on the local cultural heritage as well as creating/upgrading related infrastructure. The project is worth 53,838,383.46 lei, 36,140,672.41 of which is the eligible non-returnable European funding, 5,527,396.96 lei the contribution of the Romanian Government and 850,368.76 lei the contribution of the Mehedinti County Council.

‘The project is designed to sustainably develop tourist infrastructure and to capitalise on it by restoring elements of Roman civilisation (the Roman camp of Drobeta — the first stone bastion in Roman Dacia), the Trajan Bridge, the Roman thermal baths with palestrae, as well as elements of medieaval civilisation (the mediaeval fortification in the south-western corner of the Roman camp and the ruins of a mediaeval church with buttresses),’ Chircu concluded.

Photo credit: (c) Viorel LAZARESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

She also said that an aquarium as well as exhibits depicting the ethnography, flora and fauna of the Iron Gates region are equally visited by tourists and researchers who arrive in Drobeta Turnu Severin and want to get back in time to the worlds that went down in history. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Sorin BLADA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Gorj was blessed with mountains, valleys, hills, caves, whitewater rivers and forests, all offering adventure sports aficionados the breath of fresh air they need when they want to escape the day to day rat race and retreat to nature where, for a few hours, they can clear their head and fill up their mind and body with fresh air and adrenaline.

The mountainous region situated to the north of the city of Targu Jiu, some 30-40 kilometres to the west and east, you are in mountain country where you can find hiking trails, areas to practice mountaineering and climbing, caves, ravines, canyons, waterfalls, biking and mountain-biking trails, places to raft and bodyraft, off-road, enduro, places for hang gliding and para gliding, scuba diving and cave diving, ski slopes, ice waterfalls and cross-country ski trails.

Photo credit: (c) George ONEA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

According to head of the Mountain Rescue Service Gorj (SSG) Sabin Cornoiu, all these activities have stood as a basis for the establishment of ‘Romania-Gorj Adventure,’ the most complete and complex mountain adventure programme in Romania.

‘The over 25 tourist and sports activities for the summer and winter seasons of the programme, all exceptionally prepared on differing degrees of difficulty starting from minimum, initiation, adventure and up to extreme, make this programme be one of the most competitive programmes on a European level, most similar programmes putting forth a maximum of 5 to 6 activities. Remarkable in its development, the programme manages to harmoniously combine the tourist potential of the mountainous region with elements of tourist attraction from areas such as history, religion, culture and the arts, respecting the principles of durable development and protecting the exceptional natural environment of the area. The programme was initiated by Gorj’s mountain rescue personnel acting upon a wish to both promote and develop the tourist mountain region of Gorj, as well as present mountain sports practitioners with a space to practice these sports in conditions of maximum safety and appropriate equipment, thus avoiding mountain accidents. The programme is open in character, its initiators preparing it so that it may be taken over and developed by any tour-operator interested, conditioning them only to respect the necessary equipment level and respect measures to protect clients,’ says Sabin Cornoiu.

One of the most loved adventure sports that can be practised in Gorj County is canyoning, that can be practised in several places, the most attractive one being the Oltet Gorges, situated in the Parang Massif, and the Corcoaia Gorges in the Mehedinti Massif, that are particularly attractive and spectacular, lacking however sudden changes in altitude.

According to specialists in the domain, the most attractive and accessible circuit, maybe in all of Romania, remains the Sipot Valley in the Valcan Mountains, that not only offers easy access by car, but also a wonderful chain of six waterfalls, ranging in height from 7 to 35 metres, drops, cross-over and an exceptional aquatic route composed of sieves, rapids, natural obstructions and a pool of about 40 square metres, 4 to 5 metres deep where one could dive from as high as 10 metres.

‘Maximum adrenaline, the fight with the water torrent transformed into thousands of droplets, extraordinary sensations accessible to all practitioners, but only with adequate equipment and trained instructors,’ says Sabin Cornoiu of this sport that has attracted hundreds of tourists in Gorj County.

Rafting, maybe the best known adventure sport in Gorj County, brings to the attention of aficionados another view of the Jiu River, the most attractive for these activities.

Photo credit: (c) Sorin BLADA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

‘Gorj holds an important aquatic potential for rafting, the Gilort River being mentioned in international specialized literature as the only river in Romania of the highest difficulty, class 6 [in the International Scale of River Difficulty], its flow allowing, in the spring months, descents with rafts holding up to six people. The most attractive however is the Jiu that most certainly is the river that is the fittest for practising rafting, be it recreational or sportive, river that following the change in the process of washing coal from the Jiu Valley has now reached an almost completely clear degree for its water flow. The navigable sector of the Jiu Valley is about 40 km long and a level difference of over 300 metres and can be defined into two subdivisions. The upper course, from Livezeni onward, has a length of around 20 km, class 4 difficulty level, with short spans of class 5 difficulty level, while the lower course starts around 10 km upstream from the Lainici Monastery, with a length of 22 km and a level difference of around 250 metres, class 3 or 4 [on the International Scale of River Difficulty], the highest admissible class in adventure tourism,’ added the SSG head.

The road that is always parallel to the river’s course, easy access and exit from the water, drops and 2 to 3 metre waves, rapid flow of water and exceptional scenery are what makes the course be exceptionally attractive. Descents are organized in boats of 6+1 (six oarsmen, one helmsman) and in two series by day and one by night. Night rafting, done with the help of head lamps and with light reflective equipment, being introduced for the first time in a tourist circuit in Romania here. The adrenaline rush, the need to coordinate rowing and a fast reaction to the helmsman’s order make this activity be highly appropriate for building team spirit.

Gorj County holds one of the highest tourist speleological potentials of the country with over 2,000 caves, two of them prepared and introduced in the general tourist circuit and several unprepared, featuring a 100 percent conservation state that were introduced in a restricted and well controlled tourist circuit, representing a perfect destination to practise speleology. Exceptionally attractive are the ravines that can be explored, ranging in depth from minus 10 to minus 150 metres, featuring horizontal tunnels that can go hundreds of metres in length. The feeling of exploring underground with your own flashlight, the crawl, the crossing of narrow sectors — all to discover a wonderful underground world that is now open to those that constantly wish to best themselves.

Another two adventure sports that are to the liking of adrenaline junkies are mountaineering and climbing. These can be practised on a multitude of trails prepared in special areas of the Oltet Gorges, Galbenului Gorges and Sohodol Gorges, the mountaineering trails being 10-12 cord lengths and a maximum difficulty level of 5B while the climbing trails have the highest difficulty 8.

Photo credit: (c) Zeno TUFEGA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

‘But the potential of the area is immense; there are a lot of areas that permit the establishment of new trails, both for recreational activities and for competitive sports, Gorj being the host of the final stage of national and international competitions along the years. Special areas were established where recreational tourist activities can be performed, participants being able to learn, beside their initial steps into mountaineering and climbing, how to rappel or how to zip line up to 200 metres in length. Mountain-biking, off-roading and enduro are activities that have found here extraordinary conditions for practise, the long fields that lead to the alpine zones, the rich network of forest roads and mountain trails, some hundreds of years in age or abandoned for dozens of years, ensure not only technical elements increasing the difficulty, but also the discovery of exceptionally beautiful natural views. With a network spanning 700 kilometres of roads accessible for 4×4 and enduro, Gorj is host to numerous sports events of this type with Romanian or international participants year after year.

Diving in good conditions can be performed in the series of lakes in the subalpine region or in the natural reservoirs or glacial lakes of the Parang Massif at over 2,000 metre altitudes. The Izverna Cave, from the eponymous place, situated in the Mehedinti Mountains, offers some of the best conditions for cave diving, caverns reaching depths of 35 metres, series of underground lakes and the water’s clarity making this cave be one of the most sought out in Europe.

For hang gliding and paragliding, a lot of set off points exist, the best being Papusa peak near Ranca resort, a peak that features easy access by car and from its over 2,000 metre altitude insures that air currents make for exceptional flight conditions.

Photo credit: (c) Gina STEFAN /AGERPRES ARCHIVE

‘In recent years a series of sportive competitions, among which the finals for the National Championship were organized here. Trained instructors can teach you the basics of paragliding or can offer you a high-flying adrenaline rush with the tandem paragliders. Besides that, a number of very attractive activities such as rappelling, zip lining, body rafting, GPS orientation, transmitter hunting, photo hunting, ice climbing, ski touring and night time off-trail skiing,’ concluded the SSG head. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

They say the name of the cave comes from an extinct herb called ‘polovraga’ that ancient healers would process and use as a remedy for various illnesses, but the cave’s guide, Felicia Bantea, begs to differ.

‘I would rather say the name Polovragi comes from vraci, healers. The vraci, those healers from the ancient times of Dacians were skilled in using herbs. All is inspired by nature and the shapes in this cave, man’s first habitat and home, have inspired architects and painters alike. There are many shapes found in buildings that now, unfortunately are only moments, because durable structures are no longer built. Coming back to the word vraci: it has a c and the name Polovraci means a hub, a town, a settlement for the healers first of all, because it was in the cave that they would find the raw materials,’ Bantea explains.

The cave is million years old, a fossil meander of Oltet River, the work of the Oltet in a lime patch, with the lime dating back to the Jurassic and the lime in which the cave was carved dating back later. The cave is continually forming, besides the third floor that is open to visitors. Underneath, the river excavates the last floor, the active floor as speleologists have named it. It is 25 m deep.

‘According to the latest measurements by speleologists, the cave is 10,593 m long, but we should not picture it as some boulevard. It is a 1.5-km labyrinth, the distance between the upstream and downstream gates. Inside, the cave is a continual labyrinth with an entrance and exit way. The portion open to visitors covers the downstream artery. That is why it is high and broad. It is 600 m long, plus collateral paths,’ Bantea explains.

Photo credit: (c) Nicolae BADEA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The downstream entrance has been functional since the Eneolithic, when the upstream entrance was not in existence. In the absence of a forest path, the first of which was created in the 1950s, people would not know there were entrance and exit ways, and hence the interpretations that the cave would lead farther into Sibiu, Transylvania, or Sarmisegetuza, or that the cave would hide Dacian treasures. These are mere speculations and now people know there is an entrance and an exit way. The exit way was in fact the original entrance way and so the first portion of the cave was the most often used.

Inside, there is a lot of free carbon black on the walls that has not been covered yet, because it takes time for the lime walls to get covered in clay by the infiltrating water. The first portion, the one open to the public, is less interesting in terms of speleological formations. The speleological area is open upon request, and it is dotted with stalactites, stalagmites, deep basins where water is over 1 m deep, coral like stalagmites resulting from the trickling of multiple drops. Upstream, there are candle-shaped stalagmites with a central dripping that create a real guardian, which part is to support the natural structure.

‘Cave was man’s first home and here more than anywhere else because entrance used to be difficult, which would keep the cave bear away and allowed humans to live inside continually. There is evidence going back to the Dacian forerunners. In the 1970s-1980s, diggings were performed uphill, in the Dacian settlement located on a mountain peak. Dacian ceramic shards were uncovered in the cave. The cave was clearly a hiding place, a shelter, a winter home, a healthcare facility, if the name of the place is anything to go by. In time, it would be a perfect hiding place because in the 1950s-1960s, when the forest path was crated, nobody outside the area would know there was a cave here. The first descriptions of the cave date back to the second half of the 19th century,’ Bantea explains.

Photo credit: (c) Oana POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Zamolxis has been seen by many Romanian authors as the supreme god in the Gaeto-Dacian Pantheon. Some would say he facilitated the conversion to Christianity of the Gaeto-Dacians, considered the forerunners of today’s Romanians. The cave’s guide says the god’s energy can be felt, as time stands still and metabolism completely changes inside the cave.

‘There is some measure of truth in the legend of God Zamolxis. As I was saying, the cave does not lead to Transylvania and there are no precious metals in the area, but there is a measure of truth about the story of Zamolxis. Just think about those healers. Where did their knowledge come from if there had been no predecessors to educate them? I believe some predecessors helped the creation of a functional system in the area that is functional even today. I believe that in places where there were such small Dacian settlements on Carpathian peaks, where raw materials were abundant, there were some teachers who would stay for some years to teach locals how to help themselves. We now can say, using measurements from devices attesting to the special energy of the place, that the place is out of the real realm. Inside the cave, as you travel down the moulds of sediments, there is another time dimension; there are no changing seasons and people are totally cut away from the real world outside. There is also a change in metabolism, which is necessary,’ the guide explains.

On the tourist track, there are various formations that where christened in time. On one of the walls there is a painting of Death scribbled in carbon black.

Photo credit: (c) Oana POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

‘Scaunul lui Zamolxe, Zamolxis’ stool, is a natural stool-shaped piece of lime from the time the Oltet would flow here at this level. This was surely used as a stool, because from the entrance to this point there are 200 m and there is nowhere else to sit. It is in this place that the healers would treat the people in need. The same as Zamolxis’ Stool, the Dacian Oven here is the place most covered in carbon black, which means it was used until recently. There is also a mural painting depicting Death, which origin is unknown, that warns the visitors of the many lateral dangers, as there was no lighting and no way out of thecae,’ the guide explains.

A bat colony was and still is a main attraction of the cave. Bats appeared 60-70 million years ago, at the same time with the lime and before the formation of the cave floor open to visitors. They are even today the cave’s guides, they were the predecessors and guides for the cavemen, who could not have managed otherwise in the cave.

‘Cavemen would hide in the cave mainly from wild animals. Bats in Romania are not big, they all belong to the Microchiroptera suborder. Because mining, forest activities and tourism have dwindled the bat population by 70 per cent, once in the European Union Romania took over bat protection legislation, and I am convinced the bats will survive because they also feed on our attention,’ the guide says.

The cave is home to a colony of nearly 300 cave bats of the Microchiroptera Suborder, of which the Rhinolophus Genus is abundant , popularly known as the horseshoe bats because of the horseshoe shape of the skin surrounding their nose. The guide says she has trained them to listen to commands. The bat leaders are called Soni, for sonar. They are the ones protecting the colony and warning about any danger.

Photo credit: (c) Oana POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

‘There are some 5-6 species divided in three colonies. I have noticed that during hibernation time, three months when the cave closes and electrification is down, they migrate upstream, to the tourist area, where there are better conditions, with constant temperature and the highest gallery. They can be trained and I managed to say some words and they execute the commands by association. The horseshoe bats are dominant. They are very smart because, besides their echolocation powers, they have a haired skin around their nose that enhance sounds. When they talk with each other, we do not hear them, but when we do hear them, it means they want us to hear them. Bats on the tourist trail have some clear roles. Leaders come first and leave last, staying in fixed places. When they do not hibernate, they leave the cave but stay in the area. They migrate to all the small grottos on the slopes to be close to the river, where they hunt each evening. Tourists come scared to meet them, but leave excited. There are some leaders that I call Soni, for sonar, that warn me when there is any danger,’ the guide says.

The Oltet Gorges are said to be the steepest in Europe. Their beauty takes your breath away from the very entrance to this special place, and with some luck you can admire chamois, deer, boars and other animals that live here.

Photo credit: (c) Nicolae BADEA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

‘The gorges cannot be planned because the distance from the peak to the river is some 400 m vertically. There is only 60 cm separating Mt. Parang from Mt. Capatanii. The gorges are nearly 2.1 km long,’ says Bantea.

The cave closes December, January and February, while in March and November it is open on weekends only. Open hours: 10:00—18:00, Tuesday-Sunday. The number of visitors exceeds 30,000 a year.

Chei and the Polovragi Cave is accessible via national road DN 67 linking Ramnicu-Valcea to Targu-Jiu. Polovragi Commune is right on the border between Valcea County and Gorj County, 54 km away from Targu-Jiu, the capital city of Gorj County.

Photo credit: (c) Nicolae BADEA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Oana POPESCU / AGERPRES PHOTO

Nature, tranquility, beauty and adventure lovers have the opportunity to live here unique moments and to see life … from the clouds. A unique sensation, which few people had the chance to experience in their lives, is the reflection of the shadow on the clouds, when Transalpina, the highest road in the country, takes you to an altitude of 2,250 meters.

The best-known tourist settlement on Transalpina, Ranca, is situated at an altitude that starts at 1,500 meters and reaches 1,750 meters, at the foot of the Papusa Massif, one of the plateaus of the Parang Mountains.

Photo credit: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

”It is the tourist settlement located at the highest altitude in Romania, it starts at 1,500 meters and ends at 1,750 meters, expands both horizontally and vertically. Its internal road network from the first house to the last one, with all side roads, reaches somewhere 18km. It is huge, it is a really little town on the mountain’s top. It has a very good access by road, on Transalpina, which for more than half a year is passable also from the north, leading to Transylvania. It is the most beautiful road that comes from Transylvania to us, it passes through Alba and Valcea through Valea Frumoasa [Beautiful Valley], then it enters Gorj, where the landscape is special. Many say it is the most beautiful landscape in the country and it is so, in my opinion, because the other road, Transfagarasanul, goes in the valley a long way and your view to left and right is limited,” the Gorj Mountain Rescue Service’s chief Sabin Cornoiu told AGERPRES.

The idea to build the resort of Ranca surfaced in 1930, when the People’s Bank ”Gilortul” of Novaci materialized Dumitru Brezulescu’s project to build a resort. Six cabins were built at the beginning, with five rooms each. In 1937, the central cabin in Ranca was commissioned. By December 1989, other two cabins were built in Ranca, one of OJT Gorj, administered by the University of Craiova, and the other one — by the mining unions in the coal basin of Oltenia.

Photo credit: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

”At the beginning of last century, Novaci locals set fire to the mountain juniper and cleared it off the mountain, to make room for pasture, and this happened including on the current location of Ranca. Probably the first houses of the people of that time were made in that period, because they were interested to stay there with the animals. The beautiful landscape triggered in the 1930s the building of the first cabins there, which developed slowly but surely, having reached a maximum of 20 I think, each with a different purpose: forestry sector, milk collection station, hunting house, tourist cabins and so on,” says Sabin Cornoiu.

Over the past few years, Ranca has developed surprisingly. Some 600 hotels, guesthouses, cabins and private houses have been built there. Thus, the tourist offer is very varied, and tourists can opt for either 3—or 4-star hotels or for a cabin or guesthouse. They are equipped with kitchen and dining rooms and the guests can prepare their food on their own.

Photo credit: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

”At the Revolution [in 1989], 5-6 cabins were functional: the old one, the cooperative’s one, a bar of the cooperative, a research cabin of the University of Craiova and a former weather station. After the Revolution, some cabins were taken over by some institutions that prepared them for tourism purposes. An example is Ciuperca Cabin, which was taken over by Thermal Power Plant Rovinari. As these cabins started to degrade, they invested in them, not much. After 1990, some cabins collapsed, some burnt down, and those that remained began to be taken over by institutions and individuals who started to arrange them. By 1995—1996, applications started to be submitted for building holiday houses in the area and perhaps the present situation stemmed from that. All these application came from people living in the area, in Novaci, in Targu-Jiu, who wanted a plot of land on which to build a small house to come to fresh air. Nobody predicted such an extension. It was then when those plots of 250 and 300 sqm were given, initially on the side towards Gilort, which was the only side with cabins in Ranca. Nobody predicted what would happen there, there was an explosion and thus Ranca was filled with homes. That process lasted permanently for a decade. Power supply and water supply were extended, to cope with the demands,” says the Mountain Rescue Service’s chief.

Thousands of tourists come every weekend during the winter season to this area, where, more than 20 years ago, only a few skiers had come, recalls Sabin Cornoiu, who participated in the building of the first ski-lift in Ranca.

Photo credit: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

”In 1987 there was an idea to build a ski-lift in Lainici. It was not a good idea because there was no snow, and it was decided to build one in Ranca instead. This ski-lift was built with a lot of patriotic work by mountain rescuers, people from the power plant, waiters from a hotel and each dug one hole for the next pole. There and now the lift in the resort center. After the Revolution, four more ski-lifts were built, plus a chairlift. Before the ski-lift, we were up to 20 skiers in Gorj, organized even four contests per day, we often climbed on foot from Gilortului Valley, about 15 km. Those phases are memorable, it was another life, we climbed with the food on our back, we cooked for ourselves. It was nice, we were young, we love it,” he says.

Ranca now has four ski slopes equipped with a ski-lift, a slope for initiation in winter sports and one arranged for tubing.

”After the Revolution, the road from Cerbu was built and then a lot of people came to Ranca as they could get here more easily. It was later paved and then it became Transalpina. Now there are four ski slopes equipped with lifts, with lengths of 200 to 900 meters, of mild difficulty up to average, forming the ski area in the resort’s centre. In north of the resort, there is a slope equipped with a chairlift that will serve all slopes to be made high, because there another 10 sloped can be made, which can be even linked to the ski area of Vidra and then it will be one of the largest ski areas in the country and even in Europe. We have also the advantage of tourism structures of high capacity. One slope is equipped with floodlighting and perhaps the other ones will be fitted as well, ” he adds.

In Ranca, a wonderful winter area, one can go skiing and snowboarding, drive snowmobiles, there are areas for paragliding and hang gliding flights, one can also go mountain biking or cycling in the resort.

Photo credit: (c) Nicolae BADEA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

From here out to all the mountain area of Gorj, tourists can go climbing canyoning, rafting and caving. Tour skiing and off-track skiing can also be done there. There are two variants: the off-track skiing is done with a single bond, as the alpine skiing, and the tour one is done with a bond that slides on the ski, and on the sole of the skies a cloth is applied, which is called generically sealskin and by which hill climbing can be done. This sport is practiced on a smaller scale, but increasingly more tourists are buying such equipment because it offers much more powerful sensations.

”With departure from Ranca there are 4-5 mountain trails, two descend to Gilortului Valley and Galbenului Valley to Muierii Cave, from Ranca the road continues on Transalpina to Parangului ridge, to the left to Petrosani or to the right to Capatanii Mountains, a very attractive ridge, with peaks of over 2,000 meters to 2,500 meters. It is very attractive, very accessible for tourists with glacial lakes on the north side, which offers a special landscape, rather attractive for tourists, especially in recent years when the access is very easy on Transpalpina,” adds Sabin Cornoiu.

Transalpina (DN 67C), known also as the ‘King’s Road’ or ‘Devil’s Path,’ road is the highest road in Romania. Located in the Parang Mountains, Southern Carpathians, the 150 km-long road connects Oltenia (a southern region) to Transylvania (centre-west), between the towns of Novaci in Gorj County and Sebes in Alba County. The road crosses the Parang Mountains from north to south and draws a parallel with the Olt Valley and the Jiu Valley.

Photo credit: (c) Oana POPESCU / AGERPRES PHOTO

At Sibiu, the alpine road starts from Jina, from whe it descends on a distance of 7 km to Sugag . From here, the ascent begins. After a few km, the Tau dam is reached and then the Oasa dam. Transalpina continues by crossing the left side of the Oasa dam going to Obarsia Lotrului.

From Obarsia Lotrului, located in a valley with an extremely beautiful opening, there are several possibilities: one can go left to Brezoi, which lies about 60 kilometers away, passing by Lake Vidra and then through the resort of Voineasa, or right to Petrila — 28 km away. To continue to Transalpina, one have to go forward to Novaci. In fact, from now begins the most spectacular part of the Royal Road, the road through the alpine area. The winding road reaches increasingly high places: Stefanu, Carbunele, Muntinu and Urdele. Suddenly, the mountain disappears, and in front there is the plateau on Papusa peak, from where it descends into the resort of Ranca and then to Novaci, where Transalpina ends.

In the Transalpina area there are a few glacial lakes, including Lake Galcescu, the largest such lake in Gorj County. It is 230 meters long, 165 meters wide and stretches on an area of 3.2 hectares. Its maximum depth is 10 meters. It lies at an altitude of 1,950 meters and is naturally populated with fish. The area around the lake, declared a natural reserve, and glacial lake Galcescu are protected monuments of nature.

Photo credit: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

According to some sources, the first road there was built by the Roman legions during the Dacian wars (101-102 and 105-106 AD), which is why the historic maps it is entered as the strategic Roman Corridor IV. Later, the route began to be used by shepherds in Sibiu area that moved their flocks to Oltenia, being not more than a little path with precipices, suggestively called ‘Devil’s Path.’ Besides all these, there is also a local legend, which says that at the end of the eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, each local family participated in the construction of portions of this road, depending on their physical and financial possibilities.

In 1930, the road paving works were started and the inauguration was made in 1938, in Poiana Sibiu, in the presence of King Carol II. The road was considered, at that time, a great technical breakthrough, with an economic, strategic and military role.

”Before the Transalpina was built, it was a pastoral road, used by shepherds. Indeed, it is said that in the 1930s the king went there, it is said that 2,000 years ago the Romans came here too, so the history is great. The fact is that at some point this choice to modernize the road was taken, it was known that the two roads that pass from south to north on Valley Jiu and Olt Valley are permanently exposed to falling rocks or landslides, and for a long time a variation to cross the mountains had been sought. And all this lobbying which we did to modernize the road at least to Ranca made authorities to do it all. In Dengheru peak, the road climbs up to 2,250 meters, is the highest peak with a road in the country. It is a special landscape, with springs, and those lucky enough can meet chamois, deer or find edelweiss flowers. Those who come to Ranca go in love with this place. There are those moments when you pass through the clouds, there is that optical phenomenon that few have the chance to meet, maybe once in a life time, where you are above the clouds and your shadow is reflected on the cloud, it is a special phenomenon,” believes Sabin Cornoiu. AGERPRES