Rosie and The Operator have just rolled into Brasov (pronounced Bra shov), deep in the heart of the Transylvanian countryside on their twelve day journey around Romania.
Brasov is dominated by the green, forested Mt Tampa which looms up and surrounds it on all sides. The town of 550,000 is nestled right into the very crevices of the mountain and looks amazing with the orange and white buildings contrasted amongst the green.
Standing in the town square for the first time looking around, Brasov is a true delight to behold and you do not know what to look at first. What catches your eye amongst the green carpet of the mountain and makes you smile is the Hollywoodesque Brasov sign that sits high above your head on the side of the mountain. The day is still a bit grey and drizzly and the sign mysteriously warps in and out of the mist.
The next thing you are taken with are the fairy tale turrets and gingerbread style houses that give a real whimsical feel to this town….even on a dull, damp and grey day.
Trundling our bags across the café laden square filled with market umbrellas up for the rain rather than the sun, Rosie is just in awe of the energy and vibe this town emits, even on a dull day there are a lot of people out and about relaxing, people watching and enjoying the weekend.
Our apartment is smack bang in the middle of the square. We have a balcony that looks over the square and it has a beautiful fairy that sits on the balustrade, playing a flute and watching over the goings on below. Wow, what a sight, Rosie and The Operator are right in the middle of the action and know they are going to enjoy this town.
From our balcony a huge stage has been set up at the far end of the square and the Brasov Philharmonic Orchestra is all set to give a Saturday afternoon show, what a shame it was raining! It was so lovely to watch and listen to the concert in the dry surroundings of home in the best seat in the house! The soaring of the strings amongst the beautiful ancient surroundings gave Rosie goosebumps.
Looking down on the Main Square (Piata Sfatului) of Brasov, the huge Church with the most amazing fish scale like textured roof in multiple shades of terracotta dominates the square at the far end as much as the mountain dominates the town.
This is The Black Church, and, as you can see isn’t black, but it is the landmark of Brasov and is the biggest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul. Built between 1383 and 1480 it was so named for its appearance after a fire in 1689. The name has carried on through the ages and the 8 decades it took to rebuild the church.
The interior is fantastic in its simplicity….sorry no photos….and this time Rosie didn’t try to sneak any…there was security everywhere, and they looked mean so Rosie pinched these photos from the www.
The Interior of the Black Church has balconies, stained glass windows an enormous 4000 pipe organ, stone columns galore and the walls are adorned with amazing Turkish carpets from the 16th century!
These are the original carpets which were donated to the church by merchants who were thankful to survive their trading trips into the ‘barbaric’ lands south and east of the Carpathian Mountains. This is astonishingly one of the largest antique carpet collections in Europe.
The church is still set up inside exactly how the church setting of the 1600s was. Back then it was all about your position, wealth and importance in the town and this dictated as to where your permanent seat in the church for mass was.
The beautifully carved and painted seats of the noblemen in Brasov were filled so lavishly with cushions and Turkish rugs. The trade guilds also had their own seating as a next hierarchy tier in the town, each guild booth had a depiction of their trade painted on the front and were still pretty plush. The peasants and the ordinary folk of the village all had plain wooden benches to sit on at the back of the church.
Off centre in the square is a beautiful fountain, with actual squirting, running water! Most fountains nowadays on our journeys through Europe are dry, so this was great to see! The sun had finally come out and a multitude of kids are drawn to it and play on the steps and paddle in the shallows.
The other great building in the square is the Council House that stands on the edge and was built in 1420 originally as a guard tower for the city. Today it hosts the City Museum and is crowned by the beautiful Trumpeters Tower from which the alerts to the city were issued from its watchtower in times of attack.
Ever since the Saxons arrived and settled the town of Brasov in the 12th century, the invading Monguls, Turks and other marauding provinces have given the town a hard time. Therefore the Saxons set themselves the task of building fortifications around the town to give it a chance when under attack.
Most of the work was done between 1400 and 1650 when the outer and inner walls were erected along with massive defence towers and gates.
Part of the defence wall which is 40 foot high, seven feet thick and 2 miles long still stands today and it was here that we started a lovely stroll, flanked by the wall on one side and a wee stream and wooded hills on the other.
The sun had come out and it was a very picturesque stroll. We deviated up the hill to the Black Tower, one of the lookout bastions outside the city walls and took a few pics over the town. Rosie was well stretching up high to take these pics from the viewing platform. The city is not doing a very good job in keeping the bushes trimmed from the lookout point! But hey, the view was fantastic and these are some of Rosies favourite shots.
Apparently there is a small museum inside the tower and you can climb a laddered staircase to the top for a panoramic view over the town…it was closed….and by the Tripadvisor reviews had not been open for a wee while. At the end of the stroll Rosie was chuffed to have found a wee bit of street art as well.
We passed a small bakery and stopped for a mid morning snack which served as breakfast. Rosie and The Operator have taken a liking to the local Romanian snack food called Covrigi. It is salted bread with either poppy seed, chopped nuts, sesame seed or rock salt on top, they are very similar in texture and taste to a pretzel or a bagel and are just eaten as they are, hot out of the oven. They are delish, nice and firm on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.
Catherines Gate is stunning, and further adds to the fairy tale feeling of the town. It is the only original city gate to have survived the ages and was erected by the Tailors Guild in 1559.
The 4 small turrets on the gate, like other towns we have seen, indicate to those that live there or are passing through that the town is important, and large enough to have been given the Right of The Sword by the Crown. This essentially gives the town the ability to self govern and pass judgment on crimes, including issuing and dealing the death penalty. Above the entrance is the towns coat of arms, a crown on a tree trunk.
Wandering around the charming streets of Brasov was just fab. This is the thin alley way known as Rope Street and was initially built as an access passage for firefighters in the 17th century to get from one side of the town to the other. It is classified as among the narrowest streets in Europe with a length of 80 meters and a width of 1.11 meters.
It just goes on and on and on and on and on…..and, when you pop out at the end, this Rope Lady points you back done it again…or maybe we started from the wrong end?
The sidewalk cafes are large and small, the colourful houses are elegant and beautiful all in various states and conditions.
And look! You cant tell me they don’t believe in vampires, this house is from the 18th century!
Rosie and The operator were going separate ways for the afternoon. Rosie decided to set herself up in the sun, with the doors to her balcony wide open and the table pushed right up the windows so she could do a bit of writing and watch the goings on in the square at the same time.
The Operator, he was going to climb Mt Tampa. All 3200 feet in a near vertical climb up to the Brasov sign where there was a platform and you could get great pics of Brasov and the surrounds. There would be no cable car for him, why take the Cable Car when you could walk said The Operator gamely. I’m saving $4 in cable car fees. Bye Bye said Rosie, have fun.
Well it took The Operator 45 mins of crisscrossing switchback, muddy trekking beneath the shadow of the cable car track in and out of the bush to get to the top. And, here is right in front of the Brasov sign…proof I made it, he told Rosie…never doubted it said Rosie.
As for the views, well they were stunning and Rosie kind of wishes she had taken the cable car up there herself…The Operator could have waved to me from below as he walked up.
Looking out over the market square from our balcony and enjoying a wine as the sun set and the sky turned a beautiful navy blue as the lights of the city came on, Rosie and The Operator can say once again Romania has turned on the charm and we have had a great time here.
Tomorrow we are driving a couple of hours up the road to Sighisoara, a hilltop citadel of only 29,000 where we are winding up our Romania adventure and spending a relaxing three days there exploring the town and surrounds. Come and join us.
Romania is Fantastic! Check out Bucharest Old Town where we started our journey.
Sibiu was our next stop and was unforgettable.
Corvin Castle was a fairytale treat.
Bran Castle and The Romanian Countryside was also a sight to behold!
