We arrived in Brasov mid afternoon. The city has about 250,000 people and although traffic was moderate, driving through multiple traffic circles was a bit harrowing. We passed the ‘old town’, parked the car in a lot with rates the equivalent of $1 per hour and walked back to the cobbled town square for lunch.
Piaţa Sfatului or Council Square in the cobbled old town is surrounded by colorful baroque buildings and is home to the Casa Sfatului, a former town hall turned local history museum with a prominent clock tower.
The square was bustling with people due to the beautiful weather and the many restaurants that extended their dining space into the plaza. We stopped for a traditional Romanian lunch of pork stew and polenta at an outdoor cafe. Romanian polenta is corn based but unlike Mexican polenta, is not typically prepared with cheese.
Our waiter recommended we take the cable car to the top of Tampa Mountain to get a bird’s eye view of the walled city. Brasov was founded in the 13th century by Germans, known as the Transylvanian Saxons who fortified the area by order of the King of Hungary. Over time, these people thrived through craftsmanship and trade and continued to strengthen and maintain the walls against invaders. Unfortunately, the cable car was not running this early in the season and we did not have time to hike to the lookout, but we did get a great view of Brasov’s ‘Hollywood’ sign.
We walked through the narrow streets of old town to the Beth Israel Synagogue, built in 1901 and still an active place of worship today for a community of about 250 Jews. Jews were first allowed to settle in Brasov by the Saxons in the early 1800s. The community eventually grew to 4000 people but diminished to its present size during World War II as Romanian Jews emigrated to Israel.
Although initially locked when we tried the door, a caretaker spotted us and was kind enough to open the building. We paid a 5 leu admission fee and enjoyed the beauty and tranquility of this sacred, historical space.
We walked back in the direction of Council Square to one of Brasov’s most famous landmarks, the Black Church. The name Black Church came in use after a great fire damaged the church and blackened its walls with soot in 1689. Immediately after the fire, work began to reconstruct the interior and rebuild the roof and renovations continue today to maintain the structure. The name Black Church became official in the 20th century despite the fact that the church’s walls are no longer blackened from soot.
The Black Church is the largest ecclesiastical building in Romania and one of the biggest medieval late-Gothic style churches in the world. Its construction began in 1385 as a Catholic church dedicated to the Holy Virgin Mary but the unfinished structure was partially destroyed during the Turkish invasion in 1421. Construction began again in 1444 due to the generosity of a wealthy benefactor and was completed and dedicated to its patron saint twenty years later. During the Religious Reform in Transylvania, the church converted from Catholic to Lutheran sometime in the mid 16th century and today is owned and operated as the parish church for the Evangelic Lutheran Congregation of Brasov.
The taking of pictures was not allowed in the church’s interior*. Although not particularly beautiful, the interior of the Black Church has several notable highlights; a large mechanical organ with over 4000 pipes, many over 30 ft high, in the western nave and a collection of over 100 Anatolian rugs displayed above the stalls lining the walls dating to the 16th-18th century. During this time, rugs were installed by craftsmen’s guilds and private individuals to decorate the stalls (pews) they and their families used when attending services. Although woven and manufactured in Asia Minor, many of the rugs have unique patterns that depict Transylvania. The rugs are evidence of the once flourishing commerce between Brasov and the Orient during the Middle Ages.
We walked back to the car, paid our $4 parking fee and began the 75 mile drive to our next destination, Sighisoara, where we planned to spend the night.
*pictures available on the internet