Romania - In Photos
Dr Nick Gordon
In this photo-essay, Dr Nick Gordon introduces you to some of the remarkable history and architecture of Romania. He begins in Bucharest, which has been his base between leading and researching tours in Europe recently, and then takes us into Transylvania and Moldavia.
Bucharest
One of the first things I noticed when driving into the centre of Bucharest was the eclectism of its architecture. It’s eclectic in its diversity, with adjacent buildings designed in different styles and from different epochs, as if the city was a product of the mind of Tristan Tzara, the (Romanian) founder of Dada. The eclecticism, though, is in some places deliberate especially when historicist ‘neo’ styles were favoured during the rule of Carol I, the first king of Romania following the union of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in the 19th century. (Transylvannia was part of the Austro-Hungarian world until it joined Romania by plebiscite after WWI). It’s in this period that neoclassical buildings, such as the Royal Palace and Atheneum, were built along with neo-Renaissance and then French Belle Epoque townhouses, offices and theatres. This blend of then contemporary styles lent the city a new cosmpolitanism and it became known as “Little Paris”.
Cosmpolitanism was nothing new to Bucharest, because it has long been culturally interconnected with the Balkan, Hungarian, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Greek Orthodox and Ottoman worlds. The connection with Western Europe expressed through the architecture also was not new. Paris had been a key centre for Romanian intellectuals since the 18th century and although the territory had only briefly part of the Roman Empire, Romanian is the closest living language to Latin and borrowed Italian spelling conventions in the 19th century when the Latin alphabet replaced Romanian Cyrillic. This historic cosmopolitanism is reflected in the architecture of the city’s numerous churches, the majority of which are Romanian Orthodox but draw on diverse architectural traditions.
Romanian Orthodox churches are anything but uniform. They are often built to a cloverleaf plan with richly decorated interiors, with the accoutrement and icons that one would expect to find in an Eastern Orthodox church, with every inch of wall space painted, geometric patterned marble floors, carpets and lavish, abundant architectural decorative detail. But beyond this, they may share little else in common stylistically. This is partly because of the many and varied historical influences, but it is also because the dominant architectural style of Romania is itself unique and tends towards the eclectic. The style has its origins at the turn of the 18th century during the reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu, Prince of Wallachia, who developed a new style of architecture and employed it across palaces and churches built in his reign, as a way of consolidating his authority through culture. This Brâncovenesc style reflects Romania’s political and cultural heritage, and is an elegant fusion of Byzantine, Ottoman Islamic, and Renaissance architecture and was used for both secular and ecclesiastical buildings.
The style would inspire architects in the 19th century who were looking for an autochthonous style to form the basis of a new national architecture. This new style, led by Ion Mincu and his disciples, took from Brâncovenesc not only its specific elements but also the idea that one preserves what remains from the past by developing, extending and adding new things to that tradition, even when borrowing forms and motifs from foreign cultures. There’s an organic, playful quality too - much like in art nouveau, although Neo-Romanian predates the Secessionist movements by a few decades. Buildings in this style are rarely uniform, especially the typically asymmetrical townhouses and mansions, each with a turret and its own decorative facade. The dominance of this style in Bucharest’s inner districts partly explains the city’s charm.
But a tumultuous 20th century has left a deep mark on the urban fabric too, with more than 25 changes of government and increasing political violence between the World Wars, fascist dictatorship in the 1940s (which ended when King Michael I led a coup against the regime), and communist rule from 1948 to 1989. Although the People’s Republic of Romania was largely independent of the Soviet Union, especially after Nicolai Ceaușescu re-established stronger political ties with the West, large scale housing projects reshaped the then outer suburbs. And despite the brutalist love of reinforced concrete, these apartment blocks tend to be designed in a way to create a varied façade, so they do not look the same as in other formerly communist countries.
However, a devastating earthquake in 1977 caused widespread damage to Bucharest and provided an excuse for an increasingly megalomaniacal Ceaușescu - who’s style of communism was inspired by North Korea’s cult of the personality communism - to accelerate his urban redevelopment plans, which he hoped would create a socialist city for a modern socialist society (and was at least partly inspired by his recent visit to Pyongyang). The program was nothing if not monumental - it included starting the construction of the Palace of the Parliament, one of the largest administrative buildings in the world, which required the demolition of a whole sector of the old city. But the ‘systematization’ program was also deeply unpopular - entire villages were razed and replaced with model towns with reinforced concrete apartments. The erasure of traditions - along with the cripplingly severe economic austerity measures of the 1980s and the deliberate infiltration of the state into every aspect of daily life - contributed to his downfall and execution on Christmas Day during the 1989 revolution.
Post-Ceaușescu development is also apparent in the city today, and it is generally consistent with heritage preservation across the EU. The pace of redevelopment is increasing too, which reflects the relative degree of affluence in the capital, where the average income and GDP are above EU averages. And with this comes a thriving culture of restaurants, cafes and bars, as well as well-maintained gardens and greenspaces throughout the city.
Beyond Bucharest
Historically, Romania has had a decentralised population and a primarily agricultural economy. Today, three-quarters of the population are urban but people live across numerous smaller cities and towns. Bucharest has about 2.3 million - it’s the eight largest city in Europe - while the next three largest cities - Iași, Cluj and Timișoara - have only between 315,000-320,000 each. So you have a lot of smaller towns and vast tracts of farmland and vineyards (with many autochthonous varieties), the largest bioreserve in Europe (UNESCO World Heritage-listed Danube Delta ), untouched primeval beech forest (also UNESCO protected), and the spectacular landscapes of the Carpathian Mountains, which stretch through the centre of the country and divide its three historical regions (Muntenia/Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania).
The countryside is a key part of national identity and it is never far away. To the north of Bucharest, is the Prahova Valley which had been the place of repose for the aristocracy and elite (and today the alpine region is popular for winter sports and hiking). Here you’ll find Sinaia, a town which grew around a Brâncovenesc monastery named after Mount Sinai. And just nearby, Peleș Castle - the summer residence of King Carol I. The building is delightful - Carol rejected the first three designs for being too boring. The final design is a fusion of neo-German Renaissance, neo-Gothic, Italian Renaissance and neo-Romanian. Inside, there are rooms whose style reflects their function, including a Venetian Casino. It’s an unlikely combination of influences, but while very eclectic, it has its own unified coherent style, executed by Czech architect Karel Líman.
Transylvania
Crossing over the Carpathians through beech forests, you arrive at Brașov, and with Brașov an entirely different visual world. Brașov - Kronstadt in German - is a medieval Saxon town, a once heavily fortified city guarding the pass between Austro-Hungarian Transylvania and Wallachia (and the Ottoman world). The Saxon communities, who were settled here in the 12th century when Transylvania was part of the Kingdom of Hungary, were also avid merchants, and amassed a mint as those who traded across the borders between empires.
The city itself looks very different and its principal church is a late Gothic hallenkirche, in which the nave and aisles are more or less the same height. While it was built in the late 14th century as a Catholic church, by Bulgarian labourers employed by the wealthy Saxon merchants, the Reformation was strong among the Catholic minority of Transylvania, many of whom converted to Lutheranism in the 1500s. The community - the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Augsburg Confession - has a German language rite and is not to be confused with the mostly Hungarian speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church of Romania. If that is not Pythonesque enough, the German-speaking Lutheran church has an order of Holy Knights created in the 16th century whose modern members still turn up in their courtly garb, and their church in Brașov has an impressive collection of historical Turkish carpets on display.
Brașov is one of many fortified towns in the Transylvanian foothills of the Carpathians, which formed a well-organised defensive line. Many of these are similarly well preserved, including UNESCO World Heritage-listed Sighișoara and Sibiu, whose traditional gastronomy is UNESCO-listed. In the nearby villages, you step back in time to a time when Europeans lived off the land and traditional arts and crafts (in addition to shepherding) are still practiced, such as painted glass icons. Throughout the region, there are also very heavily fortified monasteries, institutions whose walls were built to protect the region’s peasants and produce in case of Ottoman siege. Many of these, such as Prejmer, are very well preserved and also UNSECO World Heritage listed.
Continuing north west you come to Cluj-Napoca, the capital of Transylvania and today a peaceful university town (except when it’s home to one of Europe’s largest electronic music festivals in summer…). Arriving in Cluj feels like entering another country again because it is architecturally speaking Central Europe, as it was the Austro-Hungarian capital of the province. Magyar continues to be the main minority language here, and you’ll notice museum signage in Romanian and Magyar.
Moldavia
Heading north east into the spectacular and enchanted landscapes of the Carpathians again, one enters a different place: villages where farmers get about in horse and carts, folk arts practiced with unselfconscious pride, and the painted monasteries of Bucovina. These UNESCO World-heritage listed buildings are unique in that the they are in monasteries heavily fortified against Ottoman incursions and their churches are completely frescoed outside and in. The earliest of these to survive is Voroneț, which was built by Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia, in the 16th century. Stephen the Great, had been a one-time ally of Vlad Țepeș Prince of of Wallachia (better known as ‘The Impaler’), and he had successfully fought off both the Hungarians and the Ottomans (he beat the Ottoman army 34 times in the field). Stephen I established the monastery of Voroneț in honour of God following his victory over the Ottoman army at Vaslui.
The later churches continue this ‘something to do with the Ottomans’ theme, not least at Sucevița, the last of the monasteries to be painted in the early 1600s. It was was built at a time when Moldavia was an Ottoman vassal and consequently its rulers were not permitted to fortify its cities. The monastery is in most respects a castle large enough to shelter the local population and to protect a key route through the mountain passes. The Ottoman threat is particularly clear at Moldovița, whose exterior frescoes include a wonderful depiction of the Ottoman Siege of Constantinople in 1453. This church was commissioned by Petru Rareș, the illegitimate son of Stephen I, who initiated the painting of the exteriors of the churches in the new Moldavian style.
Iași
Heading southeast and on to the plain one comes to Iași (pronounced Yah-sh, as the i at the end of a Romanian noun is rarely enunciated), the historic capital of Moldavia and Romania’s cultural capital. It’s a calm and elegant university town today, with a rich cultural life especially when it comes to literature and the performing arts. Its status as a former capital is apparent , from the former princely residence, now the Palace of Culture, to its theatres, 19th century facades, and its gigantic cathedral, one of the largest orthodox churches in Eastern Europe and a major place of pilgrimage.
Iași has many things that reflect Romania’s peculiar cultural history, including the Church of the Three Hierarchs, the exterior of which is entirely covered in low relief. It’s like a Tree of Jesse gone wild, with geometric motifs influenced by motifs from Armenia, Georgia, Wallachia, Byzantium and Transylvanian Gothic. Nearby, the Palace of Culture contains artefacts from traditional rural life, an art gallery and a museum with artefacts from the sophisticated pre-Indoeuropean Cucuteni culture that suddenly, and mysteriously, ceased to exist around 5,000 years ago. And not far from there is a Communist-era shopping complex whose underground carparks have been transformed into nightclubs and bars accessed by the spiral car ramp down.
