Foto: (c) MIREL TUDORACHE / AGERPRES ARHIVA

Campania care se desfășoară în această zi sau pe parcursul mai multor zile în preajma acestei zile, urmărește să ofere o educație și sprijin pentru supraviețuitori ai accidentului vascular cerebral (AVC), pentru familiile acestora și pentru personalul medical implicat în tratamentul persoanelor, care au suferit un accident vascular cerebral.

În acest an, campania la nivel mondial lansată de Organizația Mondială a Accidentului Vascular Cerebral se concentrează asupra femeilor ca posibile victime ale accidentului vascular cerebral, pentru că potrivit statisticilor anuale, femeile sunt mult mai afectate de producerea unui accident vascular cerebral decât bărbații. Accidentul vascular cerebral reprezintă a doua cauză de deces pentru persoanele cu vârsta peste 60 ani și a doua cauză de handicap, după demență, potrivit OMAVC. Persoanele cu handicap pot include pierderea vederii și/sau a vorbirii, paralizie și confuzie.

OMAVC organizează, la nivel mondial, pe tot parcursul anului, acțiuni prin care se urmărește informarea populației asupra factorilor de risc care conduc la producerea unui accident vascular cerebral, cum ar fi: hipertensiunea arterială, diabetul zaharat, obezitatea, sedentarismul și colesterolul ridicat. Se fac cunoscute modalitățile de recunoaștere a primelor semne de avertizare în cazul producerii unui accident vascular cerebral, precum și măsurile care trebuie luate. Campania promovează, de asemenea, un stil de viață sănătos, care poate preveni producerea unui AVC. Se estimează că 80% dintre accidentele vasculare cerebrale pot fi prevenite prin cunoașterea și gestionarea factorilor de risc, respectarea indicațiilor medicilor și adoptarea unui stil de viață sănătos.

Activitățile desfășurate în această zi includ ateliere de lucru, teste gratuite de screening vascular, conferințe, reuniuni ale specialiștilor în domeniu. De asemenea, sunt recompensate cu premii persoanele care depun eforturi deosebite pentru tratarea și prevenirea accidentelor vasculare cerebrale.

În România, Asociația Națională pentru Protecția Pacienților și Societatea Națională de Medicina Familiei organizează diverse acțiuni pentru a atrage atenția asupra riscului de accident vascular cerebral. Cele mai recente studii arată că numărul cazurilor de AVC a crescut cu 25% în rândul grupei de vârstă 20-64 de ani, în ultimii 20 de ani.

Accident vascular cerebral este o boală non-transmisibilă, dar care a devenit tot mai frecventă, de la an la an. Un accident vascular cerebral apare atunci când un vas de sânge (o arteră) care furnizează sânge la nivelul unei zone a creierului se sparge, provocând hemoragie, sau este blocat de un cheag sangvin, împiedicând circulația sângelui și oxigenarea creierului.

La nivel mondial, afectează peste 15 de milioane de oameni în fiecare an, din care aproximativ șase milioane mor iar alte cinci milioane rămân cu un handicap permanent. Una din șase persoane suferă un accident vascular cerebral în timpul vieții și la fiecare șase secunde se pierde o viață din această cauză. Vârsta persoanelor predispuse de a fi victime ale unui accident vascular cerebral a scăzut în ultimii ani de la 65 de ani la 55 de ani și, totodată, a crescut numărul persoanelor tinere care se confruntă cu accidente vasculare cerebrale. AVC reprezintă cincea cauză de deces la persoanele cu vârsta cuprinsă între 15-59 de ani.

Cercetătorii au descoperit că fiecare 7 grame de fibre în plus în dieta zilnică duc la o reducere cu 7% a riscului de a suferi un atac cerebral. Această cantitate de fibre se regăsește într-o porție de paste din grâu integral plus două porții de fructe sau legume. Descoperirea a fost făcută de cercetătorii de la Universitatea Leeds din Marea Britanie, care au analizat opt studii asupra dietei și atacului cerebral ce au fost efectuate între 1990 și 2012. Fibra alimentară este o substanță de origine vegetală ce nu este digerată de către enzimele din tubul digestiv. Astfel, un consum mai mare de alimente bogate în fibre, precum cerealele integrale, fructele, legumele și nucile este un lucru important mai ales pentru cei cu risc mai mare de a suferi de un atac cerebral, cum sunt persoanele supraponderale, fumătorii și cei cu hipertensiune.

Ziua Mondială a Accidentului Vascular a câștigat în timp popularitate. Dacă în 2009 se marca în doar 18 țări, un an mai târziu 48 de țări au organizat diverse manifestări pentru a marca această zi.

AGERPRES / (Documentare-Daniela Dumitrescu, editor: Marina Bădulescu)

Imagini din orașul Istanbul

Foto: (c) SORIN LUPSA / AGERPRES ARHIVĂ

Stat situat pe două continente — 97% din suprafața țării se află în Asia (Anatolia) și 3% în Europa, Turcia se învecinează cu Marea Neagră și Bulgaria la nord, Grecia la nord-vest, Marea Egee la vest, Marea Mediterană, Siria și Irak la sud, Iran, Armenia la est și Georgia la nord-est.

Cele două mari regiuni ale Turciei, europeană și asiatică, au condiții naturale diferite. Partea europeană prezintă două șiruri de munți cu înălțimi medii, ce închid o câmpie drenată de râul Ergene. Zona asiatică cuprinde un podiș central rectangular (Podișul Anatoliei, altitudine medie 900 m), înconjurat de lanțuri muntoase. Astfel, în nord, se află Munții Pontici ce separă podișul de litoralul Mării Negre pe 1.200 km (altitudine maximă 3.937 m), în sud — Munții Taurus (altitudine maximă 3.756 m) și Antitaurus (altitudine maximă 3.917 m), iar în est podișul Kars, dominat de conuri vulcanice: Ararat/Buyuk Agri — 5.165 m, altitudine maximă.

Imagini din orașul Istanbul

Foto: (c) SORIN LUPSA / AGERPRES ARHIVĂ

Turcia este înconjurată de apă din trei părți: Marea Neagră la nord (1.595 km), Marea Mediterană la sud (1.577 km) și Marea Egee la vest (din cauza munților care cad perpendicular în mare, coasta egeeană are multe curbe și este mult mai lungă măsurând 2.800 km). Marmara este o mare interioară care leagă Marea Neagră de Marea Egee, separând astfel partea din Asia a Turciei de partea din Europa. Strâmtoarea Bosfor o leagă de Marea Neagră, iar Strâmtoarea Dardanele de cea Egee. Marmara are o suprafață de 11.350 kmp, din care 182 kmp sunt insule, iar coastele sale au un perimetru de circa 1.000 km.

Originari din Asia Centrală, turcii pătrund în secolele XI-XII în Asia Mică. Osman I (1281-1326) unește triburile turcilor anatolieni, punând bazele statului independent. Fiul său Orhan (1326-1359) stabilește capitala statului la Bursa, organizează sistemul administrativ (împărțirea în sangeacuri) și creează trupele de ieniceri. Murad I (1360-1389) cucerește toate posesiunile bizantine din Asia Mică, trece, în 1354, în Europa, și face din Adrianopol (1366), pentru un secol, reședința sultanilor otomani.

Foto: (c) goturkey.com

Înfrângând, în bătălia de la Kossovopolje (1448), turcii cuceresc în secolele XIV-XV, Bulgaria, Serbia, Grecia, Albania, Bosnia, Herțegovina. Țările Române sunt constrânse să recunoască suzeranitatea Imperiului Otoman, dar își păstrează autonomia. Hanatul Crimeei devine, în 1475, vasal padișahului, având ca urmare transformarea Mării Negre într-un ”lac turcesc”. Sultanul Mehmed II cucerește, în 1453, Constantinopolul și-l transformă în noua capitală a imperiului (Istanbul).

În timpul domniei sultanilor Selim I (1512-1520) și Soliman Magnificul (Suleiman II, 1520-1566), cucerind Armenia, Mesopotamia, Siria, Egiptul, Algeria, o parte a Ungariei, Imperiul Otoman devenit o mare putere europeană, ajunge la apogeul expansiunii teritoriale și al strălucirii sale. Înfrângerea flotei otomane de către coaliția hispano-venețiană în bătălia de la Lepanto (1571) este un prim semn al crizei, accentuată în secolele XVII-XVIII (îndeosebi după asediul eșuat al Vienei — 1683), când imperiul înregistrează importante pierderi teritoriale.

În secolele XVIII-XX, Imperiul Otoman, apoi Turcia sunt percepute de către marile puteri europene ca un baraj în fața expansiunii ruse în direcția Mediteranei și a Orientului Mijlociu, dar și ca un pod între Occident și Orient. Luptele de emancipare națională, războaiele austro-ruso-turce adâncesc criza statală în secolul XIX; formarea statelor naționale independente Grecia, Serbia, Muntenegru, România, Bulgaria, pierderea Algeriei, Tunisiei, Egiptului ș.a. sporesc dependența statului turc față de puterile europene, îndeosebi față de Franța și Marea Britanie.

Foto: (c) turistik.ro


Revoluția ”junilor turci” din 1908 restabilește constituția liberală din anii 1876-1878. În urma războaielor balcanice (1912-1913) posesiunile pe care le mai stăpânește în Europa se limitează la orașele Adrianopol (Edirne) și Istanbul. La sfârșitul Primului Război Mondial, Turcia pierde Palestina, Siria, Libanul, Iordania, Irakul, Peninsula Arabia.

În fruntea mișcării de renaștere națională și de constituire a unui stat-națiune se situează acum Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. La 29 octombrie 1923, după desființarea sultanatului, Turcia este proclamată republică. Din inițiativa președintelui Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1923-1938 ) este aplicat un amplu program de reforme vizând modernizarea vieții economice, sociale și politice (separarea statului de religie, introducerea sistemului juridic vest-european, adoptarea alfabetului latin, egalitatea în drepturi a femeii etc.)

În cursul celui de-al Doilea război Mondial, Turcia rămâne neutră până la 23 februarie 1945, când declară război Germaniei și Japoniei. În condițiile războiului rece, pentru a nu intra în sfera de influență sovietică, Turcia este inclusă în sistemul de alianțe vest-european: NATO (1952), membru asociat al UE în 1963. Turcia este membru al ONU din 1945.

Turcia este republică parlamentară. Șeful statului este Recep Tayyip Erdogan, președintele Partidului Justiției și Dezvoltării (AKP) (din 10 august 2014), iar primul-ministru — Ahmet Davutoglu. Parlamentul este unicameral (Marea Adunare Națională), președinte fiind Cemil Çiçek (din 4 iulie 2011).

Ceremonia oficială de transfer a mandatului între fostul președinte al Republicii Turcia, Abdullah Gul (dr.), și noul președinte, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (stg.), la Ankara.

Foto: (c) SORIN LUPSA / AGERPRES ARHIVĂ

Capitala este Ankara, iar principalele orașe sunt: Istanbul, Izmir, Adana, Bursa, Gaziantep, Konya, Kayseri, Eskișehir, Mersin. Turcia este împărțită în 81 de provincii, conduse de câte un prefect.

Ankara (Ancyra — denumirea în antichitate) este un oraș vechi, aflat în centrul țării, al doilea ca mărime după Istanbul. Întemeiată în anul 2 000 î.Hr., Ankara a devenit capitala statului în 1923. Repere importante ale orașului: mausoleul lui Ataturk, templul augustin, moștenirea împăratului Augustus, fortăreața Kale, un important sit istoric, Muzeul Civilizațiilor Anatoliene.

Foto: (c) zooverresources.com

Istanbul — cunoscut ca și ”capitala capitalelor”, este singurul oraș din lume care se răsfrânge pe două continente și care a fost capitala de-a lungul a două imperii consecutive: cel Creștin Bizantin și cel Otoman. Chiar dacă Ankara este capitala oficială, Istanbulul a rămas capitala comercială, istorică și culturală a Turciei. În centrul istoric din Istanbul se pot vedea Moscheea Albastră, Palatul Topkapi, Muzeul Aya Sofia și Muzeul de Arheologie, Moscheea Verde din secolul XV, bazarul acoperit și Muzeul de Artă Islamică. Din docurile Eminonu se poate lua feribotul până la Insulele Prințesei, un loc liniștit în există doar trăsuri și biciclete.

Catedrala Sfânta Sofia (Hagia Sofia) din Istanbul

Foto: (c) SORIN LUPSA / AGERPRES ARHIVĂ

Alte puncte de interes: orașul antic Troia, ruinele orașului Efes întemeiat în secolul XIII î.Hr., orașul istoric Safranbolu, care face parte din patrimoniul mondial UNESCO, orașul Konya, cu mănăstirea și mausoleul lui Mevlana Celaddin Rumi, fondatorul Dervișilor Rotitori, Cappadocia renumită prin peisajul spectaculos format din conuri de stâncă.

Bucătăria turcească a fost influențată foarte mult de varietatea multiculturală a Imperiului Otoman. Legumele cele mai frecvent folosite sunt: vinetele, ceapa, capia verde, fasolea, roșiile, usturoiul, castravetele și lintea. Salatele de legume sunt cele mai gustoase, fiind condimentate cu ulei de măsline, lămâie și iaurt cu usturoi. Printre fructe se numără: strugurii, pepenele galben, lămâia, smochinele, piersicile, precum și diferite semințe ca alunele, fisticul, nuca, migdalele.

Foto: (c) SORIN LUPSA / AGERPRES ARHIVĂ

Cele mai utilizate condimente sunt pătrunjelul, menta, chimionul, boiaua, etc. Orezul (pilav) și bulgurul (un amestec de grâu măcinat, fiert și apoi uscat) sunt servite frecvent lângă mâncăruri. Fără orez nu se poate concepe bucătăria turcească. Uleiul de măsline este foarte mult folosit, mai ales în regiunile vestice ale Turciei, unde se găsesc și cele mai multe plantații. Pâinea se coace din făină de grâu, orz și porumb. Pâinea tradițională turcească este pida (pita). Carnea cea mai des folosită este cea de miel, dar și carnea de vită sau de pui sunt la mare preț; dacă nu se pregătește sub formă de frigărui sau de kebab, carnea va fi tocată și condimentată cu ajutorul mirodeniilor diversificate, foarte aromate.

Relații bilaterale între Republica Turcia și România

Relațiile diplomatice între România independentă și Imperiul Otoman au fost stabilite la 4/16 noiembrie 1878. În anul 1938, relațiile diplomatice dintre România și Turcia au fost ridicate la nivel de ambasadă.

Dialogul politic între cele două țări, la nivel înalt, a fost redeschis în 1991, când în perioada 18-20 septembrie, președintele turc, Turgut Özal, a efectuat o vizită oficială în România. Cu acest prilej, a fost semnat Tratatul de prietenie, bună-vecinătate și colaborare între România și Republica Turcia. Au urmat vizitele președintelui Suleyman Demirel în perioada 23-25 martie 1994, la 7 martie 1995, 18 aprilie 1996, 24 noiembrie 1997 și în zilele de 3 și 4 decembrie 1998.

Președintele Republicii Turcia, Ahmet Necdet Sezer a efectuat vizite oficiale, în România, în zilele de 21 și 22 iunie 2001 și la 8-9 iulie 2004. Cu prilejul ultimei vizite, a fost inaugurată expoziția ”Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt”, la Muzeul Național de Artă al României, unde a fost expusă, în original, spada domnitorului, adusă special de la Muzeul Topkapî din Istanbul. La 3 martie 2008, președintele Republicii Turcia, Abdullah Gül, a efectuat o vizită oficială în România, la invitația omologului său român, Traian Băsescu.

De asemenea, președintele Ion Iliescu s-a aflat în vizite oficiale, în Turcia, în perioada 9-11 septembrie 1993, la 17 septembrie 1994, pe 23 noiembrie 1995, în mai 2002 și în zilele de 4 și 5 decembrie 2003. Președintele Emil Constantinescu a efectuat o serie de vizite în Turcia, după cum urmează: în zilele de 29-30 aprilie 1997, 16-17 aprilie și 28 iulie 1998, precum și la 6-7 iulie și 17 noiembrie 1999.

Președintele României, Traian Băsescu, a efectuat, în perioada 28-29 septembrie 2005, o vizită oficială în Republica Turcia, în cadrul căreia a avut întâlniri, cu omologul său turc, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, prilej cu care s-a semnat, în prezența celor doi șefi de stat, ”Acordul de Asistență Judiciară în Materie Civilă între România și Republica Turcia”. La 25 iunie 2007, președintele Traian Băsescu a participat, ca invitat al omologului său turc, la lucrările summitului Organizației Cooperării Economice a Mării Negre, desfășurate la Istanbul. La 21 august 2008, președintele Traian Băsescu, a avut, la Istanbul, o întâlnire cu omologul său turc Abdullah Gül, în cadrul unui turneu început la 20 august, și care a mai cuprins Ucraina, Republica Moldova, Azerbaidjan și Georgia.

În zile de 12 și 13 decembrie 2011, președintele Traian Băsescu a efectuat o vizită de stat, la invitația omologului său, Abdullah Gül. Cu acest prilej, șeful statului român și omologul său turc au semnat, la Ankara, Declarația pentru parteneriatul strategic dintre România și Turcia. La 26 iunie 2012, președintele Traian Băsescu, a participat la summitul aniversar al Organizației pentru Cooperare Economică la Marea Neagră (OCEMN) de la Istanbul. Președintele Traian Băsescu a efectuat, în zilele de 5 și 6 februarie 2014, o vizită de stat, cu acest prilej având întrevederi cu omologul turc, Abdullah Gül, dar și cu premierul Recep Tayyip Erdogan și cu președintele Marii Adunări Naționale, Cemil Çiçek, și a luat parte la Forumul economic româno-turc pentru investiții și comerț.

Președintele Traian Băsescu, în timpul convorbirilor oficiale cu Cemil Cicek, președintele Marii Adunări Naționale a Turciei, la Ankara; șeful statului efectuează o vizită de stat în Republica Turcia.

Foto: (c) ALEX MICSIK / AGERPRES ARHIVĂ

Premierii turci Mesut Ylmaz și Bulent Ecevit au efectuat vizite, în România, în zilele de 18 și 19 iunie 1998, respectiv la 12 februarie 2000. Primul-ministru Recep Tayyip Erdogan a efectuat o vizită oficială, în zilele de 20-21 mai 2004. A urmat o vizită oficială în zilele de 25 și 26 octombrie 2007, efectuată la invitația premierului Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, ocazie cu care a participat și la Forumul de afaceri româno-turc.

La rândul lor, premierii români au efectuat vizite, în Turcia, după cum urmează: Petre Roman în perioada 24-26 ianuarie 1991; Adrian Năstase la 19 februarie 2002, 7 mai 2003 și la 12 iulie 2004; Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, în zilele de 1și 2 februarie 2006; Victor Ponta, la 19 septembrie 2013 și la 29 octombrie 2013, când a participat la ceremonia de inaugurare a tunelului feroviar ”Marmaray” de subtraversare a Bosforului). La 28 august 2014, primul ministrul Victor Ponta a participat la ceremonia oficială de transfer al mandatului între fostul președinte al Republicii Turcia, Abdullah Gül și noul președinte, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Premierul turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan și premierul Victor Ponta, în cadrul întrevederii avute la sediul Guvernului Turciei din Ankara. Premierul Victor Ponta se afla intr-o vizita oficiala in Republica Turcia.

Foto: (c) LIVIU ȘOVA / AGERPRES ARHIVĂ

La sfârșitul anului 2013, schimburile comerciale dintre România și Turcia au înregistrat 4414, 29 milioane euro, din care 2545, 18 milioane euro export și 1869, 12 milioane euro import. La 28 februarie 2014, în România erau înregistrate 13.535 societăți cu participare turcă, cu o valoare a capitalului social subscris de 504 milioane euro.

AGERPRES/(Document-Irina Andreea Cristea, Doina Lecea; editor: Horia Plugaru)

Sangeorz-Bai Spa Complex
Photo credit: (c) Tina TUCUI / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

In the meantime, the absence of substantial investment in the tourist accommodation infrastructure has led to a decrease in the number of tourists at Sangeorz from one year to the other. Yet the Baile Figa spa, opened on a European investment four years ago near the town of Beclean, 40 km away from the county capital, has caught up with it.

* The town of Sangeorz-Bai became a spa town in the 17th century. It possesses sparkling mineral water springs rich in chloride, sodium, calcium and magnesium, as well as mineral mud and mofette.

The Sangeorz-Bai mineral water is said to rival in properties the springs of Vichy (France) and Karlovy Vary (the Czech Republic), and it is in high demand for treating digestive tract diseases, hepato-biliary diseases, nutritional and metabolic diseases, as well as rheumatic diseases. The spa is equipped with electrotherapy and hydrotherapy installations for inhalations, warm mineral mud wraps, paraffin wraps, medical gymnastics and fitness halls.

Sangeorz-Bai’s fame as a holiday destination is proved by the existence of two local hotels of 900 places and 600 places, respectively. Only some decades ago, they would be full to capacity and they were the picture postcard examples for the tourists that would come here for treatment or relaxation.

Besides the two hotels, guesthouses and villas have also been built, but the number of tourists here has plummeted so much that in wintertime the two big hotels either barely operate or place their employees on short work.

The town’s mayor, Roland Venig, says the number of tourists barely stays below 5,000 a year, most of whom are pensioners coming on treatment tickets and students spending their summer holiday at the Sangeorz-Bai camp, the only operational camp in the entire county. That is why the local administration barely collects anything of the accommodation taxes, because pensioners and students are exempt from such tax.

The Sangeorz-Bai Mayoralty has nevertheless got European funds to rehabilitate the town’s support infrastructure for the development and improvement of tourist activities under a project jointly conducted with the town of Turda, Cluj County, that was completed in 2012. Ten streets leading to the town’s landmarks were modernised, along with the alleys in the spa’s park and related parking lots and street furniture, while water supply and sewage works as well as public lighting were improved.

* Whereas the current owners of the hotels at Sangeorz-Bai have no intention of investing the necessary amounts in restarting health tourism there, at Figa, administratively belonging to the town of Beclean, a spa resort came into existence that manages to attract 25 times more tourists than Sangeorz-Bai does. The Figa spa resort was established under a regional infrastructure project for economic and social cohesion, the PHARE 2004-2006 programme, alongside the spa resorts of Baile Cojocna and Ocna Dej of Cluj County. The overall objective of the project was improving regional infrastructure for economic growth by establishing a favourable framework that would attract local and foreign investors.



Opening of Figa spa resort
Photo credit: (c) Tina TUCUI / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The Figa investment, five km away from the town of Beclean, opened in June 2010. The design of Baile Figa cost nearly 1.9 million euros, one million euros of which were European funds, and the construction works comprised sport fields, therapy centres, camping lots, saltwater and freshwater swimming pools, a mud pool, an indoor swimming pool, playgrounds for children, access ways and pedestrian alleys. The tourist potential of the spa includes therapeutic water springs rich in chlorine and sodium and saltwater mud, which is particularly efficient in treating peripheral nervous system disorders, diseases of the locomotor apparatus and female genitalia.

In the autumn of 2010, preparations started for the construction of a small aqualand with three water toboggans, a project that qualified for 500,000 euros in European funds and that was completed in two years’ time. When the summer season 2011 started, the spa added a new saltwater lake to its offerings, which maximum depth is four metres, and a leisure ground called the Lazy River, a place where tourists can relax on floats.

Photo credit: (c) Tina TUCUI / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Tourists coming to Baile Figa this year will be met with new surprises. Beclean Mayor Nicolae Moldovan says a new 500-sq.m. lake has been created, salinity of the existing saltwater swimming pools has been increased, the beach area has been extended by 500 chaise-longues to the previously existing 1,500, new rest rooms have been created and more shower stalls.

Moreover, tourist accommodation is said to no longer be a problem. While in the beginning, the only accommodation facilities were the hotels and guesthouses of Beclean, four years later now cabins, guesthouses and a camping lot have sprung up, all private investments.

Some 1,000 accommodation places are thus secured, says Mayor Moldovan, adding that still the number of people arriving at Baile Figa, both local and tourists, is 130,000 a year.

Photo credit: (c) Tina TUCUI / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Close to the Baile Figa spa complex covering 15 hectares, a 3,000-year-old abandoned salt mine has been discovered. The area is located in a depression crossed by the Paraul Sarat stream, on which banks many traces of decommissioned salt mining settlements were found. Diggings have unearthed special wood implements used for mining salt, stone mining hammers, wood fences and structures and a well in the entrance area of the salt mine flanked by overlapping massive beams, most likely dating back to the second period of the Iron Age. The local archaeological site is currently considered to be the oldest and most important saliferous site in South-Eastern Europe, and efforts are being made to capitalise on it, including for tourist purposes. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Leontin CUPAR/ AGERPRES ARCHIVE

It is Romania’s second largest national park and in administrative terms, it stretches across the Bistrita-Nasaud and Maramures counties. It is also one of Romania’s three biosphere reserves, alongside the Retezat National Park and the Danube Delta.

The Rodna Mountains National Park is located in the north of the Eastern Carpathians, incorporating just a part of the Rodna Mts. chain. It covers more than 47,000 hectares, with 80 percent of the area lying in the Bistrita-Nasaud County. The only settlement inside the national park is the Valea Vinului (Wine Valley) village of the Bistrita commune of Rodna, plus seven hectares of the built-up area of the Borsa town — Maramures County.

The national park was established in 1932 through the Order of the Council of Ministers No. 1949/1932, reconfirmed by Law No. 5/2000, and is considered a protected area of national and international interest, classified in IUCN category II: National Park — biosphere reserve.

The Rodna Mountains have always attracted researchers concerned about the protection of nature, flora and wildlife. Thus, in 1932, 183 hectares of dwarf vegetation alpine strip in the area of the Pietrosu Mare Peak (2,303 m high) were declared scientific reserve, the first of its kind in Romania. The importance of the area, as well as its beauty were the driving force for the subsequent expansion of the surface to 3,300 hectares.

There are currently four scientific reserves within the boundaries of the Rodna Mountains National Park (Pietrosu Mare — 3,547.6 hectares; Piatra Rea — 291 hectares; Corongis — 614.9 hectares; and Bila-Lala — 1,318.2 hectares), completed by six natural reserves: the Cave and Iza’s Blue intermittent spring (100 hectares), Izvoarele Mihaiesei (61 hectares), the Valea Cormaia reserve (50 hectares), the Daffodil Meadow in the Saca Massif (7.8 hectares), the Cobasel Cave (one hectare) and the nature reserve Izvorul Batrana (0.5 hectares).



The Horses’ Waterfall, of glacial origin, located in Rodna Mountains, near to the Borsa Complex Resort, has a total height of 100 m
Photo credit: (c) Bogdan BARBULESCU/ AGERPRES ARCHIVE

A landmark in the evolution of the protected area in the Rodna Mountains is considered to be the award of the most important status, that of biosphere reserve, to a surface of 3,300 hectares, declared as such in 1979 in Paris, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — “Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB).

In 2007 the park was designated a NATURA 2000 site (SCI — Site of Community Importance, and SPA — Special Protected Area) on a surface of 47,975 hectares which includes both the 47,177 hectares of the national park and the 1,576 hectare ice cauldron Gagi, in the east.

Over 2,300 hectares of the Rodna Mountains National Park represent a strictly protected area due to stretches of high scientific importance which include pristine areas with extremely sparse human intervention. Except for research, education and ecotourism, all human activities, including those related to the exploitation of natural resources are prohibited here.

A specific feature of the Rodna Mountains landscape are the lakes which, by genesis, fall into the category of glacial lakes formed in the valleys of former Quaternary glaciers. Some of the major glacial lakes in the Rodna Mountains are Lala Mare, Lala Mica, Iezer, the Buhaescu, Repedea, Negoiescu and Stiol chain of lakes. Caves are also richly represented here, with researchers mentioning about 80 caves and sinkholes, the most notable of which are the Cobasel Cave (570 meters long); Grota Zanelor /the Fairies Grotto (4,269 meters), Baia lui Schneider/Schneider’s mine (791 meters), Iza’s Blue Spring Cave (2,500 meters). The Tausoare Cave which, with its 20 kilometres is the longest in the Eastern Carpathians, also stretches in the vicinity of the national park.

The flora of the Rodna Mountains National Park has attracted researchers from the country and abroad ever since the end of the eighteenth century. This is home to rare species protected by law and glacial relicts. Alone the erudite botanist Florian Porcius, who lent his name to the secondary school in the Rodna commune, has identified over 800 mountain flower species on the Transylvanian slope of the Rodna Mountains. Among the species that can be seen in this national park are the alpine willow, the bicolor willow, the edelweiss, the mountain peony, the spotted gentian, the willow gentian, the angelica, the red vanilla orchid, or the yew.

This is also where Juncus castaneus, or the chestnut rush — an aquatic herbaceous swamp plant, to be also be found in Alaska or Greenland — grows. Of a particular beauty are the forests of the national park, covering almost 28,000 hectares and consisting of beech, spruce and fir trees, while at altitudes above 1,600 meters, the juniper shrubberies creep towards the loftier areas of the massif.

The biggest attraction for the tourists coming to the Rodna Mountains National Park in May is the daffodil meadow on the Saca Mountain. Spanning 7.8 hectares, this natural reserve lies at an altitude of 1,600 meters and access to the area from Valea Vinlului is possible via two routes that can be covered in about three hours.

The daffodil meadow in the Saca massif lies at a higher altitude than any other reserve of its kind in the country; other plants to be found here are the endemic Lychnis nivalis — or the ‘Multicolored candle’ in the local idiom, Heracleum carpaticum — called by the locals the ‘Earth cross’, and other rare species.

Thanks to the ecosystem diversity, the park boasts a varied fauna too. The “Monograph of the Rodna Mountains National Park” published in 2011 by the park’s administration states that about 3,000 species of animals live here, many of the invertebrate groups being still unexplored. The rivers are rich in trout, grayling and minnow; soaking the sun up the mountain are lizards (relict species), while the agile chamois, stags or marmots are a quite frequent sight. The forests of the park accommodate boars, wolves and bears, martens and lynxes, while large-size species like the birch rooster, the mountain rooster or the golden eagle are representative of the winged creatures’ category. Hunting and fishing are prohibited in the Rodna Mountains National Park with a view to protecting the fish and wildlife resources. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES PHOTO

After years of restoration, “the other capital” (nickname for the city of Alba Iulia, the city where the Grand Union of Romania was accomplished) offers tourists a totally unconventional history lesson, one that they live through, together with characters such as the soldiers dressed in Austrian uniforms dating back to the first half of the 18th century, when the citadel was constructed in Alba Iulia. Local authorities claim that in Alba Iulia, in the heart of the city, the Alba Carolina citadel is “reliving its glory years” and that “traveling back to that time” is possible.

If in past years tourists would stop only for a few hours in Alba Iulia, on the road towards Cluj Napoca and Sibiu, currently, more and more tourists, fascinated by the fortress, take a longer time to visit the Alba Carolina citadel and attend the various events organized here, such as the changing of the guard ceremony, that takes place daily, or the gun salute ceremony organized every Saturday in the tourist season.

In Alba Carolina, most anywhere you may stumble upon a “Habsburg soldier”, member of an “army” composed of an infantry corps, an artillery corps and a cavalry corps. The soldiers of the Guard of the Alba Carolina Citadel are among the main attractions of the fortress, not only children, but also adults flocking to take a picture with the ‘men-at-arms’.

Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES PHOTO

Tourists cannot leave until they pose for a picture with the bronze soldiers placed in several locations inside the citadel, and other bronze characters — the Lady and the Knight, a florist, city folk, or the Philosopher. They can find accommodation inside the citadel in the only five-star hotel in Alba Iulia, the result of an investment worth over four million euro, housed inside the first building built by the Austrians in the Vauban-type fortification, that had a military purpose for around three centuries.

The Medieval Hotel, named so because the ground floor rooms, of the Saxon Bastion, are from the medieval period, is host to spacious rooms, each with a living room, hallway and large bathrooms, all with natural ventilation. The roof of the restaurant in the Royal Hall is supported by massive wood beams nearly three centuries old. Tourists from all around the world have spent some time accommodated here, coming from countries such as England, Croatia, France, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Hungary, Turkey, but also Israel, China, Canada and the United States.

The building, initially host to the military foodstuff storehouse, was constructed between 1714-1715. It was used as a military storehouse by the Austrian army for two centuries, and later on was used by the Romanian army.

The Medieval Hotel architectural ensemble is also host to the Sightseeing Hall, the Hall of the Roman Vestiges, the Knights Templars’ Hall, as well as the Capitulum Hall.

The Alba Iulia fortress holds immense tourist potential through the large number of historical, cultural, natural, and man-made points of interest found within the site, with a potential to constantly attract Romanian and foreign tourists year-round.

Raised during the Habsburg rule over Transylvania, between 1714 — 1738, using the plans drawn up by Italian architect Giovanni Morando Visconti, the citadel, which occupies over 100 hectares of land, has seven bastions — Eugene of Savoy, Saint Stephen, The Trinity, Saint Michael, Saint Charles, Saint Capistrano and Saint Elizabeth.

It was supposed to become the main fortification in Transylvania, being built using the latest methods of construction of those times, inspired by the systems conceived by Marshal Vauban, the French military architect. The fortification had a dual role of keeping at bay potential Turk incursions, and of consolidating Habsburg rule in the occupied territories.

The bastionary citadel is defended by three systems of fortifications. It is shaped as an irregular heptagon, the seven bastions portraying it as a 7-point star, image characteristic for citadels of this type.

Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES PHOTO

Entry into the citadel can be done through one of the six highly-ornate gates, showing bas-relief decorations. Three of the gates lead to the city, while three led to the training grounds. Of the six gates, which were true architectural monuments, part of the defensive construction ensemble of the citadel, only Gates I, III and IV were kept in their original state.

The gates were subject, in last years, to ample restoration works, one of the gates being practically rebuilt.

The most imposing of the six gates, Gate III, where Horea, one of the leaders of the 1784 revolt, was imprisoned, was restored to public use after more than a decade of restoration works, begun in 1998 and costing around 3.3 million lei, expenses covered by the Culture Ministry of Romania.

Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES PHOTO

In order for the restoration to be complete, the wooden draw bridge was also reconstructed, a replica of the one used in the medieval times. The last documentary reference to the old draw bridge dates back to 1849, from the time of the siege of Alba Iulia during the 1848 revolution. It is not known under which conditions the old draw bridge was removed and the moat filled with earth. In order to reconstruct the bridge, the architects in Alba Iulia have studied the citadel’s plans, housed in an archive in Vienna, as well as accounts of how the bridge would be crossed during peace time or war.

Situated between the bastions named Eugene of Savoy and Saint Capistrano, Gate III is composed of four columns and eight smaller pillars that hold, through their powerful arches, the pedestal upon which the equestrian statue of Charles IV, the Austrian emperor at the time of the citadel’s construction..

Gate I, that faces eastwardly, houses four impressive bas-reliefs depicting scenes from Roman and Greek mythology, and was the first to be restored completely, the works ending in December of 2006.

Photo credit: (c) Angelo BREZOIANU / AGERPRES PHOTO

One year later, after a lengthy restoration process that took several years, Gate IV was restored to public use. It is situated on the citadel’s western side, between the bastions of The Trinity and Saint Michael, being the only one on the western side of the citadel that is decorated in the baroque style. It is decorated only on the interior side, where a narrow opening flanked by telamon columns appears.

The gate was utilized efficiently by the Austrian army. As such, the upper levels would house military personnel, occasionally even reprimanded officers. Underneath, in the citadel’s earthwork, the sentry posts were placed.

Five years ago, Gate II was reconstructed, placed in the second line of defenses, in the upper part of an uphill pathway. Destroyed in the interwar period, in 1937, during the construction work associated with the raising of the Obelisk of Horea, Closca and Crisan (the three leaders of the 1784 revolt), Gate II’s only remnants were some side pillars and a few hinges. As such, until the reconstruction, many Alba Iulia residents did not know exactly where it was situated. The gate itself was reconstructed on the basis of photographs and sketches kept in Vienna. In what regards the decorations, namely two telamon pillars and the lions that crowned the pillars, the original statues were used, as they were kept for all this time at the National Union Museum and in the courtyard of a nearby military unit.

Situated in the south-west corner of the Saint Michael bastion and partially demolished in 1921, during construction work for the Nation’s Unity Cathedral, Gate V is one of the secondary entrances, situated in the western part of the citadel. Its architecture is simple, with little decorations.

Gate VI was included in the project to reconstruct the western defense wall, destroyed in 1921, occasion on which the Royal Road was reconstructed as well, the latter being the road taken by King Ferdinand on the way to his coronation in 1922.

Recently restored for public use, Gate VII was dedicated solely to troop movement, being situated on the southern side of the citadel. During the besieging of the citadel by Hungarian troops in 1848-1849, it was walled off.

The City Gates Tour is the most important tourist tour, and due to their placement on a single axis, from east to west, offers easy and unhindered access. The tours of the city focus on the main historical points of interest and monuments.

Photo credit: (c) Angelo BREZOIANU / AGERPRES PHOTO

As such, the Tour of the three fortifications offers tourists the possibility to see vestiges from three different time periods, built successively in the same spot, each new citadel comprising the older one — the Roman castrum of Apulum (106 AD), the medieval citadel (16th-17th century), the Alba Carolina citadel (18th century). Included in the “Beautiful Romania” project, initiated by the United Nations Development Programme and the Ministry of Culture, the Tour of the three fortifications project was inaugurated seven years ago. The tour also crosses underneath the southern gate of the Roman castrum (fortress), Gate Principalis Dextra, also largely restored, the only gate still standing of the four of the ancient Roman castrum.

Another tour is the one dedicated to the Nation’s Heroes, an homage brought to the leaders of the Transylvanian Revolt of 1784. The tour starts in front of Gate III, where the Obelisk of Horea, Closca and Crisan, a monument built by public donation, is situated. The monument, the joint work of architect Octavian Mihaltan and sculptor Iosif Fekete was inaugurated on October 14, 1937, in the presence of King Charles II and of Michael, future king, then Voivode of Alba Iulia.

Photo credit: (c) Angelo BREZOIANU / AGERPRES PHOTO

Situated near Gate III, the granite monument measures 22 meters at its pinnacle. Its prismatic step base features a narrow opening from east to west that shows granite plaques with the names of the three heroes inscribed. The monument’s eastern side is adorned by a depiction of a winged Victory, holding a laurel wreath. The tour continues with the cell in which, according to legend, leader Horea was imprisoned by the Austrian authorities, it being situated underneath the pedestal of Charles VI’s equestrian statue that adorns Gate III.

Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES PHOTO

During works to restore the medieval fortification a discovery was made, nearly 200 meters away from Gate III, an old dungeon from Habsburg times being uncovered, now representing an intermediary point on the Nation’s Heroes Tour. Situated on the eastern flank of the Eugene of Savoy bastion, the dungeon underwent restoration works so that it may be visited safely.

The Nation’s Heroes Tour ends in one of the bastions where the breaking wheel upon which Horea and Closca were executed on February 28, 1785 was reconstructed. The third leader of the revolt, Crisan, hanged himself in his cell using the leather laces of his traditional footwear. It is said that this was the last act of breaking upon the wheel in the Hapsburg Empire.

According to the representative of the company that made the most important restoration works in Alba Carolina Citadel, Emanuel Dragusin, the total value of the restorations is around 60 million euro.

During the restoration works, a sector of the Via Principalis, the road that connected the northern and southern gates of the Roman castrum of Apulum, was uncovered, preserved so well that the marks from the wooden wheels of carriages can still be seen.

The sector, 3.10 meters in width, was conserved in situ, being among the newest tourist objectives in the citadel, together with the Union Hall and National Union Museum, the Nation’s Unity Cathedral and the Saint Michael Roman-Catholic Cathedral, as well as the 16th century Princely Palace that hosted Michael the Brave, the nation’s first unifier, all tourist objectives on any Alba Iulia tourist’s map.

Standing in front of the Princely Palace is one of Alba Iulia’s symbolic monuments, the equestrian statue of Michael the Brave, constructed in 1968 by Oscar Han, and inaugurated on the occasion of a half-century since the Great Union of 1918. AGERPRES

Photo: (c) MARIUS POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Declared a natural monument and a speleological reserve, the cave holds the world’s second largest underground glacier after the Dobsinska cave in Slovakia. Situated at an altitude of 1,150 meters, it is famous for housing inside a glacier with an area of over 5,000 sq. m. and an ice layer between 26 and 37 meters thick

The shape of the ice block changes frequently as in the warm season a layer a few centimeters thick melts at the base of glacier, but is restored every winter with a new layer on top of the glacier. Although the ice block has been there for over 3,000 years, it is in permanent evolution, morphing through a variety of spectacular images every few months. The entrance is guarded by the impressive “Ice seal,” that seemingly bares its teeth towards the cave ceiling.

Photo: (c) MARIUS POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The Scarisoara cave is part of the Ghetar-Ocoale-Dobresti karst system and formed during the glaciation, when the surrounding mountains were covered in snow and ice, having just one opening at the top, allowing air currents to flow between the above-ground and the cave and thus preserving the ice.

Photo: (c) NICOLAE BADEA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The date of the cave’s discovery is not known precisely, but Austrian geographer Adolf Schmidl, the one who made the first observations on it and the first to chart the cave, mentions it in 1863.

Photo: (c) MARIUS POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

With a total length of 750 m of which 250 m fitted out for visitors, the cave is 110 m deep. The access to the glacier is made via some metal stairs anchored in the rocks, which facilitate the entry of visitors through a sinkhole (an opening, or cavity) with a diameter of 60 m and 48 m deep that connects with the Big Hall.

Photo: (c) NICOLAE BADEA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The actual entrance of the cave is at the base of the sinkhole, whence a 20-m long sloped ice wall descends and continues with a gallery (68 m) that runs downwards in a steep declivity to a depth of 105 meters where the Big Reserve of the cave lies. This gallery with ice trails and numerous concretions stretching at the maximum depth of the cave was called the ‘Maxim Pop’ Gallery. On the right side of the Big Hall ceiling is a steep ice slide ending in the hall suggestively called “The Church” because of its formations of ice stalagmites shaped like the silhouettes of saints, of lighted candles and even the Virgin Mary. This is a tourist area, while the rest is a Scientific Reserve with two distinct sections.

Photo: (c) MARIUS POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The Small Reserve is on the right side of the entrance to the cave, stretching at the foot of a 15-m high vertical ice wall. Here is the so-called Palace of Sanziana, decorated with beautiful concretions. The appearance of the cave totally changes beyond these sections, as concretions of great diversity and beauty take the place of ice, displaying an abundance of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, calcite draperies, cave corals, rimstones… To be seen here are ice stalagmites, some of which are permanent and others that melt in the summer but regenerate in a similar form in the winter months.

Photo: (c) MARIUS POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The Scarisoara Glacier, a site of extraordinary beauty at the heart of the Apuseni Mountains, is important for science, especially due to the complex of ice-induced phenomena it displays and to the general structure of the cave: morphogenesis and evolution of the ice formations, the layering of the ice massif etc.

Photo: (c) MARIUS POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The access sinkhole provides, through its varied flora that is differentiated by levels, an interesting and permanent research field for botanists. The
cave fauna is rather poor, the chief representatives being bats and ice-cave beetles, some 2-3 mm long (Pholeuon proserpinae glaciale). A skeleton of Rupicapra, the ancestor of today’s goat, was discovered in the Big Reserve.In 1938 the Scarisoara Cave was studied by great Romanian biologist, zoologist, speleologist and explorer Emil Racovita, who declared it a speleological reserve, the first in Romania.

Photo: (c) NICOLAE BADEA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Several legends are spun around the cave; one of them has it that in ancient times here lived a dragon whom the villagers called Solomat. The dragon would steal a beautiful girl from the village either in the night of New Year’s Eve, or in the night before the Maidens’ Fair on Mount Gaina, hiding them in an ice palace inside the cave the locals have never set their eyes on.

Photo: (c) MARIUS POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Another legend says that behind the limestone formation in the area known as “The Pines” there are two pools which are always filled with water. Whoever kneels before these pools, head uncovered, makes a wish and sips the water directly with his lips, will see his dream come true. Provided that one respects this “ritual” and does not disclose the wish to anyone for one year. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Mircea ROSCA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Three years ago international star Jay-Z even incorporated several bars of the Capalna Girls’ Walking Line Dance tune in his Murder to Excellence. Jay-Z sampled the Walking Dance tune he actually took over from the folklore-inspired song of Indiggo twins Mihaela and Gabriela Modorcea who are mentioned in the credits among the artists who helped make his piece.

Each village on the Tarnava Mica river has its specific Walking Line Dance and the best known of them is the dance of the Capalna de Jos — Jidvei commune, a village where Veta Biris, one of the most acclaimed folklore performers lives. Veta Biris also helped promote this dance at national level.

One can say this Walking Line Dance took Capalna de Jos — a village attested as early as in 1332 and inhabited exclusively by Romanian families, out of anonymity.

The origin and age of this dance are unknown, but definitely they go back to the Middle Ages; the lyrics are passed down orally from one generation to another and the girls learn the jerky rhythm steps from their mothers at the tender age of 4 or 5, says ethnographer Petruta Pop.

Proof of the age of this dance is also given by the fact that it has no instrumental accompaniment: the girls make their own melody line, Petruta Pop told AGERPRES.

“The Girls’ Walking Line Dance seems meant to demonstrate how, by means so simple, one can get strong effects, the dance creates a special atmosphere. The secret seems to rely in those unexpectedly eloquent breaks that suppress the monotony of an informal walk and also in the cry-out verses sung in chorus,” says Petruta Pop.

The dance performed on counterpoint was discovered a few decades ago by a primary school teacher named Stana, who had come from the south of the Carpathians, from the so-called Old Kingdom, having married headmaster of the Capalna school, Teodor Biris. She organized the village girls by age groups.

“Us, the gentry, as the village folks called those who had pursued higher education in various universities, had not noticed its beauty, although we participated regularly in the entertainment activities of the young people on Sundays and on holidays. Stana Biris, a woman with an artist’s sensitivity, had to come from some remote part of the country to discover and to show this dance to the world, as it is performed, with its special distinction,” notes a son of the village, Dr. Vasile Marcu in the monograph of the Jidvei commune published several years ago. Born in 1910, he mentioned that his grandmother too used to dance this line step.

Amazed by the beauty and purity of the interpretation, Stana Biris set the basis of the local folk dance ensemble and brought the Capalna girls out into the world, with this dance garnering a host of awards and distinctions at various festivals and competitions.

Now aged 71, Istina Purcel was also a member of the ensemble, just like her sisters and then her daughter, right from their teens. “I performed with the ensemble for ten years, until I got married,” she said.

She remembers the girls doing the dance every Sunday at the socializing venue in the barn in the village center where the young folks would gather.

“We had a teacher who had come here from near Bucharest, named Stana; she married in Capalna with Teodor Biris — grandparents of actor Silviu Biris. I invited her to come see the girls dance on Sundays in the barn. The mothers came too, they would not let the lasses go alone to the venue. First they danced the spinning dance — ‘Invartita’ and the ‘Hategana’. Both very brisk dances. During break time, while the boys would rest and chat, us girls would perform the ‘Purtata’. We would join hands and step on it. The barn had a wooden floor and one danced just as if on stage. There were other girls-only dances: ‘Drambolicul’ and ‘Purceii’. Mrs. Stana told us: If you can dance so beautifully and accurately, let’s show our performance to the world. Wherever we’ve been we have always landed the first spot,” the woman recalled for AGERPRES.

At first, the girls wore embroidered skirts. “In the beginning the suit was white and black. Then it was blue. When we started to travel outside the country, to add some pep, we sewed our skirts blue with metal thread,” Istina Purcel related.

She says that the school teacher also decided that the girls should wear during the dance a blue-embroidered hat. “When we danced in the barn it was hot and we didn’t have the hats on, we just hung them on the peg. Stana Biris made us wear the hat. Underneath one wears the kerchief tied tightly with a knot at the back of the head to keep the hair hidden. It must be black with blue, green or yellow flower prints. Not red. The hat sits on your head so that you can see the brim. That’s what Mrs. Biris used to tell us,” explained the woman.

Also Stana Biris decided that the length of the skirts should be mid-calf and the girls should wear heeled, embroidered shoes, which were custom-made in Sibiu and Tarnaveni.

“First one adjusts the step. It goes three steps back and then you start right foot first. You must always start the dance with the right foot. If you weren’t on the correct foot, you couldn’t follow the other girls, you would misstep and end up out of the group. At one point, the row breaks. When they separate, the first and the last girl put their hands on their hips. The other girls keep their right hand under the left hand of the girl in front,” said Istina Purcel.

Recruiting the girls starts in the second grade. The girls in the young age group have red-embroidered skirts, the middle-aged group from 10 to 15 have their costume embroidered with black, and the senior group — with blue.

According to Istina Purcel, Stana Biris managed the ensemble until around 1968, when she moved to Bucharest, after her children were admitted to college. Biology teacher Veronica Dan took over, followed by Cicuta Ignat — an offspring of the village, and then school teacher Maria Florea. The current instructor is Angela Fodor.

The group includes on average 30 unmarried girls; they proudly wear the skirt and blue apron, the blouse with zigzag seam stitching, the vest sewn with metal thread, a kerchief and hat adorned with a blue ribbon. On their feet they wear high-heeled shoes with decorative holes.

At the first glance, the Capalna Girls’ Walking Line Dance seems very simple. The girls just move daintily in choreographed spirals, lines and circles. Side by side, they keep tight to one another, with arms intertwined and walk in precise cadence singing their songs along.

The dance — rather a procession — goes smoothly, or changes quickly from left to right, forward or backward, swaying or tightly upheld, with often uneven phrases.

The first girl has a great responsibility. She is the one who sets the tone of the song and leads the string of girls. This position cannot be filled by just any girl, it must be someone who knows both the choreographic movements and the tune, says Petruta Pop.

Photo credit: (c) Mircea ROSCA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The lyrics of the ‘Purtata’ speak mainly about love.

Petruta Pop considers that this dance of the Capalna girls should be placed in direct relationship with the mystery of fertility. “The dance has elements that refer to a fertility rite. We could even consider this Girls’ Walking Line as a collective dance marking in archaic societies the end of the initiation period of a group of girls,” concludes Petruta Pop. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Archives of Buzau County Museum

The settlement of Sarata Monteoru, Buzau County, was discovered in 1895 by military architect Eduard Honzic, an amateur archaeologist, who was coordinating the construction of a health resort for Grigore Monteoru’s family. First systematic searches were conducted under the German occupation in 1917-1918 by German archaeologist Hubert Schmidt, a reserve commissioned officer of the German army, who invited over to Monteoru renowned German scientist Wilhelm Dorpfeld, who was looking for the vestiges of Mycenae in Greece. A great deal of the items discovered was moved to a museum in Berlin. The first Romanian diggings at Sarata Monteoru were conducted by Ion Andriesescu and Ion Nestor in 1926 and 1927. They were continued by Ion Nestor in 1937-1958. In 1990-2010, searches were resumed by famous archaeologist Eugenia Zaharia.

The communities of the Monteoru culture survived nearly 1,400 years, between 3,000 and 1,600 BC, with the apex of their development being reached between 2,200 and 1,800 BC. The Monteoru culture would cover the Curvature Carpathians, the south and some central parts of Moldavia, as well as the south-eastern parts of Transylvania. The most important sites of Buzau County where vestiges of the Monteoru culture have been studied are Sarata Monteoru, Naeni, Pietroasa Mica and Carlomanesti.

‘The villages of the Monteoru peoples were located up on the hills well protected naturally, enjoying wide visibility to the planes and also located immediately close to natural resources — stone, water, wood and salt. They were living in ground houses of a timber frame made of earth and wood. Inside the houses, there were fire hearths used for cooking and heating. Outside their houses, they would have outbuildings such as workshops, kilns and holes to store supplies,’ Director of the Buzau County Museum Sebastian Matei explains.

Archaeologists have discovered that cereals were the main plants cultivated by the Monteoru — wheat, barley, and millet, as well as vegetables such as spinach, beet and arrach. Animals such as cattle, sheep and pigs were farmed in the house. Hunting would play an important part in getting furs and food, with archaeological searches having unearthed many bones of boars, deer and hare. Most of the artefacts are pottery vessels decorated with geometrical motifs; the cups and funeral urns are real works of art. The Monteoru people were using stone, bone, horn and sometimes metal implements. Bronze was used especially for the manufacturing of weapons while adornments were made of gold and silver.

During the Monteoru culture, numerous objects from other parts of Europe started to emerge that are not specific of the culture, including weapons, saddlery items and adornments. In order to pay for the objects exchanged, the Monteoru people would process copper ores.

‘The most exploited deposits were the cooper ores, using an own technique imported as a result of exchanges with peoples from Transylvania. Copper ores would be melted at 1,000-1,200 degrees Celsius in kilns and cast in moulds. The people were very inventive as they would use interesting casting techniques such as the lost-wax casting,’ says the archaeologist of Buzau.

The lost-wax casting entailed the modelling in wax of an item, such as an axe, that would be covered in clay. After the moulded item was heated up, the wax would leak through an orifice through which the bronze would also be cast. That is how they made arrow tips, axes, sabres and ornaments. The funeral inventory is proof to the culture having been highly advanced. Along with ceramic recipients, also found were arrow tips, stone axes and ornaments such as bronze bracelets, kaolin and amber beads, bone rings, as well as looped earrings of gold and bronze.

The Monteoru people would inhume their dead in a crouch position in rectangular graves covered with stone. Instances have been found of holes dug in rocks and cases made of large stone slabs. A small proportion of the dead were cremated, without knowing the exact reasons. The funeral inventory comprised ceramic recipients along with weapons — arrow tips, stone axes; ornaments — bronze bracelets, kaolin and amber beads, stone rings, as well as looped earrings of gold and bronze. Although the Monteoru people created quite a civilisation for their times, there were other contemporary areas where development was even higher.

‘At the time, the Egyptian civilisation was much more advanced. In Egypt, there were cities with marvellous structures, whereas the peoples of the Monteoru culture would be living in villages built high on hills and in the mountains, but frequent exchanges and circulation over a large area helped them evolve and make constant progress,’ says Director of the Buzau County Museum Sebastian Matei.AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Paul BUCIUTA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

‘If you do not know and have not seen, let me tell you that this is the place where Devil built its cauldrons of boiling tar; muddy earth gurgles and boils, colder than the ice and blacker than the smog; then, out of gapping mouths, as wide as the entire valley where there is no draining, the mud jutes out, now as small as an ant, now as tall as an iris, and what’s more, at each of the dome’s mouth frothing mounds were built through which the Devil blabbers out the mud. Out of the abyss, down the hills, the dirty mud leaks out, parched and cracked by the sun, and the imbued earth is no place either for the knotgrass or for the thistle,’ writer Alexandru Odobescu (1834-1895) describes the area of the mud volcanoes in his ‘Pseudokinegetikos,’ a false hunting treatise.

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The Mud Volcanoes is a mixed geological and botanic reserve divided in two communes: Berca and Scortoasa.

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The Berca-Arbanasi anticline belongs to a very geologically active area that is crossed by various longitudinal and transversal faults that make the region looks like a labyrinth. Along the anticline, on the dislocation lines and in the points where the faults join the axis of the anticline, mud volcanoes are formed, for the first time scientifically recorded by Grigore Cobalcescu, the creator of Romania’s school of geology.

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

‘Scientist Grigore Cobalcescu explained the genesis of the mud volcanoes as the outcome of the combination of underground waters and natural gas, which by expanding to the surface dissolve rocks, turning them into a muddy paste. Once reaching the surface, the mixture creates some cone shapes, wherefrom the name volcanoes,’ explains publicist Horia Baescu.

Photo credit: (c) Bogdan DUMITRESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

In the Berca area, there are three distinct groups of mud volcanoes: the mud volcanoes south of the anticline, 100 m east of the village; the mud volcanoes of northern Pacle, known as Paclele Mici, located on the plateau south of the Paclele Hill, at the border between the communes of Berca and Scortoasa, and a third group of mud volcanoes south of Beciu village, Scortoasa Commune, known as Paclele Mari. The outer structure on the plateau of the mud volcanoes is made up of clay and marl rich in salts. The plateaus are peppered by open cones and craters which sizes vary between some centimetres to some metres. Slightly inclined slopes are on the edges of the plateaus that were formed by flowing water erosion inside the volcanic mud that generates narrow trenches up to seven meters deep. On the Paclele Mici plateau, the cones of the main volcanoes have no relief, but instead they have craters of between two and five metres wide. Also on this plateau, there are secondary craters of smaller sizes that create subsequent cones. When there is abundant precipitation, the eruption of the local volcanoes increases, generating mud torrents that flow mainly to the southern part.

Photo credit: (c) Bogdan DUMITRESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

On the plateaus of the Mud Volcanoes made from mud accretion, saline efflorescence raises during drought times as a result of salt crystallisation following the evaporation of water from the mud spewed up during eruption. The almost Moon-like look of the mud plateau is very eerie because there is no vegetation and because of the whitish yellow colour of the dry mud resulting from polygonal shapes upon drying and especially because of the cones that dominate the plateau through which the erupting mud escapes. The apocalyptic landscape is completed by the continual blubbering of the craters. The areas where the mud volcanoes are highly active become in time deserted clay plateaus called ‘bad earths.’

Photo credit: (c) Bogdan DUMITRESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The Mud Volcanoes plateaus have more surprises, particularly for botanists. On the edges of the mud fields interesting halophytes, plants that grow in waters of high salinity, grow. Two endemic shrubs declared natural monuments have been developing here for a long time: the Nitre Bush (Nitraria schoberri) and the Halimione (Obione verrucifera). The local fauna includes two rare species: the scorpion and the termite. Highly important geologically and botanically, the Mud Volcanoes natural reserve has a high tourist potential because of its uniqueness. A similar geological formation is found in Georgia, near Baku.

Photo credit: (c) Bogdan BĂRBULESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The Moon-like area of Paclele Mari and Paclele Mici is visited by nearly 15,000-20,000 tourists a year, record figures from the previous years when the access way was impossible to travel. Dumitru Rosu, the custodian of the natural reserve, says the Moonlike landscape attracts tourists of all ages, but children are the most enchanted. Many video clips have been shot at the Mud Volcanoes. The natural plateau of the Mud Volcanoes has been the shooting place for tens of TV ads, video clips of famous singers, pictorials and artistic pictures as well as settings of famous movies. The custodian of the Mud Volcanoes natural reserve says he has witnessed many stars at work here surrounded by film crews. AGERPRES