|
| |
|
BLAJ |
| |
|
|
| |
Twenty-five kilometres east of Teius on the DN14b to Sighisoara, the
small town of BLAJ stands at the junction of the main Sighisoara-Cluj
rail line and the branch to Sovata and Praid; the town itself lies about
1km east of the train station. Blaj's main claim to fame is its
historical status as the ark of Romanian Nationalism. When Hungary
revolted against the Hapsburgs in 1848, Magyar demands to reincorporate
Transylvania within the "lands of Stephen" provoked a famous Romanian
response. Forty thousand Romanians, mostly serfs, were summoned by the
leader of the revolt, Avram Iancu, to Blaj, headquarters of the Uniate
Church . They gathered on the Field of Liberty ( Câmpul Libertatii ),
east of the town, to demand equal political rights, chanting "No
decision about us, without us" (" nimic despre noi fara noi "). This
event is remembered by a semicircle of statues in the Field of Liberty
park, east of the town centre.
From the northeast corner of the Field of Liberty, a gap in the fence
leads to a small market and then up an alleyway to the corner of Piata
1848 and Strada Astra; to the left is the Uniate cathedral ,
overshadowing the field. This was built in 1749-79, making it the first
Baroque building in Transylvania - the church of Lugoj (in the Banat)
was begun later, in 1759, but completed in 1766. The east end of the
cathedral is shut off by a huge iconostasis, dating from 1760. The
History Museum , in the Avram Iancu park by Str. Republicii 39 (Tues-Fri
8am-4pm, Sat & Sun 10am-2pm), has coverage of the 1848 gathering and of
the many intellectuals (notably Samuil Micu-Klein, Gheorghe Sincai and
Petru Maior) who taught here at the end of the eighteenth century and
beginning of the ninteenth, reinvigorating Romanian culture and leading
the fight against Hungarian chauvinism; they are remembered by numerous
plaques around town. The only hotel in town is the central Târnavele (tel
058/710 255; $15-20), at B-dul Republicii 1; there's an ATM opposite.
|
| |
|
