Adventures with Julia

September 27, 2017

Aurelian has spent a lot of our driving time telling us about Transylvanian history going back to the Dacians in late BC and the Romans in 100-275 AD.  These peoples mixed to become the original Romanians.  Most of his story began in the 1200’s when the Visigoths, Hun’s, Slavs, Bulgarians and others passed through the area without settling down.  In the 3rd – 8^th centuries, the Magyars came from Hungary and settled.  The Mongols came through the area and took everything in their path during the 11^th and 12^th centuries.   Meanwhile, starting in the 1200’s the Saxons came by invitation from the Hungarian kings to build forts and protect the towns.  This they did.  The Turks started coming into the area in the late 1300’s   and by the 1400’s they controlled Romania both politically and militarily, until the Romanians gained independence in 1877.  From 1500 Transylvanian princes paid annual tribute to the Sultan.  When the Turks tried to conquer Vienna in 1683 and lost, their control collapsed.  In the early 1700’s, the Austrian Habsburgs arrived and ruled Transylvania with governors.  In 1867, the Astro Hungarian regime took over until the end of WWI.  After WWI ended, Transylvania becomes part of Romania.  Obviously, this rough sketch does not represent a straight line or anything so simple.  It is just my attempt to put some order into the mess that was Transylvania for so many centuries.  Its central and physically good location in the heart of the world’s powers was bound to put it in the middle of every upheaval.  It is no wonder that every village had to have a fortified church and compound to protect its citizens.  Some fortifications were more successful than others and the allegiance of people was constantly shifting.

Today was our last of 5 days with Aurelian.  We had a good time with him and appreciated his knowledge and conversational approach.

However, it is time to move on.  This morning we departed Brasov and headed for two fortified churches and one palace before going to the airport.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two fortified churches were both round and similar in structure. The first, about 30 minutes from Brasov, is called Harman Village.  It was a peasant fortress built in 1240 by Teutonic Knights and had a bell tower dating from the 1400’s.  We climbed up into the tower and I was very nervous.  The steps were rough, irregular in shape and spacing and not at all comfortable.  Somehow, I made it up and down with both Mark and Aurelian laughing at me.  Once at the top, the bell rang and that really made me jump.  There was a nice view from the top, but I’m not sure it was worth the effort.  Back on the ground we visited the church and looked at some of the interior houses used by peasants when enemies were in the area.  Each room in the fort had a number that corresponded with the number on the outside house owned by the peasant.  The fortified church had been built to house every citizen.

Another half hour down the road and we came to Prejmer, a town fortified by the Cistercians in the 1200’s.  It had been a Catholic Church until the Saxons converted themselves and it to Lutheran in the 1540’s.  It was very medieval with Roman touches.

The walls were very thick and the place was extremely well fortified.  No surprise that it was never captured.  This fortified church had a round facade like the one in Harman, only much larger.   It contained three floors of apartments for citizens.

The exterior walls contained many niches for shooting arrows or guns and slots for pouring hot oil as well.   Both places made me think of movies set in medieval times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had been in the very green and flat plains all morning.  An hour after leaving these churches we found ourselves climbing into the mountains to reach Pele’s Castle, built in German Renaissance Style, between 1875 and 1883, by Charles I as his summer residence until his death in 1914 at the age of 75.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It continued to be used by the royal family until the Communists kicked them out in 1947 and converted it into a museum until the 70’s, when Ceausescu closed it.  In the 1990’s the government gave it back to the royal family, who now charge the government rent, while the government operates and maintains the museum.

 

We walked through the private apartments of the palace as well as the public rooms, as Aurelian had purchased an extra pass for us.

It is the first castle in Europe to have electric power, plumbing, central heating, an elevator and comfortable spaces.  The wood work throughout the building is all finely carved walnut and curly ash from floor to ceiling.

Carvings, tapestries, paintings, sculpture, Moreno glass from Italy, and other art abound.  In one room were paintings of all the German royal family houses and castles to remind Charles of home.

Wall coverings were made of fabric or leather, when they were not wood.   We saw several bathrooms with stainless steel bathtubs, porcelain toilets and sinks for guests as well as the royal family.

 

 

 

There was way too much to take it all in, but, as palaces go, it was quite livable.  The grounds were full of the usual statues and fountains laid out casually on a gentle hillside.

 

After getting a bowl of soup and a German sausage in honor of Charles I, who, even though he was the Romanian king for many years, was a member of the German royal family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the road through the mountains, we passed a few ski stations and many hotels and summer homes.  King Charles really popularized this part of Romania.  No low rent houses in these hills.  Gradually we descended to the valley floor and were at the airport by 5pm.  We said good bye to Aurelian and waited for our 7pm flight to Sofia, Bulgaria.

I finished a post and got it off before the flight.

When we arrived in Sofia, which is south and west of Bucharest, it was dark, cold and raining.   I fear we will have only winter weather this whole trip.  We have suitcases full of lightweight things we may never get to wear and very few things we are wearing over and over to keep warm.   Our fleeces never come off.

Our hotel in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is called “Sense”.  It is in the middle of the city and quite modern.  It even has a Lutron lighting system in our room, like we have at home.  We have also come up in the world as this is our first 5^th floor room and it has a view.  Most of our other hotels were shorter and offered no view or views of walls.  The last two rooms were on the ground floor.  Even with all the variety, we are both sleeping really well on good beds with the right complement of pillows.  Although my nose is a bit runny, I am not coughing so much and am getting back to normal.  Mark has felt fine for several days.  We are almost at the end of the third week of this trip and are starting to get on a roll.

Tomorrow we visit Sofie and another city called Plovdiv.