0344, 1387 ROMANIA (Suceava) - The Old and Lonely Apple-tree

Posted on 27.09.2012, and completed on 31.12.2014
The idea behind my collection is to create a meaningful and (possibly) coherent image of each country, which to contain the people (with their legacies, be they material or cultural, and with the things out of their hands), history and the beauty of the places. All are closely related, because on one hand the things that surround people reflects their way of thinking and feeling (individually or/and collectively), and on the other their minds and souls are influenced both by the place where they live and by what their predecessors left behind. That is why this wonderful picture fits quite well in my collection. The photo is impressive in a natural way, and arouses a indefinite, congenital nostalgia, unrelated to a particular place or an lived event. Nostalgia of loss of something you've never had or simply the sadness of being.

On the first photo is written "Copacul meu bătrân şi singur, mărul fără flori din vârful Runcului", that means "My old and lonely tree, the apple tree without flowers from the top of Runcu". Thus I found out that the subject of the photography isn't a some one, found incidentally, this lonely and tormented apple tree from the (presumably hill) Runcu being a very well known and cherished tree by the photographers from Gura Humorului (town near which it's located, in Suceava county). So cherished, that the local photoclub name is even Mărul (The Apple). Very cool. Therefore you will find on the photoclub site (but also on other sites / blogs / facebook pages) many pictures of this real local "celebrity".

0636-0644, 1241-1242 ROMANIA (Suceava) - Churches of Moldavia (UNESCO WHS)

Posted on 11.05.2013 and 23.09.2014
This series of postcards, named Patrimonio and depicting Churches of Moldavia (listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1993 and 2010), has for me and my collection a particular importance, and the reasons are very well founded. It hasn't yet appeared on the market, so I'm the first who had the joy of receiving it, through the courtesy of Marius Vasiliu, author of the photographs, and of Terra Design, the printing house in Gura Humorului which issued them. I must say that the collaboration between Marius and Terra Design is already old, and this isn't the first very special achievement of this tandem, in previous years being edited numerous postcards (normal or folded), related primarily to the Bukovina's traditions, and its cultural and artistic heritage, but also to the present of this historical region and its inhabitants. You can find some of them on the official website of the printing house, here.

The Churches of Moldavia are eight Orthodox churches built between 1487 and 1583, in a time when the increasing threat of the Ottoman Empire and then pressures exerted by the Protestant Reformation were an ongoing concern for the princes of Moldavia, boyars and the Orthodox Church. The architecture of these churches has been developed over the 15th century, in a cultural ambience marked by the influence of Byzantium and Serbia. In terms of the plan were adopted original solutions with a development trend in length, some Gothic elements stressing the originality of this architecture that blends the Byzantine and Gothic traditions. The silhouette of the buildings, strongly individualized by the broken line of the roofs, contributes decisively to define specific aspect of this architecture. But the most distinctive element of these churchs are the external paintings, which cover all the facades, masterpieces of mural painting, with a consummate chromatism and a remarkable elegance of the figures. In addition, not fewer of the topics chosen for the paintings, mostly taken from the Bible and the Holy Scriptures, are encountered only here.

• PROBOTA (Church of St. Nicholas and the Catholicon of the Probota Monastery)

 

Erected in 1530, Probota Monastery served as the royal necropolis (1522-1677), here being the tombs of the Voivode Petru Rareş (illegitimate son of Ştefan cel Mare, and founder of the monastery) and Ştefan Rareş (son of Petru Rareş), Lady Elena Rareş and other members of the princely family of Moldavia. Plundered in 1622 by thieves, was later restored by Voivode Vasile Lupu, and in 1677 was dedicated to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Greeks monks who were installed there totally neglected the conservation of the ensemble. After secularization of monastic estates (1863), the buildings have been degraded further, the cells and princely houses being consumed by fire in the early 20th century. It was restored in several stages, 1934-1937, 1986, 1992-2001, and in 1993 the monastery was re-established, as a nuns community. Recent restoration revealed, under a layer of newer painting, the original painting of great artistic value. The church's distinctive note is given by the vault painted, which remind of the vault of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

• ARBORE (Church of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist)

Erected in 1503, was the court chapel of Luca Arbore, pârcălab (burgrave) of Suceava, one of the great boyars of Ştefan cel Mare, beheaded in 1523 from the command of Ştefăniţă Vodă. Being founded by a boyar, it has no towers, and was designed in a simple form, stunning  through its great stylization, but in its construction can be observed some architectural innovation and a great equilibrium of proportions. Mural painting, executed in 1541 by Dragoş Coman from Iaşi, is characterized by the exceptional durability of the blue pigment. Was preserved the tomb's ark of the monastery's founder, considered the most valuable funeral mark in Gothic style in Bukovina. Instead, the boyar's court completely crumbled over time, being destroyed by fire. The interior painting was severely damaged, but however can be seen clearly enough, and the exterior one, including scenes populated by many characters in constant motion, has a rare artistic value.

• MOLDOVIŢA (The Church of the Annunciation of the Moldoviţa Monastery)

Built by Petru Rareş in 1532, Moldoviţa Monastery is surrounded by walls and towers for defence, as a fortress, in that time being situated at the northern border of Moldavia. Between 1610 and 1612 was built clişarniţa (the abbot's house), where were kept the treasures of the church, but also operated a school of copyists and miniaturists. Moldoviţa's frescoes were painted by Toma of Suceava in 1537. The predominantly yellow-and-blue paintings on its exterior represent recurring themes in Christian Orthodox art: a procession of saints leads up to the Virgin enthroned with the Child in her lap, the Tree of Jesse, the Siege of Constantinople, which commemorates the intervention of the Virgin in saving the city of Constantinople from Persian attack in A.D. 626. The Last Judgment covers the entire surface of the west wall. Sister Maika, who has been living in the monastery for more than 50 years, says that it is "the holy scriptures in color". Moldoviţa and Humor are the last churches built with an open porch, a hidden place above the burial-vault, and with Gothic-style windows and doors.

• HUMOR (Church of the Assumption of the Virgin of the former Humor Monastery)

Erected in 1530 by Petru Rareş and his chancellor Teodor Bubuiog, Humor Monastery was one of the first of Moldavia's painted monasteries to be frescoed and, along with Voroneţ, is the best preserved. The dominant colour of the frescoes, painted in 1535 by Toma of Suceava, is a reddish brown. The subjects of the frescoes, common to the painted monasteries of Bukovina, include the Siege of Constantinople and the Last Judgment. In 1641, Vasile Lupu surrounded the monastery with stone walls and built a massive tower with ground floor and three floors. In 1653 the Cossacks looted and torched it, and in 18th century the church was converted into a parish church. The frescoes was restored in the years 1971-1972, as also the roof and the tower. In 1991 the monastic settlement was reactivated as a monastery for nuns.

• PĂTRĂUŢI (Church of the Holy Rood of Pătrăuţi)

Buit in 1487, it's the first definite foundation of Ştefan cel Mare, and her reputation comes from the narthex wall painting with a topic rare: cavalcade Holy Cross. The monastery was abandoned repeatedly, being plundered by the Cossacks, Tartars and then Poles (in 1684). In the early 18th century it was repaired, and in 1711 was reestablished convent of nuns, but only for a few decades. It was closed in 1783 and the church was converted into a parish church, in this situation being even today. In 2003 have started restoration works, being brought to light some fragments of interior fresco of inestimable artistic and historical value. The church has exterior painting only on the west wall, representing the Last Judgement. It was discovered in the 1980s and is considered the oldest exterior religious painting in Moldavia. In 1725 was built a wooden belfry, which exists today. In the churchyard there is a stone round table, also assigned by tradition of Ştefan cel Mare.

• VORONEŢ (Church of St George of the former Voroneţ Monastery)

This monastery was built in less than four months in 1488 by Ștefan cel Mare, to commemorate the defeat of the Ottomans at Podul Înalt (the High Bridge) in 1475, a battle described as "the greatest ever secured by the Cross against Islam," with casualties, according to Venetian and Polish records, reaching beyond 40,000 on the Ottoman side. For this Ştefan was awarded the title "Athleta Christi" (Champion of Christ) by Pope Sixtus IV. Often known as the "Sistine Chapel of the East", the frescoes at Voroneţ, made in 1547, feature an intense shade of blue known in Romania as "Voroneţ blue". Another characteristic note is painters' rich creative imagination, who introduced folk elements in the composition. Inside the church hold the attention the pews and the armchair from the 16th century (including a royal armchair, a true masterpiece of wood sculpture), the tomb of Bishop Grigore Roşca, in the porch, and the tomb of Daniil the Hermit, in the narthex. Monastic life was interrupted in 1785 and resumed in 1991 as a nuns community.

• SUCEVIŢA (Church of the Resurrection Suceviţa Monastery)

Built in 1585 by Ieremia Movilă, Gheorghe Movilă and Simion Movilă and painted in exterior around 1601, Suceviţa was not only a fortified monastery, but as well a princely residence, surrounded by high (6m), and wide (3m) walls, and guarded at the corners by four towers. The thick walls today shelter a museum that presents an outstanding collection of historical and art objects. The tombs of Ieremia and Simion Movilă - rich portraits embroidered in silver thread - together with ecclesiastical silverware, books and illuminated manuscripts, offer an eloquent testimony to Suceviţa's importance first as a manuscript workshop, then as a printing center. Is the only church of the eight which was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2010. Like to the others, exterior and interior mural paintings is of great artistic value, being a comprehensive biblical narrative of the Old and New Testaments.

• SUCEAVA (Church of St. George of the Saint John the New Monastery)

The present church of the monastery was started in 1514 by the son of Ştefan cel Mare, Bogdan Chiorul, and finished by Ştefăniţă Vodă in 1522. It was intended to be the new headquarters of the Metropolitan Church of Moldavia and was painted both inside and outside between 1532-1534, during the reign of Petru Rareş, the iconography being characteristic to the monuments builded ​​during this period. In 1589 they were brought relics of St. John the New of the old metropolitan. The iconostasis dates from 1796 and belongs to Moldavian Baroque style, remarking from the impressive sizes, ornamental and chromatic richness. The frescoes are the work of Moldavian craftsmen from the time of Petru Rareş.

0416-0418 & 0900 ROMANIA (Suceava) - Gura Humorului from summer to winter

Posted on 15.12.2012, completed on 13.12.2013
Located in the north-east of Romania, in southern Bukovina, in Humorului Depression, at the confluence of Moldova River and Humor River, between forested ridges of Obcina Mare, Obcina Voroneţului and Obcina Humorului, Gura Humorului has almost 14,000 inhabitants (declining in the last two decades). From geographically, obcina indicates in Romanian some type of relief, with prolonged ridges, not very high, separated by parallel valleys, and etymologically, it remembers of common property of the free peasants on forests and grazing from these heights. In nowadays the town administers the former village Voroneţ (which became a neighborhood - in the second postcard in right), site of Voroneţ Monastery, one of the eight which formes the UNESCO World Heritage Site named Churches of Moldavia. Another one, namely Humor Monastery, is at only 5km.

The first documentary mention of the settlement dates from 1490, in a document issued by the chancellery of Ştefan cel Mare. In 1782, seven years after the annexation of northern Moldavia by the Habsburg Empire, region called since then Bukovina (I wrote about that here), in Gura Humorului is moved Austrian military commander, which built here a fortress. After 1800, in the settlement began to establish Germans, Poles, Ukrainians, Rusyns and Hungarians, who founded in 1835 a colony named Bori. Since this year, began to settle here numerous Jews, who formed in 1869 around a third of the settlement's population. On May 11, 1899 a disastrous fire destroyed most of the settlement, but was rebuilt soon after, with donations from the United States Jewish communities, and in 1904 it received city status. On October 10, 1941 the fascist regime deported virtually all the Jewish community (2,945 people) to Transnistria, where most of them perished.

In the fourth postcard is the intersection of the road E576 (Suceava - Cluj-Napoca) and DJ177 (which leads to Humor Monastery), surprised by Marius Vasiliu in winter, exactly on December 21, 2012 (Ready for Christmas). In the distance can be seen the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos, completed in 2011, 16 years after the putting of the cornerstone. A wonderful postcard representing the map of Gura Humorului you can find here. 

0881 ROMANIA (Suceava) - The map of Gura Humorului

Located on the eastern boundary of Obcinile Bucovinei ("obcini" means ridges extend, parallel, gentle, separated by parallel valleys), in Humor Depression, at the confluence of Humor and Moldova rivers, Gura Humorului has a climate with sedative properties, being therefore used, since the second half of the 19th century, as a resort . His first documentary mention dates from 1490, in a document issued by the chancery of Stephen the Great, but its importance has only increased during the Austrian occupation of Bukovina (1774-1918), when it became firs townlet and administrative territorial center (1820), then market town (1880) and capital of a district (1893), and finally town (1904).

0868 & 0878 ROMANIA (Suceava) - Frozen morning in Pleşa village

Posted on 20.11.2013, and 25.11.2013
"Pleşa, the most beautiful village in the whole world, as told me a man from there," wrote Marius on the first postcard, and I have no reason not to believe him, although I know that his skill as photographer plays a key role in the enhancement of the landscapes. Anyway, pour serenity in soul this picture of the hills guarding the  valley of the Humor brook, as the backs of some sleeping dragons, on one of the backs seeing the village's houses, and among them, bright, St. Anne's Church, consecrated by more than a century ago.

Pleşa is one of the villages of the Mănăstirea Humorului commune, known for the church of the monastery with the same name, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its history is related to emigration of the Polish Highlanders (gorals) from Čadca region (located on the border between Poland and Slovakia), who, attracted by the Bukovina's freedoms and wealth, were settled on the periphery of Cernăuţi (now Chernivtsi). But others had done the same thing before them, so that some of them asked in a petition in 1835 to approve the settlement within the domain Ilişeşti, south of Mount Pleş, name later transformed into Pleşa .

Following approval, 16 Polish families founded the colony Pleş, located along the Austrian military road. The number of inhabitants of Pleşa remained approximately constant from the foundation of the village to nowadays. In 1857 141 people lived in Pleşa, in 1880 - 217, in 1890 - 216, in 1900 - 210, in 1910 - 254, in 1930 - 259, in 1967 - 250, and in 1992 - 210, of who only a few declare other nationality than Polish.

0630 ROMANIA (Suceava) - Painted eggs from Moldoviţa

Easter is the most important Christian feast, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary. First Council of Nicaea in 325 established that the "Easter is in the first Sunday after the first full moon which falls on or after the vernal equinox." However, primarily due to the used calendar (but also due to the different algorithms used), Orthodox Christians on the one hand and the Catholics and Protestants on the other, usually celebrate Easter on different days. This year the Catholics and the Protestants have celebrated Easter on March 31, and the Orthodox celebrate it today, on May 5. I'm Romanian, and as most Romanians I'm Orthodox, so today I celebrate the Easter, and this postcard seems to me most appropriate for today.

0442 ROMANIA (Suceava) - Pietrele Doamnei in Rarău Mountains

Located in the Oriental Carpathians, Rarău Mountains are among the most picturesque in the region. The main attraction of these mountains is the impressive ensemble of cliffs Pietrele Doamnei (Lady's Rocks – in image), which provides a ruiniform relief consisting of a series of Mesozoic limestone towers, encrusted with corals and ammonites, with heights betwen 10m and 70m, surrounded by a mass of scree with variable sizes. They are derived from the fragmentation (freeze - thaw) of a limestone peak.

0404 ROMANIA (Suceava) - Tales set in stone

The Călimani Mountains, the largest volcanic complex of the Carpathian Mountains, which lining the internal side of the Eastern Carpathians, are surrounded by Călimani National Park, a protected area situated in the territory of counties Mureş (45%), Suceava (35%), Harghita (15%) and Bistriţa-Năsăud, and covering three areas: Scientific Reserve of juniper trees with Pinus cembra, Reserve Lake Iezer, and Geological Reserve 12 Apostles.

0388 ROMANIA (Suceava) - Return to the village

Says Marius (Vasiliu), the one who sent me this postcard (the second - the first is here) and also author of the photography: "I wonder how much time from now on, will be heard, autumn, on the Bukovina's lanes, the wagon with firewood for the winter. For the time being, is a banal fact." You are right, Marius, but nostalgia for the things that no longer exist is a constant for each generation. Things change, inevitable and irreversible. For instance, the wheels of the wagon that you have photographed have tires, as they hadn't 50 years ago, and the man wearing a crochet fez and, if I'm not mistaken, rubber boots. At least to remain unchanged the forest , which filter the light in a so special way.