Today was a long but enjoyable drive through some of the best scenery that we have encountered. The journey started with the road skirting the reservoir, past houses with wonderful views over the water to the mountains beyond. The weather was cool and overcast so we didn't see the views at their best but the water was calm and the mountains were reflected in it. Alpine cows, complete with bells, wandered along the roads and the steep slopes were dotted with hayricks. After the reservoir, we followed the Bistrita valley, crossing the river on a number of occasions. This is a wide, fast flowing river with many rapids and we saw many fishermen on bridges and on the banks. The scenery was definitely alpine and the older men wore Austrian-style hats with their wives wearing traditional dress and headscarves. In one case Jane spotted a man wearing two hats, one on top of the other. We don't know whether he was insecure, expected really heavy rain or was just showing off the fact that he could afford two hats! The villages in the valley were small, narrow (usually just one house deep on either side of the road) but often followed each other without a gap. Pedestrian suspension bridges linked communities on the other side of the river where there were no roads. We saw many women drawing water from wells – these were always covered and were often totally enclosed by elaborate and very pretty constructions of wood, metal and glass. There were many more horses and carts and we saw whole families involved in hay-making – cutting the grass with sickles, raking it into piles and using pitchforks to load the cart or create hayricks built around a central pole.
The road had been very uneven (concrete sections badly repaired with lumps of asphalt) and it was good to join a more major road in better condition at Vatra Dornei. After following this road for a few kilometres, it turned east away from the river. Taking another road north we climbed high above the valley heading for the monastery at Vatra Modovitei. This is one of the famous painted churches of Romania. We have seen plenty of churches with beautiful frescoes but these churches are different – the frescoes cover the inside and outside walls. Remarkably, they have survived the effects of sun, rain and freezing temperatures since the end of the sixteenth century. Both this monastery and the one at Sucevita, 30km north, were originally occupied by monks but they are now convents with the nuns giving guided tours to the coach parties. The frescoes were painted to explain the bible to the illiterate congregation and are much more interesting than bible readings or sermons! They show scenes from the bible, the ubiquitous martyr scenes and lots of illustrations of what will happen to you if you don't follow the bible's teachings. We were particularly impressed by the 'Ladder of Virtue' at Sucevita. This shows a ladder between Hell and Heaven with wording on each rung indicating the virtue that is required. Mortals climb the ladder encouraged by a host of angels but at each stage people are falling off. It must have been so annoying to have reached the last rung and then slipped off – the sinner who had done this was shown being speared by the Archangel Michael and was going to fall into the clutches of a devil below.
Just south of Sucevita was a campsite, Popas Touristic Bucovina mentioned in our old guidebook and by our Austrian friends. It has been considerably modernised, compared with the description in the guidebook, with very impressive rooms (100 to 120 lei) and an area of the car park set aside for motorhomes (€12 or 42.50 lei). This sounds rather like last night but there was really no comparison. The shower block was brand new and although there was only one shower each, you could have showered a whole family in them. They even provided soap and shower gel – definitely a first! Being the only motorhome present, we effectively had our own private bathrooms!
We had been treated to a thunderstorm at the Sucevita Monastery and we now had another one accompanied by torrential rain.
Photos: Vatra Modovitea church; The interior of the church is also beautifully painted; Sucevita exterior with one side that is not painted – legend has it that the painter fell off his ladder and died before he could complete the job. However the information board at the site suggests that two brothers painted the frecoes and if both fell off ladders, then they were very unlucky; An end view of the church showing the 'witches hat' roof; Sucevita Monastery showing the defensive walls and towers with the hayricks standing guard outside.
No comments:
Post a Comment