This week [note: post originally published on June 1st, 2007] I got to Câmpulung, in ArgeÅŸ country. Câmpulung - the city where the lights really go out at night, the heaters are already cold (explanation: no heat since ‘96, cut off from the heating system, cast iron, metal collecting center, going out for a drink, human needs). Although the poor neighbourhoods give a stark image to town, there are however a couple of areas of the town and its environs: Negru Vodă Monastery, Flămânda Church [Hungry Church] (also known as Mireselor Church [Church of the Brides]), the Vidraru dam, the Heroes’ Mausoleum in MateiaÅŸ and others.
Among the town attractions you can see the Pardon Boulevard close to the park. The boulevard is divided in two by a pedestrian walkway, so the locals have (unofficially) name one side of the road Merci. [Pardon and Merci - Sorry and Thanks]
I, for one, saw the Heroes’ Mausoleum in MateiaÅŸ and the Mireselor Church.
The Heroes’ Mausoleum is located on the Câmpulung - BraÅŸov road, 15-20 km from Câmpulung, close to the limestone quarry. The mausoleum is “dedicated to the heroes of the National Unification War in 1912-1918″. It costs 2 RON to visit the museum and the ossuary. The museum has evidence of the battles in the Muscel area, reconstructed (static) war scenes, maps of the fronts.
Above the marble plated ossuary inscribed with the fallen soldiers’ names rises a gazebo from which you can see the hills surrounding the area. In the tower of the gazebo there is a metal repository with the bones of the soldiers. The entrance to the ossuary and its hall are done in mosaic.
Photos (click to enlarge):
1. The Heroes’ Mausoleum in MateiaÅŸ (exterior) - The National Office for the Cult of Heroes
2. The Heroes’ Mausoleum in MateiaÅŸ (interior - ossuary) - Bogdan Morar
Mireselor (or Flămânda) Church rises on the hill with the same name and it was started by Dimitrie Rosetti and, after repeated collapses and attempts of partial rebuilding, it was designed by the well-known architect George Matei Cantacuzino in the Moldavian style of the Muşatin family.
You can see a collection of photos took on this trip to Câmpulung here.
Original post: here (RO).
Petrus is 25 and lives in the city we all love to hate, Bucharest. He blogs on ProfilVirtual (RO) and DigitalGuide (RO/EN), the latter a blog about tourism, a spinoff of a category of the first blog. He writes less often because personal and corporate life don’t leave him much time.