Snowy mountains of Transylvania welcomed us to this beautiful region on Sunday morning 21st of April. This region of Romania is known for the scenery of its Carpathian landscapes and its rich history.
Transylvania has been dominated by several different countries throughout its history. It was once the centre of the Kingdom of Dacia (82 BC–106 AD). In 106 AD the Roman Empire conquered the territory, systematically exploiting its resources. Since 1944, it has been the part of Romania.
Our guide was Alex who prepared an interesting program for the whole day. We began from visiting Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, the capital of the Roman-Dacian province established after the Roman conquest of Dacia.
After the Dacians were defeated and settled by the Romans, the latter brought their civilisation and society in these parts. The exact period when the city was built is not known, but it was somewhat between 106 – 110 AD. Ulpia Traiana of Sarmizegetusa was established and became an impressive Roman metropolis and capital of the Roman-Dacian province. On the photo below are ruins of the forum, and in the centre – a tunnel where the gladiators were led through from their cells to the arena where they entertained the audience fighting wild animals:
The site has preserved the ruins that can be seen and explored freely:
Marble columns of the former temples:
The site has an area of 30 hectares; around 20-25,000 people lived there. Ulpia Traiana was the political, administrative and religious centre of Roman Dacia in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The city was later destroyed by the Goths (east Germanic people). After the destruction, the people living in the area used some of the building material for building their own houses. Even a church that we visited later that day – The Densus Stone Church – revealed the material from Ulpia Traiana of Sarmizegetusa in its construction.
This impressive stone church was built in the 7th century on the site of a Roman temple from 200 AD:
Truly an engineering marvel, the church is still standing and in an excellent condition after hundreds of years! The construction is amazing. It is a mix of different materials, and one can also notice parts from Ulpia Traiana: the blue arrows are pointing at the large stones and the orange arrows – at two lions (!) taken from one or another temple:
I bet it is the one and only church in the world that has lions attached to its wall!
Inside, it is also incredibly beautiful. It is a Romanian Orthodox church, quite small, and has the remains of traditional paintings on its walls (below left). The columns are built on the stones from Ulpia Traiana (below right):
The elder priest was in the church, selling some books, icons, candles. He complained about the cold in the church and his rheumatism – it is a hard price to pay for one’s chosen path in life.
We continued our travel in Transylvania, and drove by a gypsy village. On both sides of the street there were fancy mansions:
I’ve heard they live in clans of about 100 people each, organised like mafia – with different roles and responsibilities. Those clans have their own areas of control, bribe and crime. We didn’t stop to take pictures (it wasn’t a safe thing to do), but drove by slowly, and took photos from the open car windows. On some of the houses we saw big signs like “Villa Maradona” or “Villa Mercedes” that for them represented the lavish lifestyle they have.
Of course, not all Romanian gypsies are the same – many of them live a normal life with education, job, they pay their taxes and contribute to the society.
The next big part of our agenda was Corvin Castle, which is the best preserved and most authentic medieval castle in Europe (according to some sources):
It served as a military fortress and residence of Transylvania’s governors. The castle wasn’t very welcoming – grey and cold, and we heard many horror stories about its past from Alex, our guide. Killing, torturing, throwing people to the wolves… We wondered whether all those kings and queens at all did anything good during their life times?
Corvin was built by the Anjou family on the site of a former Roman camp. The castle served as a fortress until the mid 14th century when it became the residence of Transylvania’s voivode, Iancu de Hunedoara. Iancu upgraded the fortress by transforming it into a stunning Transylvania castle.
After the Corvin Castle we drove to the Izvorul Miron monastery. One of the hot springs there had a ritual we followed: it is believed that poring a water from the spring will bring luck.
Alex’s great-grandfather was one of those that built the monastery’ church:
The day was going to an end, and we got a glimpse of a bright red sunset on our way back to Timisoara:
We were tired, and so many wonderful impressions we had from this day! Many thanks to Alex for being our guide, showing us examples of the rich history of Transylvania, and sharing his knowledge about his beautiful country.