Fagaras land - a time travel experience from ancient times to medieval period
[cultural][historic
,
archaeological
,
botanical
,
religious
,
medieval
]
english
1
5 RON
8
Difficulty
Description
Țara Făgărașului is a land of green hills and amazing natural and cultural beauties. This trip is like a time travel in the magic lands of Făgăraș area: 7000 years old Sinca Veche Temple Cave, 135 years watermill from Ohaba, 500 years old Făgăraș Citadell and 2 natural beauties and mysterios places: the daffodils reservation near Vadu and the Pyramids of Sona.
Points
Plecare din Brașov
[starting point]
distance
48.1km
Duration
01:10 h
walk
[transport]
[walk]
distance
0.3km
Duration
00:37 h
The Sinca Veche Temple Cave
[landmark]
[church / monastery]
Description
Many religions have pass through this place, but nowadays the Ortodox church is the last one to have settleted in this place and manages it. Despite this transformations and dogmatic aproach, it has been said that this place in an energetic center, and you can search for that interior peace and see if the fatigue and tiredness will disapear while you are here. The cave is carved in sand stone and now is covered in order to prevent degradation. You can still see the marks left from the carvings, it has a textured view of 5-10 cm long and a few milimeters deep markings on the walls. The most impressive aspect of the cave is the circular skylights in the roof of one room that looks like it was carved by water due to its circular ar rounded shape. This place apears even in Atlas Obscura (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-sinca-veche-temple-cave)
Program
Summer: 8:00-20:00 Winter: 9:00 - 18:00
warnings
You need to have decent clothing as it is considered a worship place, even if there is no mass taking place here. Also when you enter the cave there is a warning sign saying that the entarance is free, but it is on you own responsibility because there is the risk of some stone fragments to detach and fall.
This a great example of locals that keep their heritage and added it into the touristic route. The family that has this watermill is at forth generation of millers and they had to fight history and communist regime to keep this mill working. They were impresioned for not letting the regime taking it and using is as a commun good as they did with eveything else (land, factories, animals). Due to this fight the mill is still here, it still belongs to the family and it is still working. The owner (Popa Nicolae) is a great storyteller and he tols us the history of this place, he showed us the engeneering part of the mill and explanined also the health benefits of the flour they make because it is grounded with 2 special rocks that are moved by the stream outside. The mill is 135 years old and still working, isn't that amazing? We even bought maize and whole wheat flour that were grounded here.
It is considdereed one of Europe's biggers reservation of daffodils (over 400 ha), but as years go by, I see less and less flowers (I don't know if it is a natural degradation or because people are picking them - illigaly of course). I like it here because it is a special ecosystem: huge oak trees, and white daffodils with purple iris in the green grass for as much as your eyes can see.
Program
This is an open air reservation but you need to come here from 15 to 25 May to actually see the daffodils in bloom (this may differ from oen year to another. The closes weekend to 21st May (Saints Constantine and Helen) there is the daffodils celebration. So if you want to go to this folk party or you want to avoid the crowd, make sure you mark the date in the calendar and you organize accordingly.