Black Church-Brasov

Brasov’s strategic geographical position, close to the commercial route Rucar – Bran, through the Carpathian Mountains, has influenced the economic development of the city. Thanks to its nearness to Bucegi Mountains and the Bran Castle, Brasov is one of the most important destinations in Romania.

The Black Church is the heart of Brasov
Over 500 years old, Biserica Neagra (the Black Church) is the most representative historic monument in Brasov, the greatest Gothic church in Transylvania and, in some historians’ point of view, the greatest religious edifice from Vienna to Istanbul. More than that, inside the church there is one of the greatest organs in Europe, and also the largest collection of old carpets from Asia Minor. The construction of this Gothic Evangelic church began around 1380, in the time of Vicar Thomas Sander, and initially it was named Saint Mary’s Church.

In 1421 an important part of the construction was destroyed during the Turkish invasion, and that is why the church was completely built in 1477. Nowadays it is considered the greatest place of worship in Romania, with impressive dimensions: 90 meters in length, between 25 and 37 meters wide, 65 meters from the floor level to the highest point of its Cross tower, while it can house about 5000 people. More than that, the biggest bell in the country, weighting 6.3 tones, is to be found in its tower as well.

Then, after almost 200 years, a fire partially destroyed it in 1689, and the smoke blackened the walls, and for a long period of time the façade couldn’t be renovated. The restoration lasted about 100 years, but the place of worship was called Biserica Neagra (the Black Church) because of its black smoked walls (Die Schwarze Kirche in German and Fekete Templom in Hungarian). The present roof, 20 meters in height, was also built after this fire. The workers who restored it were from Danzing, and this is the reason why the new vaults are in Baroque style and not in Gothic.

Black Church’s organ
The Black Church’s organ, with 4000 pipes and considered one of the biggest in Europe, was built between 1836 and 1839 by the Berlin organ maker Buchholz, and it is famous for its sonority. In 1924 the gallery in front of the organ was enlarged in order to organize sacred music concerts with chorus’ participation. Many vinyl discs, audio tapes and CDs were made in the course of years.
Nowadays an organ concert is organized every week.

Priceless Values
The collection of old carpets from Brussa, Usak and Ghiordes regions in Asia Minor, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries represent an invaluable thesaurus of the Black Church. Those were donated in the course of years by the craftsmen, merchants and citizens of the city.
The furniture and worship objects represent other remarkable values that turn this construction into a place that no tourist can miss. For instance, the bronze font made by the local craftsmen was donated in 1472 by Vicar Johannes Reudel. After almost 150 years, in 1716, blacksmith Meensen Hannes made a wonderful wrought iron grating that surrounds the font. Then, in the South porch there is a mural painting made after 1476 that shows Virgin Mary and Child Jesus, featured between Saint Catherine and Saint Barbara. The crests of Matthias Corvinus and his wife Beatrice of Naples – Aragon are at the bottom of the painting.
Three folds, with five paintings from the Feldioara altar (the end of the 15th century) are also to be mentioned. The pews in the naos date from the end of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century and have Baroque wooden carved ornaments. Then the lecterns are in neo - gothic style, dating from 1866, and the pews in the centre of the naos, made of oak wood, were placed there in 1937.

The old tombstones of some famous personalities of the city were built in the side spaces of the West entrance when the neo - gothic altar was built (in 1866) and when the heating system was installed (in 1937).
An oiled canvas representing “The Wedding From Cana (Nunta din Cana)“, work of Hans Eder painter, it is exposed on the frontal wall of the northern lateral nave.
Hans Elder’s oil painting showing “The Wedding at Cana” is exhibited on the frontal wall of the North side naos. The emblem of the city, representing a crown on a rooted trunk, is plotted in relief on the pillar in front of the pulpit.
Inside the church there are also some sculptures, the oldest of all being the bust of Saint John the Baptist. The others represent Saint Thomas, Saint Jacob the Pilgrim, Jesus Salvator Mundi, Virgin Mary, Saints Pavel, Luke and Sebastian.

A sculpture uncommon for a place of worship is to be found on the North buttress. It is about the representation of a child that seems to be about to fall. The legend says that when they were building the church, one of the workers became jealous of a very talented apprentice. At one point he asked the child to lift something from the cornice, and when he leant out, the worker pushed him. The legend also states that the sculpture was made by the other workers to the memory of the cowardly killed child.

In the course of time, Biserica Neagra (the Black Church) endured several maintenance and restoration works. Between 1937 and 1944 the sculptures from the exterior buttresses were replaced with copies, and the originals were sheltered inside the church. Between 1967 and 1977 the money for renovation was from the public budget, and the restoration after the earthquake in 1977 was made with money from donations and subscriptions.

Tourist potential
After the touristic estimations, about 100 000 persons visit Biserica Neagra (the Black Church) every year, being considered the second major attraction in the county, after The Bran Castle. The visiting program is daily between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., and the price of a ticket is 4 lei for adults and 2 lei for students, pupils and pensioners. At the entrance there are points of sale with postcards with the whole church and with details of it. Taking photos and making films are forbidden. One can easily find accommodation units in the vicinity of the church, in hotels and boarding houses.

Varza (cabbage) à la Cluj

Varza à la Cluj is a special type of food specific to Transylvania, almost as popular as the "sarmale" that's made up of minced meat and rice in a pan and then baked in the oven.
Ingredients
1 piece of sauerkraut
1 onion
750 g of pork meat
4 tablespoons of grease
a tea cup full of sour cream
½ tea cup full of rice
salt
black pepper
some dill - optionally
How to cook it
Mince the meat and fry it in a saucepan together with the grease and some onion; smother it down from by adding a spoon of water from time to time
The chopped sauerkraut has to be smothered a little bit ( for about 20 min.) – use the oven and a pan
Boil the rice in salty water for a little bit and then put it in a sieve to take the water out and leave the rice dry and unsticky
Spread a little bit of grease on a saucepan walls and then stretch one layer of sauerkraut, 1 layer of meat and 1 of sour cream. Spread the rice and some salt and black pepper between the cabbage and the meat layers. Repeat this until all the ingredients are over and make sure you put a last layer of sour cream on top of everything.
Put everything in the oven (190 ° C ) for about 30 – 35 min.

Bears Cave

Known as one of the spectacular touristic objectives of Apuseni Mountains, Bears Cave lies in the vicinity of the location called Chiscau, in Pietroasa Commune, Bihor District, at an altitude of 482 meters.The name of the cave is due to the numerous bear fossils, which were found there, so therefore it represented a favorable place for shelter for the animals that used to live there 15000 years ago. Owing to the falling of a huge rock, the mouth of the cave was blocked and more than 140 bears were trapped inside. Being hungry, the bears attacked one another until they all died.

The cave was discovered in 1975 during the limestone exploitation works in the quarry from Chiscau. Until 17th September 1975 the cave was closed and in this time the subterranean pit was artificially opened through the dynamiting of the entrance gate. The first man who went down the open pit was the miner Traian Curte from the same location. The way that he covered was from the access gallery to the Great Hall. At 20th September 1975, a group of amateur speleologists called “Speodora” accomplished the first exploitation of the cave and five years later the cave entered the touristic circuit of the country, being considered the first subterranean cavity arranged after the level of the world technique.

At the entrance of the cave, one may see a pavilion which consists of a waiting hall, a booking office, a speleological museum and a counter with artisan items. Being more than 1500m long, the cave presents galleries situated on two levels: the upper gallery is 488 meters long and is intended to tourists and the lower gallery (521m in length) is destined to the scientific research.
In this cave there are three galleries and four halls: The Candles Hall, The Spaghetti Hall, Emil Racovita Hall and The Bones Hall. One may visit this cave starting from The Bears Gallery (called The Bones Gallery as well), where 1500 items, 140 skulls and numerous shelters for the cave bear can be seen. On the walls of the gallery, one may notice scratches left by the paws of the bears.

In the second gallery, called Emil Racovita, one may see a bear skeleton exposed just in the position the bear died and besides that, the fossils of other animals which disappeared hundreds of years ago: a black goat species, the cave lion and cave hyena. The distance between the walls of the cave is somewhere between 10-15 meters and its vault is at 10 meters height, being adorned with numerous stalagmites, domes, water basins and stalactites.

The last gallery, The Lights Gallery, welcomes us with its exciting stalagmites and stalactites which created some true statuettes (“The Mastodon”, “The Curtains from The Bears Gallery”, “The Portal”, “The Pagodas”, “The Lake With White Lilies”), statuettes that look familiar to the ones of wax, revealing a pure white that gives freedom to any visitor’s imagination. The gallery ends with a 16 meters long artificial tunnel, which is less accessible to the tourists, but it finally leads the way to surface.
How to Get There
How to arrive there: following the road DN-78 (Oradea-Deva), making a diversion at km 86 in Sudrigiu Commune, at DJ-763. 16 km farther one may find Chiscani village, where the accommodation offers are various. The subterranean line can be covered in 45 minutes. The temperature is near 10 C degrees in every season of the year.

Adrian Mutu

Born 08 January 1979
Birthplace Calinesti
Weight 71 kg
Height 1.78 m
Position Forward

Adrian's contract at Chelsea was cancelled in October 2004 after he received a seven-month ban for a positive cocaine test.

Club history
Arges Pitesti
01.07.1996 01.07.1999
Dinamo Bucuresti

01.07.1999 04.01.2000
Inter Milano

04.01.2000 01.07.2000
Verona
01.07.2000 31.08.2002
Parma

31.08.2002 14.08.2003
Chelsea

14.08.2003 29.10.2004
Juventus
13.01.2005 01.07.2006
Fiorentina

Sighisoara

Situated on Tarnava Mare’s bank, Sighisoara is a well-known tourist destination that can be considered Europe’s pearl, as it is one of the few inhabited citadels of the old continent. The first documentary attestation refers to it under the name of “Castrum Sex”, in 1280, although there is evidence of its existence since 1191. Built by the Saxon colonists living in Transylvania who had to watch over the frontiers of the Hungarian kingdom in the 12th and 13th centuries A.C., the fortress gathered inside its walls Saxon, Romanian and Hungarian craftsmen. That’s the reason why the citadel was named in all the three languages: SCHAESSBURG, SIGHISOARA, and SEGESVAR. More than that, the craftsmen were organized in guilds, each of them administrating a defense tower. The defense walls are 960 meters long, and of the 17 towers there are only nine left, except for the clock tower.

For 15 years, on summer there is organized the three days Medieval Art Festival. It is difficult to present in a few words the multitude of tourist attraction points of this town: towers, bastions, churches and houses. However, the most important are considered to be Turnul cu Ceas (the Clock Tower) – the entrance gate in the citadel – which is also a symbol of Sighisoara, Turnul Cositorarilor (the Tin Coaters Tower), Turnul Macelarilor (the Butcher’s Tower), Turnul Cizmarilor (the Shoemaker’s Tower), Turnul Croitorilor (the Taylor’s Tower), Turnul Cojocarilor (the Furrier’s Tower), Turnul Fierarilor (the Blacksmith’s Tower), Turnul Franghierilor (the Rope Makers’ Tower), Turnul Tabacarilor (the Tanner’s Tower), Biserica Manastirii (the Church of the Monastery), Biserica din Deal (the Church on the Hill), Casa Venetiana (the Venetian House), Casa cu Cerb (the House with Antlers), Casa de pe Stanca (the Cliff House), Casa cu Sindrila (the House with Shingle), Casa Vlad Dracul (the house attributed to Vlad Tepes) and so on.

The Clock Tower (Turnul cu ceas)
In the course of time, Turnul Portii (the Gate Tower) was used for the council’s meetings and for storing Sighisoara’s archive and thesaurus. Turnul Portii (the Gate Tower) was named Turnul cu Ceas (the Clock Tower) after 1604, when a clock with a wood mechanism was installed in it. In 1648 the blacksmiths of Sighisoara rebuilt that mechanism using metal components and improved it so that its hands also indicated the minutes. The two faces of the clock are each 2.4 meters in diameter, and one of them looks towards Orasul de Jos, and the other towards the Citadel. The clock was also equipped with two groups of wooden statuettes disposed in three registers. Two of the statuettes represent Justice and Fairness, symbolizing the judicial autonomy of the town. Another statuette represents a brazier announcing the exact time. A “desperate man” is also represented by one statuette, telling the strangers that death penalty is applied in the citadel. After the style of that time, there are also present 0.80 meters tall statuettes made of linden trees, representing the pagan gods personifying the days of the week: Diana, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Sun. In 1964 the clock was equipped with an electric engine. Nowadays, Turnul cu Ceas (the Clock Tower) shelters the History Museum of the town.

The Tin Coaters Tower (Turnul Cositorarilor)
It is a robust and at the same time strange building, combining a pentagonal drum over a rectangular platform, above which there are the ramparts forming an octagonal floor, and in top of it there is the hexagonal roof, with unequal sides. The mortar, riddled with bullets and cannon balls, gives the impression of a building that went through the heats of many battles. The tower is completed by Galeria Puscasilor (the Gunmen’s Gallery), a sole exemplar in the architecture of the citadel.
The Tanner’s Tower (Turnul Tabacarilor)
Turnul Tabacarilor (the Tanner’s Tower), one of the oldest towers, is situated on the South – East side of the citadel. From the architectonic point of view, it looks like a square prism, with a one slope roof. In 1631, Turnul barbierilor (the Barber’s Tower) was joined to it, but this one was destroyed later.
The Goldsmith’s Tower (Turnul Aurarilor)
Turnul Giuvaergiilor (the Jeweler’s Tower) or Turnul Aurarilor (the Goldsmith’s Tower) is documentary mentioned in 1511, being built on the South – West side of the citadel, next to the Castaldo Bastion, on the highest point of the town. In 1706 it was blown out by kurutzy peasants, in 1809 a thunder destroyed its roof and floor, and by 1863 it became a gymnasium of the Scoala din Deal (the School on the Hill). In 1935 it became a mortuary.
The Taylor’s Tower (Turnul Croitorilor)
Turnul Croitorilor (the Taylor’s Tower) dates from the 14th century, being the second entrance gate in the citadel. The tower belonged to one of the richest guild in the citadel. In 1676 the tower was destroyed by a fire, especially because there were barrels with gun powder and different weapons inside it. Three years later it was rebuilt, and the North – West corridor was turned into a gun powder storehouse.
The Rope Makers’ Tower (Turnul Frangherilor)
Turnul Franghierilor (the Rope Makers’ Tower) is situated on the North – West corner of the upper platform. In 1935, after some archaeological diggings, there were discovered some crenel vestiges, which led to the conclusion that it had been built over an older wall of the citadel. The attendant of the cemetery lived in this tower for a long period of time.
The Butcher’s Tower (Turnul Macelarilor)
Turnul Macelarilor (the Butcher’s Tower) seems to have been built in the 15th century, and then rebuilt in the 16th century. According to documents, it was mentioned for the first time in 1680. It had a great strategic importance, because it was situated at the foot of the steepest portion of the hill that went down from the superior platform to the inferior platform.
The Blacksmith’s Tower (Turnul Fierarilor)
Turnul Fierarilor (The Blacksmith’s Tower) is a flank tower and was built in 1631 in the place of the old Turnul barbierilor (Barber’s Tower). Its front part has windows and shooting holes that confer it a special aspect. In the past, it protected the Church of the Monastery in the event of sieges.
Unfortunately, in the 19th century some of the buildings were demolished; for instance, Turnul Lacatusilor (the Locksmith’s Tower) and the Franciscan Monastery were pulled down in 1894 to build the Catholic Church; Turnul Dogarilor (the Cooper’s Tower), which was said to be one of the oldest towers of the citadel and whose rooms were used as dwellings, was pulled down in 1886. Turnul Tesatorilor (the Weaver’s Tower) is also known to have housed the military prison of the town, but it was demolished in 1858, and the streets of the citadel were paved for the first time with the resulting stones.
The Furrier’s Tower (Turnul Cojocarilor)
Turnul Cojocarilor (the Furrier’s Tower), built in the 15th century, seems to be the most humble of all, being placed at a small distance from Turnul Macelarilor (the Butcher’s Tower); Poarta Torle (Torle gate), where the sheep were shared in the evening, unifies the two towers.
The Shoemaker’s Tower (Turnul Cizmarilor)
The first documentary attestation of the Turnul Cizmarilor (the Shoemaker’s Tower) dates from 1594, but it was rebuilt under the present shape in 1650. It looks like a hexagonal prism, and it is shorter than the other towers. What is unusual is its small observation tower oriented towards the town. It used to have an artillery bastion in front, but it was demolished in 1846. Nowadays it houses the local radio station called “Radioson”.

Other tourist attractions in Sighisoara
Biserica din Deal (The Church on the Hill) is the only old crypt Evangelic church in Transylvania, and its walls contain 60 tombstones. Inside the church there is also a collection of altars, brought from Germany, and a collection of bottom drawers. On the walls of the church there is also a fresco dating from 1380 which presents the Holy Trinity as a person with three faces. In the Church of the Monastery there is also a collection of oriental carpets, and an organ concert takes place here every week as well.
Casa Vlad Dracul (Vlad Dracula’s House) is one of the oldest buildings, and it is placed on the left side of the little square in front of the Turnul cu Ceas (Clock Tower). The building was the official residence, belonging to the mayor or to the royal county lord of the citadel. Vlad Dracul, the son of Mircea cel Batran, lived here between 1431 and 1435, as well. Nowadays, the building shelters a restaurant.
Casa cu Cerbi (the House with Antlers), a construction specific to the Transylvanian Renaissance period, received this name because of a stag head fixed on the angle of the building.

The central square is limited by 18th century houses, inhabited by the noble families of the town. The main fairs or the criminal trials took place in this square, the execution post (pillar of infamy) being placed here as well.
The Bastion Street, on which can be found Casa cu Sindrila (the House with Shingle), a specific handicraftsman’s house, continues the Square. The house shelters the residence of the Interethnic Centre for the Youth, as part of the German Forum of Sighisoara, where they carry on a great number of educational courses for the youth, and it also shelters an Internet-Café.

History Museum from Sighisoara
During the Medieval Art Festival, those who move about the streets of the fortress, artists, keepsake vendors, or even tourists, generally wear clothes reminding of the Feudal period. In 2007, the local authorities launched the “S.O.S. the Citadel of Sighisoara” campaign, trying to aware the Government of the defacement of monuments.

Included in the UNESCO patrimony
In 1999 Sighisoara was included in the UNESCO patrimony, beeing, together with other European cities with the same type of monuments, on the World Heritage Cities list of protected monuments as well.
How to get there and accommodation possibilities
Situated at about 279 km far from Bucharest and 117 km from Brasov, Sighisoara attracts a lot of foreign tourists every year. One can get here by car on the E 60 European Highway, from Targu Mures to Brasov, or by train, on the Bucharest – Brasov – Teius route, with shuntings to Arad and Oradea. The accomodation possibilities are unlimited, in hotels, motels and boarding houses.

Mihaela Radulescu

Mihaela Radulescu was born in Piatra Neamt, Romania. She is a famous Romanian TV hostess.

Biography and Career :

When she was born her parents were still students and later they became teachers. Mihaela Radulescu and her brother Florin were raised by their grandparents.

In her primary classes she was a model for the rest of her classmates having very good results at school.

Mihaela Radulescu attended 3 Faculties : "I.E.F.S" ; "Psichology Faculty"; "Filology Faculty" but she didn't graduate any of them.

She started to be an independent girl since 18 years old and she helped her family everytime she could.

One of her most important achievement is buying a new house for her parents.

Mihaela Radulescu started her career as soon as she moved to Bucharest and she had a very hard time until she became succesful.

Mihaela Radulescu got involved in the Television Biz in 1994 having a colaboration with Tele 7 ABC. After Tele 7 ABC she worked for : Antena 1, ProTV and B1 TV.

She has changed a lot of cars : Oltcit, Dacia, an old 14 years old VW Gol, a very old Nissan Patrol, a second-hand Ford Mondeo, a brand new Ford Mondeo, a brand new Porsche Boxster S, a brand new Bmw X5 and finally a brand new Porsche Cayenne Turbo.

Trivia :

- She practised gymnastics for 10 years in Piatra Neamt;
- She loves dogs;
- Worked as a taxi driver while in college;
- Is a gymnastic atested instructor;

Awards :

- She was the first Romanian journalist who emited live for a television the Oscar Grammies (Pro TV 1998);
- She is the first woman who parachuted from 3000 metres altitude live on TV;
- Took the first underwater interview live in Romania;
- Is the first Romanian star who became a lengerie trade mark for I.D. Sarrieri : " Body Up - Mihaela Radulescu ".

ARGES MONASTERY

The Episcopal Church, or the Monastery of Curtea de Arges, was founded by prince Neagoe Basarab between 1514-1517, on the site of a metropolitan church which had been raised in the 14th century and acknowledged by the Archbishopric of Constantinople in 1359.The legend has it that one day, a very wealthy and religious Wallachian prince, the Black Prince, rode with nine masons and their master Manole to find a place and build a church more beautiful than anyone may have seen before. The masons started to work, but whenever they reached to the top, the walls would colapse before they could ever finish it. They decided that the first human being they would lay their eyes upon was to be sacrificed in order to see their work done. And it so happened the Manole 's wife showed up to bring her husband's lunch, so that he had to keep his vow and immure his own wife alive within the church walls. The place of this immolation can still be seen between two walls of the southern front side of the church. This is how the monastery could be finished, and the prince was pleased to find that it was as beautiful as it could be. But the prince would not want Manole to build another church that could match his own. So he ordered the scaffolding removed, which left Manole stranded on the roof. In an attempt to escape, Manole made himself a pair of wings from shingles, but they were of no avail, and he would crash to the ground like Icarus and die. Upon his crash, on that very spot, a spring would gush forth, which is now called Manole's well. Today people would throw coins in its basin, to make their wishes come true.
Indeed Neagoe Basarab (1512-1521) would be known in history as the Black Prince, and it is a real fact that the church master builder's name whom he had brought from Nicosia was Manole. Again it is no less true that the prince himself supervised the construction of the monastery all the way, from the beginning to the end. The church one can see today is not Manole's original creation of 1517, but a recreation of 1875-1876 by the Frenchman Lecomte de Nouy, who grafted on all the pseudo-moorish accretions.
Like with so many other cultural sites of the world, at Curtea de Arges Monastery legend and truth intermingle and form up an inseparable whole, lending a special flavour to the flow of historic facts and figures.
The Monastery Curtea de Arges, built in Albesti stone along with marble and mosaic brought from Constantinople by Neagoe Basarab (1512-1521), has the classical harmonious aspect of an Orthodox church: the pronaos (also a necropolis), the nave and the altar have a peculiar architecture and rich ornaments: a boxy structure enlivened by whorls, rosettes and fancy trimmings rise into two octogonal belfries, each having eight narrow windows frames, each festooned with little spheres and the three armed cross of Orthodoxy. The roofs of the four belfries seem to have been made by a goldsmith, whereas the chains which support the crosses seem to be large pieces of jewelry.
A belt carved in stone as a rope twisted in four goes all around the church dividing its exterior walls into two sides, namely the lower side, decorated with rectangular tall panels framed in carved stone, with narrow windows, and the upper side, with a range of largely opened arches which encircle the church. The decorations of the disks which link the arches have Arabian, Persian and Georgian motifs, in green, in blue and golden colours.
Prince Neagoe Basarab died before he saw his "temple" finished. His son-in-law Radu from Afumati (1522-1529) took over and brought Dobromir of Targoviste to paint the interior walls (1526). Unfortunately, the paintings restored in 1875 by Emile Lecomte de Nouy's brother are inferior to the original ones. Fragments of the genuine frescoes made by Dobromir can still be seen at the Art Museum and at the National Museum of History in Bucharest.
Along time, the church was successively damaged by wars, plundering, earthquakes, fires and was restored during the rules of Princes Matei Basarab (1632-1654), Serban Cantacuzino (1678-1688) and Bishop Iosif Sevastis at the end of the 18th century.
Whatever the patrons and artists who designed this church, it remains impressive by its votive paintings, by its marble gilted bronze, by its onyx iconostasis, by its twelve columns with floral ornaments representing the twelve apostles. In the pronaos there are the tombs of its founders, Neagoe Basarab and Radu from Afumati, as well as of the first couples of Romanian kings and queens (Carol I and Elisabeta, Ferdinand and Maria) which render this church not only a princely, but also a royal necropolis, alongside a splendid monument of Romanian art and history.
The white marble tombstones of Carol 1 (1839-1914) and his poet wife Elizabeth 1853-1916) lie on the right in the monastery`s pronaos (entrance hall). On the left of the entrance are the tombstones of King Ferdinand 1(1856-1927) and the British-born Queen Marie (1875-1938) whose heart, upon her request, was put in a gold casket and buried in her favourite palace in Balcic in southern Dobrogea. Folowing the ceding of southern Dobrogea to Bulgaria in 1940, however, her heart was moved to a marble tomb in Bran. Neagoe Basarab and his wife Stina are also buried in the pronaos.
In the park opposite lies the legendary Manole`s Well (Fintina lui Manole). Legend has it that Manole tried - and failed - to fly from the monastery roof when his master Neagoe, removed the scaffolding to prevent him building a more beautiful structure for anyone else. The natural spring marks his supossed landing pad.
The Old Princely ChurchThe saint patron of the chapel is "The Saint & Martyr Filofteia" who has been protecting the monastery for 8 centuries and whose relics are inside the Episcopal Cathedral. In 1517, the canonization of Saint & Hierarch Nifon, The Patriarch of Constantinopole, the Metropolitan of Wallahia took place here.
This is also the place where the relics of the Saint Nifon are preserved in a coffin made of silver and plated with gold. The Saint’s head and hands represent a present got by Neagoe Basarab from the monks who live in The Athos Mountains. There is also a coffin with the relics of the Saint Serghie, Vach and Saint Martyr Tatiana.

Timisoara

Timisoara city is situated in West part of Banatului Field between the rivers Timis and Bega, being one of the most important city of the country. The city is a harmonious combination between historical centre and the development which had been periodical in arround of this centre. In this way, the oldest buildings had made since beginning of the XVII. Century, in the periode when in Europe enters the Baroque style. Was supposed that the city had founded much earlier of this building’s lifting. The testimony in this sense give the Huniade castle, which still keeping numerous documentations from XIII. Century. Due to its strategical position (connection point between Austro-Hungarian Empire and East Europe) Timisoara knew a fast development being builded in arround of the city a fortress which was the wish of the all sultans of Turkish Empire (suited to the writings of the Turkish chronicler Mustafa Seldzade). The city’s conquest by the Turks (1551) made to the ethnical change of the city and also to the commerce’s development. Since 1716 the city is under Austrian-Hungarian empire’s rule. The German colonies, which peopled more and more the city, had a big role in Timisoara’s development. Between 1728 and 1761 were created the first navigation canals on the rivers Bega and Timis, which lead to river commerce’s development. Also in this periode was changed the fortify plan of the city, increasing the city’s surface. The city-fortress was organized in arround of 2 squares: Piata Paradei (today Piata Libertatii) and Piata Iezuitilor (Piata Sfantul Gheorghe). Later in north of the city was builded the Piata Unirii square, where were lifted the Cathedral, the Episcopal Palace and Governor’s Palace. At the beginning of XIX. century had part the city’s industralization which lead to apperance of : public lighting with gaslamp, the city’s connectation to European railways network, public transport with horse-drawn trams, the telegraph’s and the telephone’s appearance, replace of wood bridges with stell bridges, later (1884) the city’s electrical lighting (the first city from Europe) and apparition of the electric tram (1899). Between 1890 and 1910 the city’s fortress were demolished being replaced by parks, Timisoara being named as the “Parks’ City” or the “Flowers’ City”. Between the 2 world wars, the city knew a magnificent development through building of many cultural institutions (Metropolitan Cathedral and National Theatre). After the Second World War the city’s industralization grew up: new districts, cultural and education institutions (schools, museums, theatres, concert halls) and also the entertainment possibilities’ growth (terraces, restaurants, bars, discos, night clubs). Today Timisoara fills the all conditions to be named an European city.