Day 8: Wooden Monasteries and Tranquility
On Thursday, we had two goals: see Sapanta's Merry Cemetery and the wooden monastery at Barsana. Each were about an hour from Breb, though not that far of a drive--it's just that the roads are very winding and you can't go very fast (though they are mostly well-paved).
Sapanta is near the border of Ukraine, and its cemetery is unique in the world--its wooden headstones are painted bright blue, and each has a scene or two from the deceased's life and an epitaph (often humorous) inlayed into the cross. A man named Stan Ioan Patras carved and painted most of the headstones, and it was his life's work; after his death, his apprentice took it over.
Several of the headstones appeared to show someone being hit by car/walking in front of a car--were they killed by a car? Were they the crazy driver? I don't read Romanian so I guess I'll never know, but I wouldn't be surprised either way.
The church is also beautiful, though it's still being restored.
The cemetery was also surrounded by small stores selling embroidered textiles, which I now regret not buying, since I haven't seen anything similar for sale in the other towns! I guess I will just have to console myself with my wooden spoon...
Merry Cemetery is only a few minutes from Peri Monastery, where eight nuns maintain the grounds. It's the highest wooden structure in Romania and fairly new, compared to the wooden churches, some of which date back to the 1500s.
We did see a nun tending to a shrine outside of the church itself. To someone who doesn't know much about architecture (me), the roofs of the buildings look almost Japanese--like pagodas. (The ever reliable internet says it's a merging of Eastern and Western, Gothic and Byzantine, styles.) And once again, we were the only tourists there.
Peri is also within walking distance of the border of Ukraine, though we didn't try to cross over; and I was more interested in the sheep grazing in the forest, anyway.
From Sapanta we drove over to Barsana, which is home to a larger monastery complex (though still only run by twelve nuns). Between the flowers, the architecture, and the mountains in the distance, it was breathtaking. The wooden churches here are carved and contain no nails, which makes them even more impressive.
Also, who knew this was what cherubim look like?? (See below, the angels covered in eyes...)
After we returned to the Village Hotel where we're staying, we took another short walk past the church to find the "bar"--which really is a store with beer and all kinds of things"--and wandered around. I've noticed quite a few houses in the different villages that are brightly tiled, but I didn't get a chance to ask why the inhabitants choose that over the traditional wood or colored plaster.
After our walk, we went to eat dinner at the same house as the night before. The couple's name are Viorica and Vasile, and once again they were so warm and welcoming despite our language barrier! We had a white bean soup with paprika and sour cream, creamed mushrooms (that Vio picked herself) with polenta, cabbage rolls with pork and rice, and then for dessert crepes with strawberry jam that tasted as close to sunshine as I can imagine. It's such simple food, but so savory and delicious--like if we had a Romanian grandma.
Penny ate dinner with us as well and taught us some more about village life--for instance, under communism it was seen as the duty of a family to have as many children as possible. Now that families have more of a choice, most of the families in Breb have only one or two children--the first stays home, and the second goes and works abroad (usually), with the two most popular degrees being medicine and law. Though she was quick to note that so many people in Romania are now getting law degrees that there are no jobs, and the graduates often have to pay their employer for a certain period of time to work and get experience!! Law school is a scam for bright-eyed hopeful young people everywhere, I suppose.
Penny also said the reason the families' houses are often so bright--pink, purple, yellow--is because there were prescribed colors under communism, and now the people are free to do as they like and make everything bright and cheerful.
One of the things she said that I found most interesting is that the families in Breb didn't feel poor until they got American TV--for generations they've had enough food and warmth and their families to make them feel wealthy in life. However, now that they see American families with microwaves and two-car garages, they've begun to feel like those are the true markers of wealth!
And finally, she told us about Christmas time in Breb, where of it's always freezing cold and often covered in snow; since most of the village is related in some way, it's three weeks of visits, baking, and men going about in bear skins and masks putting on a version of the nativity plan that includes monsters in the forest and a damsel in distress. (Not sure how that fits into the Bible, but I guess if people can believe in a flood that wiped out humanity and a God who punishes people by turning them into a pillar of salt there can be monsters in the forest too!)
As we left dinner, Vio called us into the kitchen and we did shots of horinca with her husband, Vasile--apparently she doesn't often let people into her kitchen, so that felt very special.
Sapanta is near the border of Ukraine, and its cemetery is unique in the world--its wooden headstones are painted bright blue, and each has a scene or two from the deceased's life and an epitaph (often humorous) inlayed into the cross. A man named Stan Ioan Patras carved and painted most of the headstones, and it was his life's work; after his death, his apprentice took it over.
Several of the headstones appeared to show someone being hit by car/walking in front of a car--were they killed by a car? Were they the crazy driver? I don't read Romanian so I guess I'll never know, but I wouldn't be surprised either way.
The church is also beautiful, though it's still being restored.
Merry Cemetery is only a few minutes from Peri Monastery, where eight nuns maintain the grounds. It's the highest wooden structure in Romania and fairly new, compared to the wooden churches, some of which date back to the 1500s.
We did see a nun tending to a shrine outside of the church itself. To someone who doesn't know much about architecture (me), the roofs of the buildings look almost Japanese--like pagodas. (The ever reliable internet says it's a merging of Eastern and Western, Gothic and Byzantine, styles.) And once again, we were the only tourists there.
Peri is also within walking distance of the border of Ukraine, though we didn't try to cross over; and I was more interested in the sheep grazing in the forest, anyway.
Also, who knew this was what cherubim look like?? (See below, the angels covered in eyes...)
After we returned to the Village Hotel where we're staying, we took another short walk past the church to find the "bar"--which really is a store with beer and all kinds of things"--and wandered around. I've noticed quite a few houses in the different villages that are brightly tiled, but I didn't get a chance to ask why the inhabitants choose that over the traditional wood or colored plaster.
After our walk, we went to eat dinner at the same house as the night before. The couple's name are Viorica and Vasile, and once again they were so warm and welcoming despite our language barrier! We had a white bean soup with paprika and sour cream, creamed mushrooms (that Vio picked herself) with polenta, cabbage rolls with pork and rice, and then for dessert crepes with strawberry jam that tasted as close to sunshine as I can imagine. It's such simple food, but so savory and delicious--like if we had a Romanian grandma.
Penny ate dinner with us as well and taught us some more about village life--for instance, under communism it was seen as the duty of a family to have as many children as possible. Now that families have more of a choice, most of the families in Breb have only one or two children--the first stays home, and the second goes and works abroad (usually), with the two most popular degrees being medicine and law. Though she was quick to note that so many people in Romania are now getting law degrees that there are no jobs, and the graduates often have to pay their employer for a certain period of time to work and get experience!! Law school is a scam for bright-eyed hopeful young people everywhere, I suppose.
Penny also said the reason the families' houses are often so bright--pink, purple, yellow--is because there were prescribed colors under communism, and now the people are free to do as they like and make everything bright and cheerful.
One of the things she said that I found most interesting is that the families in Breb didn't feel poor until they got American TV--for generations they've had enough food and warmth and their families to make them feel wealthy in life. However, now that they see American families with microwaves and two-car garages, they've begun to feel like those are the true markers of wealth!
And finally, she told us about Christmas time in Breb, where of it's always freezing cold and often covered in snow; since most of the village is related in some way, it's three weeks of visits, baking, and men going about in bear skins and masks putting on a version of the nativity plan that includes monsters in the forest and a damsel in distress. (Not sure how that fits into the Bible, but I guess if people can believe in a flood that wiped out humanity and a God who punishes people by turning them into a pillar of salt there can be monsters in the forest too!)
As we left dinner, Vio called us into the kitchen and we did shots of horinca with her husband, Vasile--apparently she doesn't often let people into her kitchen, so that felt very special.
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