ROMANIA 579The Episcopal Church, Curtea de ArgeşView of the Gothic Black Church
and Tampa Hill, Braşov
Braşov 2
168 km (104 miles) N of Bucharest.
- 400,000. £ @ n Piața
Sfatului 30, (0268) 419 078.
http://www.ghid-brasov.ro
Founded by German settlers
in the 13th century, Braşov
quickly grew into one of
the region’s lead ing defensive
and commercial centres,
thanks to its position on
the southwest ern border of
Transylvania. Today, this city
is one of the most visited
places in Romania.
Facing the Main Square
(Piața Sfatului) and built
into a line of Baroque
build ings is the façade of
the intriguing 19th-century
Orthodox Cathedral. Built in
Byzantine style, the church is
note worthy for its beautiful
fres coes. In the centre of
the square stands the 15th-cen-
tury Town Hall, which now
houses the History Museum.
It has an excellent collection
of archae ological, medieval
and mod ern history exhibits.
Dominating the southwestern
corner of the square is
Transylvania’s larg est Gothic
building, the Black Church,
built in the 14th cen tury.
Originally named St Mary’s,
it came to be known as the
Black Church after a devas-
tating fire in 1689 blackened
its walls. The church contains
Romania’s heaviest bell,
weigh ing 6.3 tonnes (6.9 tons)
as well as its biggest organ.
Two streets south of the
Black Church is the imposing
Viennese and Art Nouveau
Curtea de Argeş 5
150 km (93 miles) NW of Bucharest.
* 33,000. £ @The small town of Curtea de
Argeş began as the 13th-
cen tury capital of Argeşstyle Temple
Synagogue, built in- In the north of
the city is the Art and
Ethnographic Museum,
displaying traditional
cos tumes from the
region and some
anti que European and
Oriental ceramics and
glass ware. This is also
the best place to see
Romania’s largest
col lection of exquisite
paintings by Nicolae
Grigorescu, one of the
forefathers of modern
Romanian art.
Of the city’s ancient
fortifications, the most
striking is the south-
eastern Ekaterina Gate,
with a pointed central tower
surrounded by four corner
watch towers. For superb
views of Braşov, a cable
car ascends to the summit of
the forested 995-m (3,264-ft)
high Tampa Hill. Trekking up
the hill is not recom mended
due to the threat of bears.
R Orthodox Cathedral
Piața Sfatului 3. # 9am–6pm daily.
E History Museum
Piața Sfatului. # 10am–6pm
Tue–Sun. &
R Black Church
Curtea Johannes Honterus 2.
# 10am–5pm Mon–Sat. &
u Temple Synagogue
Str Poarta Schei 27. # 9am–4pm
Mon–Fri, 9am–12pm Sat.
E Art and Ethnographic
Museum
B-dul Eroilor 21. # 10am–6pm
Tue–Sun. & http://www.muzeulartabv.roBran Castle 3
See pp580–81.Peleş Castle 4
See pp582–3.county and later became
the capital of Wallachia. Its
most famous building is the
Episcopal Church, built in 1512
upon a 2-m (7-ft) high stone
plat form within the grounds
of Curtea de Argeş Monastery.
Its elab orate design features
two domes and a pair of
cupolas with slanting narrow
windows set atop a box-like
building adorned with tiers of
niches and arabesque motifs.
According to legend, the chief
architect, Manole, was forced
to entomb his wife in the
walls of the church to keep
the building from collap sing;
popular belief at the time
held that ghosts were required
to keep buildings from falling
down. Upon completion of
the build ing, the church’s
patron, Radu Negru, left
Manole and his fellow workers
stranded on the roof to ensure
they never built a greater
church. The whole group fell
to their death attempting to
fly using wooden wings made
from the roofing shingles.
Not far from the town centre
and to the north is one of
Wallachia’s oldest churches.
Built in the 14th century, the
Princely Church is located
within the 13th-century com-
plex of the Court de Argeş.
Its original frescoes have
been restored.R Episcopal Church
B-dul Basarabilor.
# summer: 8am–8pm daily;
winter: 8am–5pm.
R Princely Church
Court de Argeş. # 8am–6pm daily.For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp596–7 and pp598–9