epic trip, day 2 cont'd: churches etc.
this all happened after our visit to the castle.
1. the church in densus. mishmash of styles, very very old. this thing is older than history. there must have been a praying space there ever since praying made sense...i don't know if the theory of a Dacian temple at the spot is solid enough, but even so: Roman temple, then Romanic style church - oldest church in SE of Europe. think about it.
it's way way smaller than i would've expected. compact like a jewel. i admit i was rather taken with the size of it, of all things, kind of the way it strikes me at the weirdest times how physically small my mother is. like, look at you, church! asymmetry is another big hit with me - just look how dissimilar the sides of it are! and overall, the atmosphere was so good, sunny and mellow that day. the church is a bit off the village road, in a normal-looking yard, filled with some graves and normal-looking fruit trees. a richness of small, golden apples - we tasted some, and they were full of flavour.
oh, and it was full of tourists! i think we were glad there were tourists - apparently it's well gotten ito the places-to-see circuit.
and another small thing to be thankful for: taking pictures inside is forbidden.
2. ulpia traiana Sarmizegetusa - the former Roman capital after Dacia was conquered by the Romans. the site is practically in the middle of a village! which, i'm not saying it's a bad thing. but it makes it even easier to invade by kitschy ...everything. there's an area before the access gate that's full of cars, kiosks selling pies and stuff, the works.
the fee for taking photos was 15 RON, which i will not equivalate in dollars, because it doesn't work like that. i thought it was too much, so i didn't pay, so no photos.
by that time it was HOT outside (must've been noon), but apart from the heat the nicest thing about ulpia was picturing it as just a meadow among people's plots of land and orchards. we passed ordinary houses and gardens on the longish path leading to it. that was good.
but then the ruins in themselves...i don't know what to make of them. some stone columns, some fragments of stone slabs. next to them were drawings aiming to reimagine what those buildings would have looked like. i couldn't see it.
there was an amphiteathre that was kind of cool.
and the poor people hired to walk around wearing togas.
3. santamarie orlea - the residence of whoever the owner of that village was.
we were actually going to visit the church, but this imposing house was almost across the road from it. all locked up, of course, and with a sign saying it was forbidden to enter, and with a dog chained up to one side. did we get inside the yard? yep.
we didn't see much though. at one point there'd been a restaurant at least in some part of the building, but then it closed. the house (mansion? thing!) was probably given back to the heirs of the previous owner, but they had no interest or money to renovate it. so who knows how it will end up.
4. the church in santamarie orlea. this one (as well as the one in densus) is part of giulia's hit list. romanic church, 13th century...all that. here it is, in all its glory.
5. buffalo reservation, hateg (or nearby)
we passed by the indicators that pointed toward the reservation on our way to ulpia, so ok, when we returned we had to stop. sort of. i had heard about this reservation forever, and in my mind it was an enormous tract of land, full of tall grass and wild flowers and whatever, where the buffalos were actually roaming free.
and it looks something like this:
6. a field of roses close enough to home already.
we also missed a great sunset (un-photographable).
we also missed a turning (during the 10 minutes when giulia was napping) and ended up driving through sebes against our will. no big harm though.
but all in all, mission accomplished. also managed to write one full post with no "game of thrones" reference, i must be on my way to recovery.
1. the church in densus. mishmash of styles, very very old. this thing is older than history. there must have been a praying space there ever since praying made sense...i don't know if the theory of a Dacian temple at the spot is solid enough, but even so: Roman temple, then Romanic style church - oldest church in SE of Europe. think about it.
it's way way smaller than i would've expected. compact like a jewel. i admit i was rather taken with the size of it, of all things, kind of the way it strikes me at the weirdest times how physically small my mother is. like, look at you, church! asymmetry is another big hit with me - just look how dissimilar the sides of it are! and overall, the atmosphere was so good, sunny and mellow that day. the church is a bit off the village road, in a normal-looking yard, filled with some graves and normal-looking fruit trees. a richness of small, golden apples - we tasted some, and they were full of flavour.
oh, and it was full of tourists! i think we were glad there were tourists - apparently it's well gotten ito the places-to-see circuit.
and another small thing to be thankful for: taking pictures inside is forbidden.
2. ulpia traiana Sarmizegetusa - the former Roman capital after Dacia was conquered by the Romans. the site is practically in the middle of a village! which, i'm not saying it's a bad thing. but it makes it even easier to invade by kitschy ...everything. there's an area before the access gate that's full of cars, kiosks selling pies and stuff, the works.
the fee for taking photos was 15 RON, which i will not equivalate in dollars, because it doesn't work like that. i thought it was too much, so i didn't pay, so no photos.
by that time it was HOT outside (must've been noon), but apart from the heat the nicest thing about ulpia was picturing it as just a meadow among people's plots of land and orchards. we passed ordinary houses and gardens on the longish path leading to it. that was good.
but then the ruins in themselves...i don't know what to make of them. some stone columns, some fragments of stone slabs. next to them were drawings aiming to reimagine what those buildings would have looked like. i couldn't see it.
there was an amphiteathre that was kind of cool.
and the poor people hired to walk around wearing togas.
3. santamarie orlea - the residence of whoever the owner of that village was.
we were actually going to visit the church, but this imposing house was almost across the road from it. all locked up, of course, and with a sign saying it was forbidden to enter, and with a dog chained up to one side. did we get inside the yard? yep.
we didn't see much though. at one point there'd been a restaurant at least in some part of the building, but then it closed. the house (mansion? thing!) was probably given back to the heirs of the previous owner, but they had no interest or money to renovate it. so who knows how it will end up.
4. the church in santamarie orlea. this one (as well as the one in densus) is part of giulia's hit list. romanic church, 13th century...all that. here it is, in all its glory.
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| gothic window! i don't know much about these things, but i know a gothic window when i see one |
 |
| a special place for hymn books. |
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| and a bit of super-old again (1300-something) painting. |
 |
| there was a group of hungarian tourists inside, to whom the guide was explaining stuff. we were walking around, half-listening to the explanations...and at some point those guys picked up some church books and started on a spontaneous mini-concert of religious music in hungarian. it sounded very good, what with the echo and all. |
we passed by the indicators that pointed toward the reservation on our way to ulpia, so ok, when we returned we had to stop. sort of. i had heard about this reservation forever, and in my mind it was an enormous tract of land, full of tall grass and wild flowers and whatever, where the buffalos were actually roaming free.
and it looks something like this:
 |
| the space is as small as my aunt's back garden. there were 8 buffaloes lying in the semi-shadow, in the full heat. i actually approved of them not getting up for the tourists' cameras (our cameras). it was so lame and sad - i don't know what this means for the survival of the species. hey maybe i should be happy one more fairytale in my head was shattered, but i'm sure it doesn't work like this. |
we also missed a turning (during the 10 minutes when giulia was napping) and ended up driving through sebes against our will. no big harm though.
but all in all, mission accomplished. also managed to write one full post with no "game of thrones" reference, i must be on my way to recovery.
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