Women’s Cave

Among the thousands of caves in the Carpathians Mountains, only a few had such a rich past in events as the Woman Cave (Pestera Muierii) from Baia de Fier had. Situated in a wild place, having more than just one entrance, the Woman Cave was a natural fortress, a resistance point for the inhabitants of the neighboring settlements over their struggling history. One of the entrances offers an excellent observation point over the field from the South and another entrance opens the view to the dense forests of the Parang Mountains.

The electrification established between 1963 and 1978 changed the cave in the most popular and visited speleological objective from Romania. Even if, what the dimension, the beauty and the quality of the arrangement are concerned nowadays, the Woman Cave, with an aggregate length of galleries of over 3,500 m, was surpassed long time ago, it continues to be the headline of the Romanian speleotourism, being visited by thousands of visitors every year. Situated nearby, but at higher levels of karsti-fication, are also other caves of smaller dimensions, such as the Corbului Cave, Parcalabului Cave and Iedului Cave known under the name of the Baia de Fier Caverns.

It seems that the first written record about the Woman Cave dates back to 1870, when the archaeological Al. Odobescu mentioned it in an archaeological questionnaire. Since then, in over 100 years of researches, an important and varied scientific and documentary material has been collected , attesting to valuable archaeological, paleonthological, geomorphologic, as well as biospelaeological and mineralogical finds. These form together over 95 % of the 3,566 m aggregate length of the cave galleries. For practical reason and because of the superposed location of the galleries, we call them the upper and lower storey. The general north-south orientation of the whole system of galleries runs along the fissure which allowed the waters of the Galbenul River stream to dig them in the rocks. You may enter the cave through three different points, a northern, eastern and southern mouth. The last two entrances are the places of resurgence of the waters of the former underground stream which once flowed through the northern slope. Nowadays the Galbenul stream has abandoned its underground course and the karstification process is continued only by the percolation waters provided by rainfalls or snow melts.

On entering the cave through its northern gate, at about 130 m within you find yourself in front of the Small Dome-shaped stalagmite from which widens on your left the Altar Chamber, rich in concretions with a ceiling ending in a 17 m high swallow hole. Walking in the same direction, a gallery with numerous boulders lying on the floor leads to the eastern mouth, called the Altar Gate, which opens into the abrupt slope of the Galbenul Gorge. The main gallery, known as the Electrically-lit Gallery, continues southwards and gets more and more spectacular because of its numerous ceiling concretions and basins, sometimes filled with water, in the portions, called the Small Basins and the Large Basins. Two hundred and seventy meters farther you enter the Turk’s Chamber, one of the most beautiful parts of the upper floor. Huge stalagmites, domes, wall and ceiling concretions taking the strangest shapes are known as Father Christmas, the Turk, the Turk’s wife, etc.

Passing through a narrow corridor and over a threshold by climbing a metal ladder, you enter the so-called Chamber of Wonders, because of its numerous microbasins and candle-shaped stalactites and stalagmites, which adorn it. On coming back to the main gallery you will walk on through the Small Gate, a portion where the walls and ceiling draw very near, leaving only a small passage and you will enter the Guano Chamber. On the eastern wall make out a whole network of galleries, a real place of refuge for the cave fauna, since it is less accessible to visitors, and not yet electrified. From the Guano Chamber on there is only a 40 m’ s distance to daylight, passing through the southern gate, which opens, into the slope facing the largely terraced meadow. The lower floor, divided into two sectors by alluvial silting, is of particular scientific interest. For this reason it was declared Speleological Reserve in 1955 and the Woman Cave, aMonument of Natural Reserve.

The northern sector, made up of a network of labyrinthine galleries totals a length of 1,650 m. you may enter it through a narrow connecting gallery, opened in the western slope of the upper floor at about 30 m within from the northern entrance. After crawling along a short portion and going down a 2 m deep step you reach a small chamber from whose north-western corner an 18 m deep swallow-hole takes you to the Electrician’s Gallery. It is rather difficult to describe this sector of the cave owing to the cross-connexions of its galleries. Nevertheless you may make out a western system with the Electrician’s Gallery as a main chamber, and an eastern system with the Excentric’s and Basin Galleries as principal rooms. They are characterized by a high degree of alluvial silting and the presence of potholes of different depths varying between 10 and 15 m, as well as an exceptional variety of concretions. They reach a climax in the Red Chamber of daylight, a rare mineral species found in caves, made up of calcium phosphocarbonate and taking all the known shapes in calcite: stalagmites, stalactites, curtains, wall and floor concretions, rimstone pools, etc.


The Bears’ Gallery was named thus because of its numerous skeleton remains of the Quaternary fossils of mamalia, belonging mostly to cave bears. Its great variety and numerous calcite concretions make it quite remarkable. Its walls are also adorned with corrosion hieroglyphs, leopard skins, wall plates and spoons. The Pearl Chamber has a low ceiling, in some places under I’m, and displays a lovely folded curtain right at its entrance, known as the Bride’s Veil. The floor looks mosaic-shaped on account of its many crystals and contains numerous cave pearls. If, instead of going down the first metal ladder towards the southern sector, you would go left and climb a 2.5 m-high step, you would reach the so-called Mousterian Gallery. It is the place where archaeologists found evidence that the cave was inhabited by man in Middle and Higher Paleolithic times.

Legend

There are two legends related to the name of the Woman Cave:
The first one says that, long time ago, when men used to dominate everything and to go defend the land against the invaders, women used to take in haste the children and old people into the cave , which was know at that time only them (women). There they used to stay until the battles were over. The second version says that this name-the Woman Cave would derive from the fact that in the days dominated by draught in summer, the women used to sit in front of the mouth of the cave and spin the wool. The air that came out of the cave used to facilitate the work of spinning the thread. Others affirm that the women used to even go inside the cave, where they used to melt the flax and the hemp.

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.