Şugău Cave

The Șugău Cave is located n the Giurgeului Mountain, 1568 metres above sea level, on Șugău Creek, flowing out from the cave. The creek is fed by the karst water gathered in the mountain. One can come close to the cave from the Voșlăbeni village, on the road Gheorgheni - Miercurea Ciuc.


Vizualizare hartă mărită

The Șugău cave was formed 65 million years ago, in the Paleocene Period, as a result of folding movements. The spatial position of the cave system is characterized by tectonic pre-formation. The multi-level passage of the cave was formed along the lithoclasses and faults of the dolomite, granular limestone, in mezo-metamorphic crystalline shale sequence of the Rebra series. The granular limestone, along which the passage was formed, requires an exact, specialized identification, as at the mouth of the creek there is no more limestone, its place was taken by crystalline shale up to the summit.

The cave is divided into 4 large galleries: dry passages 1 and 2, which were formerly seepage, the "Túlfolyó-brach", and aqueous passage, active even nowadays. The dry passage 1 is supplied with iron door, it can be visited, but it needs renovation. The first hall is the "Dressing room", it is a recess similar to a domed cellar. Here shifted their clothes the speleologists in the period before the hospice was built. The next hall is the "Conference Room", which in 1965 carrying out alluvial deposits made way for itself in the direction of the larger halls. In this hall can be seen drip-stones. On the ceiling of the hall can be seen the snow-white, mild drip-stone deposit, called lublinite (mountain milk, rock milk). Some metres further from there can be found cauldron like forms: "The Giant Owl Eye" and "The Mother-in-Law's Mouth". On the right inwards can be seen "The Fairyland Passage"; for its walls are characteristic the stalactites. The "Bastion" is the largest stalagmite of the cave; next to it is the "Mouth of the Wolf". In the stalagmite encrustation can be found the "Altar" and the "Pagoda". The stalagmites of the Șugău cave are postgenomic, that is to say they developed after the formation of the cave recess. Its base material is calcite and aragonite.

There can be found also halls and formations such as the "Whirlpool Hall", the "Connecting Passage", "Miklós Hall", the "Triumphal Arch" and the "Bat Boneyard", the "Petrified Waterfall", the "Stalactite Cemetery", the "Concert Hall". The largest hall of the cave is the "Large Hall". A sharp descent leads in the direction of its base, from there starts a low passage towards the lower levels. In the lower part of its wall calcite crystallines can be found. Downwards from this hall we find the "Crystalline chimney", which walls are covered with crystalline.

The most mysterious and the most studied passage of the cave is the "Aqueous Section". This active passage is the most difficult passable section of the cave. The average water output of the creek, which flow over the cave, is 30 l/sec. The water temperature, in comparison with other cave creeks, is very low 5-7 centigrade degrees. Leaving the mouth, one can follow the creek along 40 m inwards. On the right there are very dangerous and slippy avens. This passage is a large tectonical faultage, which walls moved away from each other, forming a joint. It is worth mentioning the "Lamp Cemetery", which is a vertical shaft, and it is the most important part of the joint. An interesting formation of the lublinite precipitate is the "Stalactite Sources".

The excavated soil and debris during the exploration aggraded the creek, so only in one passage can be followed its flow. Our pass on is obstructed by a water trap. The other by-pass passage is also blocked by water. On the left, before the water trap a stalactite flow hangs on the wall.

The atmosphere is rich in carbon dioxide. Due to the low temperature inside, the humidity level of the Șugău cave is 95%. The cave water contains a large amount of calcium carbonate. Despite the hostile conditions the cave has a small fauna, which consists of the Froglobion-family: springtails (Collembola), insects (Insecta).

The cave's only inhabitant are some species of bat: Myottis Natererri, which shoes up especially in winter time, single or in a group, settle down on the dry walls or on the ceiling of the cave; Greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis Myotis), Lesser mouse-eared bat (Myotis Blythi), Brown long-eared bat (Plecotus Auritus), Long fingered bat (Miniorterus schreibersi).

Adapted from here.

Şugău Gorges

The Cheile Bicazului-Hăşmaş National Park (Bicaz Gorges - Hăşmaş Mountain) is located in north-eastern Romania, in the Eastern Carpathians. The reservation territory is part of Neamţ and Harghita counties. The parks area of 6575 ha is divided into two zones: the special conservation zone (78%), and the protection zone (22%). On the territory of the National Park there are some natural reserves, such as Şugău Gorges.

True open-air museum, Şugău Gorges Natural Reserve is located at the southern edge of Munticelu Massif and can be individualized with a unique landscape and an exceptional natural heritage. Şugău River has carved 350 m long gorges, very narrow (2-3 m wide), and forms a row of waterfalls.

The reserve has a surface of 90 ha; the coordinates of its center are 46gr 51’ N and 25gr 48’E and its highest point has an altitude of 1381 m (Munticelu-Şugău Rock Crest).

The reserve represents an exceptional natural site due to the uniqueness of available natural heritage. Its geology is extremely interesting in terms of tectonic-structural (fractures, tectonic contacts, blades of over-thrust), paleontological (Mesozoic fossils) and petrographic (accumulations of tuff, travertine, limestone of different ages).

The gorges are spectacular due to the reference landscape elements (limestone and karst terrain, vertical walls, limestone towers, narrow gorges, marmite erosion, caves, avens, springs, sinkholes, karst saddles, clints), flora (endemic species, sub-alpine meadows developed on limestone, calcareous screes and slopes specific vegetation, forests of Pinus sylvestris - glacier relic), fauna (chamois, lynx, wild cats, bats, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, mollusks) and characterized by rarity or uniqueness.

The Natural Reserve was declared Site of Community Importance under European legislation and will be integrated into the international network of protected areas Natura 2000. Custodian of the protected area is a Romanian Mountain Club (led by Ticu Lăcătuşu), with administrative headquarters in ECOLOGIC Chalet.

Rodrig Goliescu

Rodrig Goliescu (1882–1942) was a Romanian inventor, engineer, and Lieutenant, who built the Avioplan, the first airplane with a tubular fuselage. The model, with a length of 1.2 m was successfully tested in 1909, having a take off angle of 30 degrees. The originality of this aircraft was the shape of the fuselage, designed for minimum drag and acting as a tube fan, similar to the way the modern vertical take off aircraft and helicopters are designed.

This shape reduced drag and increased the efficiency of the propeller. Helped by the Minister of Education, Spiru Haret, who also helped Aurel Vlaicu, in 1909 he went to France to acquire an engine for his aircraft. In Paris he sent a survey "Laws of air dynamics" to the French Academy, study that was published in "La France automobile et aérienne" magazine, on 15 May 1909. Goliescu patented his invention in France (patent no. 402329). In the same year he learned to fly and he built an updated version of his aircraft, this time in full size. The aircraft had a half cylinder fuselage, but still the air from the propeller flowed through as in the first model. He flies with his aircraft for the first time, in November 1909, on Juvisy airfield, near Paris, and he reaches an altitude of about 50 m. It was for the first time to fly an aircraft with a tubed propeller. Between 1932 and 1936 he flight tested his Aviocoleopter, the first aircraft to have a toroidal wing.

After his flights, only in 1932, the Italian engineer Luigi Stipa will build an aircraft with a "barrel fuselage" under the name of Stipa-Caproni but the concept will reach its dedication after the Second World War, being successfully implemented in helicopters like SA-365 Dauphin, RAH-66 Comanche or the new X-35 fighter.

Sources: Wikipedia, Early Aviators.

Georges de Bellio

George Bellu (February 20, 1828 - January 26, 1894) was a Romanian aristocrat, art collector and protector of the Impressionists.

He left Romania in 1851, attracted to the art and culture of Paris. He would therefore discover France when the country was under the Second Republic and then under the Second Empire, and decided to stay there for good. His new name would thus be Georges de Bellio. In Paris, he became a homeopathic physician, he worked at the Hahnemann Hospital in Paris, and he was a member of the Société Médicale Homeopathique de France.

Georges de Bellio came from a rich family, so he had the means and time to dedicate himself to his greatest passion - art collecting. At an early stage, this collection was fascinating mainly due to it's eclectic nature, as Georges de Bellio seemed to try to learn everything there was to know about art and to find those themes and artists that pleased him the most. He was one of the best collectors of the 19th century, managing to amass a huge and varied collection, that brought together impressionist, 18th century French, Italian and Flemish works, of great quality and finesse.

After a short while, the collector discovered with awe the works of contemporary artists, mainly the Impressionists, which suited his taste just fine. In time he even became a friend and enthusiastic supporter of artists like Renoir, Sisley, Pissarro, buying several canvases directly from them and "hunting" their best works at exhibitions and auctions. He began to buy paintings by the then unknown Impressionist School, and he had paintings by Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Alfred Sisley and Camille Pissarro in his collection.

Not doubt some these paintings were given in lieu of payment for his homeopathic treatment, a common practice at the time, but Bellio often paid for paintings to help out these struggling painters when they were close to destitution and he would frequently treat them as patients for no fee at all. Giovanni Boldini painted his portrait in 1894, and Pierre Auguste Renoir painted his daughter Victorine de Bellio in 1892.

Georges de Bellio was, above all, the first amateur to be a part of the so-called Impressionist art collectors, alongside Caillebotte, Duret and others. Over time, the sheer number of works in his collection surpassed the space that he had in his small apartment. So the passionate collector was forced to rent a small shop, where he exhibited the works of his favorite artists to his friends - Sisley, Monet, Mallarme, Geffroy and others. Most of these works were later donated to the Fine Arts Academy in Paris in 1957, by the artist's daughter.

Dumitru Fărcaş

Dumitru Fărcaş (born 12 May 1938, Groşii Băii Mari, Maramureş County, Romania) is a Romanian tárogató player. He played the instrument on all major stages in the world and made the tárogató known all over the world.

His father played the pipe, and his older brothers played the clarinet. He studied the oboe at the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca. Dumitru Fărcaş began his professional career in 1960 when he was hired as an instrumentalist in the "Maramureş" Ensemble in Baia Mare.


In 1962 he founded the "Mărţişorul" Folk Music Orchestra, belonging to the House of Culture of Students from Cluj-Napoca, with which has received many national and international awards, among which: First Prize Winner and the Laureate of the World Festival of Youth and Students, Helsinki (1962), Gold Disc awarded by the Charles Cros Music Academy in Paris (1972), Laureate of "Ethnos" Prize (1991), winner of the "Folklive" Smithsonian Festival, Washington (1999), First Prize at the International Festival Brussels (1999), Inter-Lyra Award in the Music and Dance Olympics "Five Lyre", Budapest (2000).



He was made Honorary Citizen of the cities Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Reşiţa and Baia Mare, as well as Pyongyang.


In 2008 he was awarded Doctor Honoris Causa by the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy.

Alexandru Ţitruş

Alexandru Ţitruş (March 3, 1922 - May 5, 1989), was a famous Romanian folklore performer, a violin virtuoso.

He was born in Unirea, Ocna-Mureş, Alba County, in a modest family with nine children. He began playing at 6 years old in the instrumental group composed of his father and brothers. Because Alexandru was the youngest, his father decided that he had to play at dulcimer, the violin being entrusted to Nicolae, the elder brother. In this formula, the Ţitruş family sang at weddings and various parties. But Alexandru loved the violin, and at 8 years old he stole the instrument of his brother and practiced hidden in the cemetery old songs heard from the elders.


At fourteen, he decided to go to Bucharest, where, by happy chance, manages to realize his first audio recording at Radio Bucharest. Then he returned in Ocna-Mureş and continued to sing with his father and brothers. Alexandru married at the age of eighteen.


For a while he sang with "Doina" Ensemble of the Army of Bucharest, led by general Dinu Stelian, then in 1963 he established in Cluj, where he was employed for a period in the Popular Music Orchestra of the State Philharmonic "Transylvania".


Being endowed with an amazing talent, Alexander Ţitruş had collaborations with famous conductors including Radu Simion, Toni Iordache, and with renowned orchestras, with which recorded remarkable achievements in all concerts at home and abroad. He recorded four LP and a MC at Electrecord.


Due to his unique style of interpretation, Alexandru Ţitruş was considered the greatest violin player of the folklore of Mureş area and Transylvania. He died prematurely, at only 67 years.

Sighişoara Clock Tower

Located in the eastern part of the Sighişoara Citadel, the Clock Tower was built to protect the main gate of the citadel, to host the City Council meetings, and for keeping the archives and treasures of Sighişoara.

Built in the 14th century, the tower has a double barbican to control access into the city, ramparts, watch road and shooting galleries, and four towers that symbolized (as the architectural effigy of the entire community) that the city had judicial autonomy, the famous jus gladii - the right to capital punishment. The construction is based on a rectangular prism, with five levels and a pyramidal roof balcony, and had a height of 64 m.

The roof was destroyed by the great fire of 30 April 1676 and was rebuilt in 1677 by artisans Veit Gruber from Tyrol, Philip Bong from Salzburg, and carpenter Valentin. Repaired several times (1775, 1804) the roof acquired its appearance in 1894 when was covered with colorful enameled tiles and were painted the two emblems and was engraved the logo. The general form of the roof (of 1677) bears the seal of the Baroque style and has a height of 34 m. The roof is interleaved with a flashlight, then two onion-shaped domes, superimposed, interrupted also by two small flashlights.

The roof spire terminates in a gilded globe that contains a volume equivalent to 10 buckets. Above is a rod so called "time bar" with a two-headed eagle on top, indicating the wind direction. At the corners of the roof are four towers, with a height of 12.5 m and covered with enameled tiles. Each tower has a globe on top with one wind flag. On two of these flags is a rosette with six petals and the year of renovations (1894), and on the other two the names of master builders: Leonhard and Kovatsch, which realized the general renovation of the tower, and Johann Polder, the tinsmith.


Near the Clock Tower

The building received the beginning of the 17th century a clock rebuilt in 1648 by Johann Kirschel, provided with lime wooden statues of 0.80 m high, belong to a rather rustic Baroque and representing the pagan gods as personified weekdays: Diana, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Sun.


Under the Clock Tower

The current clock mechanism is made by Fuchs from Switzerland and was installed in the Clock Tower on April 1, 1906. The watch was upgraded with an electric engine in 1964 by artisans Konradt, father and son. The clock has two huge dials 2.40 m in diameter and statues placed in niches. Towards the citadel there is the Goddess of Peace with an olive branch, accompanied by a drummer beating a bronze drum each hour, the Goddess of Justice with the balance, the Goddess of Justice with a sword and two angels, representing Day and Night: at 6 am appears the Day, and at 18 exits and appears the Night with two lighted candles in hands. Towards the lower city there are figurines representing weekdays, installed on a wheel, moving at 12 pm. The figurines of the clock tower were recently restored by the specialists of Brukental Museum in Sibiu.


View from the Clock Tower

Under the Clock Tower, the main gateway to the lower city, the access to the citadel was through two passages. Pedestrian corridor was built in the 18th century and transformed into a prison and torture chamber. The Clock Tower houses the History Museum of Sighişoara since 1899.

Panoramas by Michael Pop, from www.360trip.ro

Feleacu Church

Feleacu (Hungarian: Erdöfelek, German: Fleck) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located at 7 km from Cluj, the county seat and the unofficial capital of Transylvania.

The village was founded in 1366, when King Louis I of Hungary agreed to the settlement of 20 families of Romanian border guards from Mărginimea Sibiului in a place called in German "Fleck", on the crest of a hill near Cluj.

The Romanian villagers from Feleacu (Villa Olachorum Felek) had to defend the old road leading to Turda against thieves and robbers. Becoming Possessió of Cluj, as a result of donations made by King Sigismund of Luxembourg, this village was removed from the jurisdiction of Prince and Comite, becoming subject of the authority of Cluj county lord. Charged for services, the villagers were exempt from tithe called quinquagesima ovium or the giving of sheep (each 50th yearling and a ewe lamb), exclusive feudal obligation of Romanian communities in Transylvania.

Between 1486-1488 was built the Church St. Paraschiva in place of an older wooden church. Most of historians said that, given the precedents and due the style of some architectural elements, the church was built by the Moldavian ruler Stephan the Great. Some historians considered that assumption unfounded.

The little but charming monument was built in Gothic style, as a church-hall type with two arched crossed spans, Gothic portals, polygonal apse and vault on ribs. It have murals and icons of the 18th century (1760-1765), painted by Nistor from Feleacu.

In the late 19th century was installed here a bust of Stephen the Great on the West of the church, on Gheorghe Sion's expense. The church was restored in 1925 by architect Kos Károly under the patronage of King Ferdinand of Romania, when was added the tower.

In Feleacu Church was copied a Slavonic Missal in 1481, and a Tetra-Evangelism in 1488 by order of Archbishop Daniel who had resided here.

Ion Irimescu

Ion Irimescu (February 27, 1903, Fălticeni – October 29, 2005, Fălticeni) was one of Romania's greatest sculptors and sketchers, often referred to as the "patriarch of Romanian art and sculpture".

His mother descended from an old French family with claims to aristocracy. As a child, while he was out at play, he found a grenade from World War I which exploded in his hand and nearly killed him. Though he was eventually healed, this accident nearly destroyed his dream to become a sculptor. From 1924 to 1928 he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest, under Dimitrie Paciurea and Oscar Han. In 1928 he made his debut at the Official Salon of Painting and Sculpture in Bucharest, becoming a regular participant there. In 1929 he received a scholarship to the Romanian School at Fontenay aux Roses in France and exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris; in the following year he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière under Joseph Bernard. Until 1933 he participated at the Salon d'Automne and Salon du Printemps in Paris, receiving in 1932 the Honorary Mention of the Société des Artistes Français for his self-portrait.

Irimescu returned to Romania in 1933, and from 1937 he took part regularly at the exhibitions of Tinerimea Artistică (The Artistic Youth), a society founded in 1901 that included the most prominent Romanian artists; in 1938 he became an associate member of the society. Between 1940 and 1950 he was professor of sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Iaşi, and from 1950 he was a professor at the Ion Andreescu Institute of Fine and Decorative Art in Cluj-Napoca.

His 1956 participation to the Biannual Exhibition in Venice (with 15 works in the Romanian pavilion) was followed by another in 1961 to a contemporary sculpture exhibition at the Musée Rodin in Paris. In 1964 he was named professor of sculpture at the Nicolae Grigorescu Institute of Plastic Arts in Bucharest, where he was a close friend of painter Corneliu Baba. He eventually became the head of the sculpture department at the Institute.

Between 1978 and 1989 he was the president of the Romanian Union of Plastic Artists. He received the title of 'Doctor honoris causa' from the Universities of Iaşi and Cluj and was also named 'Master Emeritus of the People' (1964). His works have been exhibited around the world (Paris, Moscow, Belgrade, Budapest, Istanbul, Warsaw, Rome, Prague, Oslo, Tokyo, etc). Ion Irimescu was member of the Romanian Academy. In 2001 he was awarded the Prize of Excellence for Romanian Culture. In 2003, upon becoming a centenarian, he was distinguished with a remarkable celebration by the Romanian Academy and Romanian Ministry of Culture. General School No. 2 in his native city (where Mihail Sadoveanu had studied) was renamed in his honor. The Center for Study and Creation in Fălticeni also bears his name.

Irimescu became well known not only for his large- and small-scale portrait busts, but also for the neutral stance that he took as an 'official' artist during the years of communist domination. Although he was able to adapt to the forcefully imposed requirements of Socialist Realism, he responded to its abolition by a new creative phase, in which he developed a vegetal morphology inspired by his own calligraphic drawings and the malleability of ceramics. Although Irimescu produced many sculptures in stone, conceived for and erected in public spaces, he concentrated more on modeling and on small-scale sculptures.

In 1975 a museum was established in Fălticeni with a substantial donation from the artist. The museum building is a historic monument, dating from the middle of the 19th century and had various destinations until 1974, when it was given to the art museum. In 1974 the sculptor Ion Irimescu took the initiative to establish the museum, at first as a department of the Town Museum and made some donations. Later the value of the collection grew, currently being the richest author collection, and in 1991 a museum emerged. It comprises the most representative works by the sculptor Ion Irimescu: 313 sculptures and 1000 drawings: portraits, compositions, monument project carried out in the rondebosse or altorelief technique, in gypsum, wood, terracotta, marble, bronze works of graphics especially donated to the museum by the author. The museum also includes the artist's personal library (1500 volumes).

From Wikipedia.
Images from www.plural-magazine.com, www.falticeni.ro, ro.wikipedia.org.

Ion Jalea

Ion Jalea (May 19, 1887, Casimcea - November 7, 1983, Bucharest) was a renowned Romanian sculptor.

In 1908, after finishing the Arts and Craftsmanship School, he entered the Belles-Arts Academy in Bucharest, where he studied with Professors sculptors Franz Storck and Dimitrie Paciurea. For accomplishing his studies, he went to Paris, at the Julian Academy, to become Bourdelle's apprentice. He was Grand Prize winner at the Paris Exhibition in 1937 and at the Barcelona Exhibition, and recipient of National Prize for Sculpture (1941) and State Prize (1957). In 1957 he became People's Artist. He was member of the Romanian Academy. From 1956 to 1968 he was acting president of the Artists' Union, to become then Honorary President of the same Union.

Dragoş-Vodă and the Auroch

He worked monuments, statues, busts, reliefs and bas-reliefs. His vision sprang from an exaltation of form through observing reality - mainly the human face - and from an inclination to assimilate ancient mythology - induced fantastic morphologies. He created highly evoking statues of personalities (Spiru Haret and George Enescu in Bucharest), rulers' statues of a romantic look (Decebal at Deva; Mircea the Old at Tulcea); the Monument of Railways Heroes, co-worked with sculptor Cornel Medrea; the Emperor and Proletarian reliefs; the Union Obelisk reliefs at Focşani or allegorical representations (Hercules Fighting the Centaur in Herăstrău Park in Bucharest; Pegas, etc.).

Pegas

Jalea's sculptures, either evoking or romantic, are all ethically motivated: to glorify historical events or personalities, to emphasize moral conduct. He escaped simple illustration which subjects of this kind always invited. His monuments and reliefs obey the classical laws of moderation and harmony, of the proper measure of dynamical elements - gestures, upward and downward diagonals, to create a coherent and static work of art.

Archer resting

There is a fine touch over humans, horses (in equestrian statues), imaginary and mythological creatures. They seem to suffer slow vibrations and be light shed. Pictorial draping effects make the anatomical forms transparent. Archer resting, his most representative work, is the best expression of his talent: a perfect blend of real and allegorical strata, and a perfect knowledge of reconciliation of dynamical and statical strain.

From romania.ici.ro.

The Aviation Museum

On March 2, 1990, by a decision of the Romanian Government, was established the Aviation Museum. It is located in Bucharest, 2-4 Fabrica de Glucoză Street, and can be visited Tuesday-Friday (09.00-16.00) and Saturday-Sunday (10.00-17.00).

The first who launched the idea of an aviation museum was the great Romanian historian and politician Nicolae Iorga. Then, after World War I, the National Aviation League made the first concrete steps, managing to assemble a little museum of war material captured by the Romanian army during military hostilities. After 1970, due to the efforts of generals George Niculescu and Aurel Zărnescu, that at the time were chiefs of the military aviation, at the airbases in Boboc (Buzău County) and Mediaş (Sibiu County) were laid foundations for the future museum. However, following the conclusion of a Protocol, the properties passed to the aviation department of the National Military Museum.

Here you can make a splendid virtual visit in the Aviation Museum. Thanks, Michael Pop!

Since 1989, was accelerated the process of establishment of Aviation Museum. After the official act of Romanian Government, the museum has operated for more than a year in tents, in the 90th Airlift Base. Then the Aviation Museum received a relatively adequate space, at Băneasa Airport, and in 1993 was moved to present location. Current area of museum space is about 60,000 sqm, of which 6.800 sqm built area (including the "Hermann Oberth" Museum Department from Mediaş).

The Aviation Museum was established to honor the illustrious ancestors of the Romanian wing and reunification of the national heritage of prestigious achievements in aviation. To this end, the institution operates in three divisions: National and universal Aeronautics history; Air force engineering; The history of missile and space research (in Mediaş).

The endowment of the institution includes 24 collections and five documentary archives, including a total of over 15,000 titles that belonged Romanian and world aeronautical pioneers, over 20,000 volumes, and a park with 62 museum pieces - aircraft, artillery, air defense missiles, radars. Among the most valuable collections of the museum include: Aurel Vlaicu (personal items, documents, certificates, letters, original photographs, death mask), Henri Coandă (a collection unique in the world, comprising 80 parcels only partly investigated, diplomas, brochures, photos, verbatim reports, signs, original manuscripts, letters, personal items), Smaranda Brăescu (200 original photographs), Elie Carafoli, Henri August (Aircraft maker - original photos from 1909-1910), Petre Ivanovici (pilot in the famous "Red Devils" squadron - original photos and flying books from 1926 to 1931), Radu Manicatide (personal papers and notebooks), Francis Galeno (Bombing Group 5 commander during the Second World War, awarded the highest distinction of aviation - the Order of Aeronautical Virtue in rank of commander), Alexandru Marcus (one of the first Romanian pilots have flown the MiG-21 supersonic aircraft).

Also, the main buildings comprises the following broad areas:
- Traian Vuia Hall, which includes peaks of the Romanian aeronautics
- Henri Coanda Hall - engines, models, etc.
- Radu Manicatide Hall - several types of aircraft built by the famous Romanian engineer
- The uniforms and insignia of the Romanian Air Force in the period 1947-2005 Room;
- The history of radar Room;
- The Department of History of missile and space research in Mediaş, in the house which belonged to Sibiu scientist Hermann Oberth and includes also aspects of work of Romanian astronauts Dumitru Dorin Prunariu and Dumitru Dediu. This section is a museum itself, having 26 rooms.

Unfortunately, the local authorities asked the Romanian Government to pass the area in the administration of the city hall. The land will be used for housing through the National Housing Agency, and the apartments will be received by military professionals and policemen. The decision is very controversial and many NGO fight now for against it.

Hunting Museum of Posada

Romania has a long history of hunting. The country remains a remarkable hunting destination, drawing many a hunters because of its large numbers of brown bears, wolves, wild boars, red deer, and chamois. The concentration of brown bears (Ursus arctos) in the Carpathian Mountains of central Romania is largest in the world and contains half of all Europe's population, except Russia.

Today, dedicated hunting museums exist, like the small Hunting Museum of Posada (Rom: Muzeul Cinegetic Posada), belonging to city of Comarnic, in Prahova County, Muntenia, hosting nationally celebrated writer Mihail Sadoveanu's collection. Mention should be made here of the fact that the first National Hunting Museum was created in 1931, in the Carol I Gardens of Bucharest. At that time it was the second cultural establishment of this kind in Europe.


African Trophies

The opening of the Posada Hunting Museum of the Carpathians, in 1996, throws a bridge to the Romanians’ hunting traditions. Unfortunately, after more than ten years the museum as well as its priceless collection, was destroyed by a fire. The Hunting Museum of Posada displays, in a most adequate arrangement, varied hunting exhibits, including impressive collections of trophies, works of arts, specific hunting tools characteristic for several stages of human development.


Lynx

Like in any other museum, experts have created and ennobled specific atmosphere of the place with some ingredients such old furniture, tiles, floor lamps, valuable glass and crystal objects. Together they can be admired - but not photographed - tapestries, carpets, paintings, silverware, ceramic from Austria, Germany, China etc., many of them suggesting hunting pursuits. Of course, the museum could not deprive hunters hunting specific items arsenal of weapons used over time to hunt - spears, crossbows from 17th century, swords, musketry, rifles, modern shotguns, beautiful knives, other hunting items.


Brown Bears

True galleries of art, the halls of the museum catch the visitor’s eyes both thanks to the considerable number of exhibits and the distinct personality of each piece, from the ebony and ivory forest of roe deer and stag horns, to the comprehensive panoply of wild boar fangs or the harmonious, rich pearly quality and color contrast of roebuck horns.


Wild Boars

From the category of predators stand out the furs of wolf, lynx, bob cat and, above all, bear, giving an inkling of the vigor and number of these populations of wild animals. The art of hunting finds thus a formidable expression in the Hunting Museum of Posada that puts forth numerous assets of this occupation in Romania against a backdrop of genuine aesthetic and cultural emotion.


Deer Trophies

Google Maps

Panoramas by Michael Pop, from www.360trip.ro.

Slimnic Stronghold

Slimnic (German Saxon: Stulzembrich, Stűltsembriχ; German: Stolzenburg; Hungarian: Szelindek, Nagyszelindek) is a commune in Sibiu County, Transylvania, Romania. Around 1930, a treasure containing 18 golden coins minted between 1050 and 1350 was found in the territory of Slimnic. 12 of the coins were from mints located half way down the river Elba. It can therefore be assumed that some East-German colonists lived on these lands in the 14th century however the Saxon community here is known to be much older than that.

The stronghold of Slimnic is set on the hillock called Burgbaesch (or Burgbäsch). From this hill, that dominates the village below, the fortress was supposed to guard the way from Mediaş to the residence of the seat of Sibiu. Because of the deteriorating effects of historical events on the fortress, a set of ruins are all that remain today. The peasant citadel was built by the locals, who have used it for defense in harsh times or to maintain their supplies. The first mantle walls, built of uncut stone, were erected in the 12th century, at the time of the great Tatar invasion.


In Front of the Stronghold

This construction was replaced in the 15th century with a stronger construction made of brick. The Gothic chapel in the north of the citadel was then transformed into a defense tower. Besieged several times, the city was conquered by Ioan Zápolya in 1529, and Mózes Székely in 1602. It was besieged also by the Turks in 1658.


The Inner Court

The red brick walls formed two polygonal precincts which have both been preserved to this day. The southern one though, enclosing a well, was badly damaged by the kuruc at the beginning on the 18th century. They had attacked on behalf of Prince Ferenc II Rákóczi and were led by Lorenz Perki. The tower in the northern precinct had walls up to 3.5 m thick at the base, but had no machicolation, battlement or wall passage.


The Way to the Tower

During the 14th century was built, but unfinished, the Gothic basilica, on west-east axis of the stronghold. All that remains of the church today are its walls, except for the northern one, which has been destroyed. Because of the unusual plan and the elevated choir, under which there was a tunnel communicating with the gate tower, it is difficult to speculate on how the church was intended to look.


In the Tower

After 1717 the fortress was repaired several times. The stones taken from the demolition of a part of the church in 1855 were not used as planned for building a new school, but were instead used for a new cemetery wall. In 1870, the little tower between the inner and outer courtyard and part of the wall that guarded the southern entrance collapsed, as did the circular ones surrounding the well, only two years later. During World War I was taken the very precious bell. In the late 1950s the bell tower, the southern walls, and the north-western defensive tower were restored.

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From Fortified Churches from Transylvania and other sources.

Panoramas by Michael Pop, from www.360trip.ro.

Neamţ Citadel

Neamţ Citadel (Romanian: Cetatea Neamţ) is a medieval fortress located near Târgu Neamţ, Neamţ County, Moldavia, Romania.

Lack of reliable information on the origins of Neamţ Fortress had resulted in several hypotheses whose reliability was often questioned. A number of prestigious historians and philologists, as A.D. Xenopol, B.P. Hasdeu, D. Onciul etc., said that - according to the papal bull of 1232 - the Teutonic Knights of Bârsa had built between 1211-1225 on the eastern slope of the Carpathians a castrum muntissimum that only the Neamţ Citadel could be. The Germanic (Teutonic or Saxon) hypothesis was acquired by many of Romanian historians, from the name of the fortress (in Romanian, Neamţ means German).

Later, the hypothesis on the beginnings of the citadel could be reconsidered. Thus, in the material dating from the lowest layer of citadel, revealed by systematic investigations carried out, were identified coins from the reign of Petru I Muşat (1375-1391). This is a definite proof that Neamţ Fortress was built in the second part of the reign of Petru I, during which Moldova has experienced a continuous political and economic development. A monument like Neamţ Fortress is a large building, which required a huge effort and considerable material resources. The only force capable of undertaking such initiatives was provided by the princes of the era of consolidation of the feudal state of Moldova.


The Entrance

Neamţ Fortress was clearly documented a few years later, in 1395, during the expedition of King Sigismund of Hungary in Moldova. Not irrelevant is that "The Neamţ from mountains" is mentioned in the Russian Chronicle that describes the cities to the east of the Carpathians, dated between 1387-1391, which could refer both to the city and the citadel.


The Courtyard

The fortress was built on a rocky triangular spur, with height of about 480 m above sea level and 80 m above the level of Neamţ River (or Ozana). It has a rectangle with unequal sides shape, adapted to the configuration of the terrain. The northern and southern sides are 38.5 and 37.5 m long, the eastern side have a length of 47 m and the western side is 40 m long. Specific for the defense system of the fortress is that the towers of the four corners were not placed outside the walls, but directly into the frame walls, and this because the natural fortifications on three sides not allowed their building outside. In front of the fourth side (N) is a ditch dating from the 15th century. The walls were 12-15 m high and 3 m thick, and are strengthened by 18 exterior buttresses.


Council Hall

In 1475, during the reign of Stephen the Great, on the northern side were added four rounded bastions, 30 m high, and the walls were raised with 6-7 m. The new access road into the citadel is represented by an arched bridge, finished by a drawbridge, and supported on 11 stone pillars with prismatic form. The exterior fortification system included also ditches and palisades.


Weapons Room

The garrison had currently 300 soldiers. The fortress was besieged many times by Hungarians, Turks, Tatars, Cossacks, Austrians, Polish, and had a particular importance in the defensive system of Moldavia. Practically, during the 14th-18th centuries, any major event in the history of Moldavia was linked, in a way or another, to the citadel.


The Prison

In the 18th century, it lost any political or military importance and began to deteriorate. During the reign of Mihail Sturdza (1834-1849) the citadel was protected and in 1866 was declared a historical monument. Between 1968-1972, the walls were reinforced, without the reconstruction of the missing portions. Nowadays, the fortress represents one of the most visited objectives of the region.

Panoramas by Michael Pop, from www.360trip.ro.

Mihai Eminescu Memorial House in Ipoteşti

Mihai Eminescu (January 15, 1850 – June 15, 1889) was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea (approx. The Youth) literary society and he worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul (The Time), the official newspaper of the Conservative Party. His first poems volume was published when he was 16 and he went to Vienna to study when he was 19. The poet's Manuscripts, containing 46 volumes and approximately 14.000 pages, were offered by Titu Maiorescu as a gift to the Romanian Academy during the meeting that was held on January 25 1902. Notable works include Luceafărul (Evening Star), Odă în metru antic (Ode in Ancient Meter), and the five Letters (Epistles/Satires). In his poems he frequently used metaphysical, mythological and historical subjects. In general his work was influenced by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

Mihail (as he appears in baptismal records) or Mihai (the more common form that he used) was born in Botoşani, Moldavia, Romania. He spent his early childhood in Botoşani and Ipoteşti, in his parents' family home. In 1850, the family brought an estate in Ipoteşti, 8 km from Botoşani, where was built a house with three rooms: the family saloon, an office and a bedroom. In this house the Eminovici family lived until 1878.


Mihai Eminescu Memorial House

The poet's mother, Raluca, brought for 250 gold coins a little church, that became the family's private chapel. Behind this church are the tombs of Gheorghe and Raluca Eminovici (Eminescu's parents) and of two of his brothers, Iorgu and Nicu. Here is also a symbolic tomb of Mihai Eminescu.


The bedroom

The house where Mihai Eminescu lived remained unused for years and became a ruin. In 1934, the house was rebuilt on the same spot, and was transformed in the first memorial house of this great poet. This house didn’t respected the original structure and was demolished and rebuilt in 1979 after the original projects, on the old Eminovici house foundation. The furniture is partly original, partly from the middle of the 19th century.


The study room

The Memorial contains: the Childhood House, the Eminovici Church, the village church founded by Nicolae Iorga and Cezar Petrescu, a peasant house that belonged to the last owner of the estate - Dr. Papadopol, a library and a museum.


The dining room

The Ipoteşti Memorial has a rich cultural patrimony with many items belonging to the Eminovici family (furniture, crystals, porcelain, silver covers, and old house items). The library contains 32 photo-prints of the poet's manuscripts, letters to Veronica Micle and Titu Maiorescu and many valuable books. Also at Ipoteşti is placed the Eminescu bust made by Gheorghe Anghel.


The private chapel


The church (outside)


The church (inside)

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Panoramas by Michael Pop, from www.360trip.ro.