Romania is a land of a thousand faces.
The crossing point between the Occident and the Orient,
and a melting pot of different cultures.
It is also a country unlike any other in Europe.
With over 60 percent of the Carpathian Mountains weaving through it,
Romania is the custodian of Europe's last great wilderness area,
its largest remaining forest,
and two thirds of its surviving alpha predators.
But increasingly this unique country's natural and cultural heritage
is under threat from reckless development
and a race to modernise,
which is often destroying the very things that could ensure prosperity
and a sustainable livelihood for generations to come.
This week we are exploring Muntenia, also known as Greater Wallachia...
a region once presided over by Vlad the Impaler,
whose famous cruelty as a ruler
spawned the legends that inspired Bram Stoker's iconic novel, Dracula.
To separate fact from fiction,
my first stop is Poenari, Vlad Tepes' ruined fortress.
I'm here to meet a man for whom Dracula tourism is not just a vocation,
it's in his blood.
-Dacre. -Charlie, how are you? Nice to see you.
Very well.
First of all, what relationship are you to Bram Stocker?
Bram was my great grand uncle.
That means that his youngest brother is my great grandfather.
-It's quite a legacy. -It is.
And it's a ripping yarn, I mean is a fantastic story,
but he never actually came to Transylvania.
No, he was a guy that did a lot of research,
back in London and in Ireland,
he did a lot of books,
Badeker guide and five or six other books that put him here.
-And a huge amount of imagination. -Absolutely.
I mean half of it really is reality, the other half is Bram's fantasy.
So this book, in terms of phenomena,
has quite literally spawned a monster, hasn't it?
Absolutely. I mean the legacy of Dracula has done a lot of things,
it is not just Bella Lugosi, Christopher Lee and others.
But it has unfortunately causes quite a lot of controversy
amongst the Romanian people,
because they are very proud of their heritage and their history,
and it's a very rich history.
And yet most people in America, for example,
associate Transylvania with bloodsucking fiends and werewolves.
And it fact I would imagine that most people think that Transylvania
is a country rather than part of Romania.
I feel a little responsible for some of the misconceptions,
that Bram took their national hero, Vlad Dracula,
and turned him into a Hollywood vampire.
And as a legacy of the family, I'm trying to separate these two.
Well, let's go and have a look at the fortress,
and hopefully you can tell me a little bit more.
OK, let's go.
I think this is kind of a neat you have a bit of challenge
to get up here when you consider the history of the Boyers,
that had to make this thing, without 480 steps.
You wouldn't sign up for this, would you?
No. Not unless there was a whip at your back or the chance of impalement.
The history here is very brutal, isn't it?
I mean his wife jumped from these battlements to her death.
It's an actual story that Jim Hart,
the screen-writer for the '92 Copolla movie, Bram Stoker's Dracula,
used, he actually took that real story and merged it with his mythology,
to create how Vlad became a vampire.
What happened was as she jumps out and of course is dead,
he comes back after a good day fighting and finds his poor wife dead,
and he brings her back,
and of course because she committed suicide,
the church wouldn't give her a consecrated burial.
And that's when Tepes fall out with the church historically.
Yes.
And of course many forget that he was a tremendous hero for the people.
And that's another part of proper responsible vampire tourism,
is that Dracula that we know as the vampire
really was a national hero.
Vlad Dracula had three reigns,
and during that time he held back the Ottoman empire,
he made deals with the Austro-Hungarian empire,
he was a hero, brutal reign in brutal times.
But he was one of their national heroes.
So what constitutes sensitive vampire tourism exactly?
The impact I can make is separate the two,
Vlad Dracula, the historical national hero,
and the Count Dracula Bram Stoker started,
and then everyone else has taken to the 'nth degree,
is separate these two,
show the differences and celebrate the two,
because really if you are smart about it, you can get double the tourism.
I guess we can say that even if people come here for maybe the wrong reasons,
or because they are motivated
by wanting to see what they think is going to be a film set,
it's good that they are here in the first place,
and it's a wonderful education for them to discover a country
which is so unlike any expectations they would have had.
Well it is and some of these places, these towns like Viscri and Crit,
Malancrav, with the fortified churches,
it's the way that life was back in the 15th century,
it's amazing stepping into what looks like a movie set,
but it is real life.
Do you think it can survive?
I think there is effort needed to keep it surviving, Charlie.
I think that the Mihai Eminescu Trust and those folks do a great job,
but I think it needs to be really encompassed by the government,
and say this is worth keeping, let's not ignore it,
because I think us, as tourists, like to come here and see it,
and are not many places left like this on earth.
But doing it right, educating people how to actually sustain this tourism,
I mean everything that involves people coming in and doing it slowly,
learning how to do it right, I think is just key.
While Muntenia is historically one of the most important regions in Romania,
it is also perhaps the most cosmopolitan,
with its centre of administration located in the country's capital, Bucharest.
Home to The People's Palace, one of Europe's largest buildings,
Bucharest is a big sprawling metropolis, peppered with lakes and parkland.
It was redesigned under Ceausescu
to symbolise the might of the Communist regime.
Today many improbably large neo-classical edifices
compete with crumbling Hapsburg architecture, '70s apartment blocks,
and contemporary steel and glass.
One of the victims of this industrial redesign is the river Dambovita,
which cuts straight through the heart of the city like a concrete causeway,
lined on either side by roads and one way traffic systems.
But plans are afoot to declog this vital urban artery,
and much in the same way as the Thames, in London or the Seine in Paris,
reclaim the riverbanks for the pedestrians.
I caught up with friend and conservationist Theodor Frolu,
who is spearheading the movement.
Looking at this it's most encouraging to see
that some of the river banks is actually turning into a more social environment,
but it's only one place isn't it?
Yes,
but always we have to start somewhere, and this was the idea when,
four years ago we started changing the edge of the river.
So it was very important for us to bring people next to the river,
and create this new relation with the river,
and to see people sitting around and looking at the water.
This is a very important value for the city which Bucharest forgot about.
Yes because it is quite tough.
You've got roads all the way along the sides of the river, haven't you?
Yes, and this is one of the biggest problems.
This is a good area because it's the only one
where you have such a big distance from the traffic to the water.
Yes, I suppose by at least achieving that here,
you can show people how it could look further up the river.
Yes, this was the idea,
and this is why we created this platform of NGO's and different partners,
to try to animate and bring life to the water.
But how clean is the water?
Right now is really clean because in the last three or four years
there was money invested in the sewage system,
so right now what we see here is...
So the two don't intermingle.
Yes and this is the reason why we started these type of activities on the water,
because it is the best way to put people in contact.
How much support
have you got from the government and the people in Bucharest?
We have support but with ups and downs, as usual.
Our role is to create bridges with the public administration,
and try to show that what we are dreaming is not only our dream,
it's the people's dream around the river.
It would transform the heart of Bucharest if you are able to do this,
I mean you create a space for people to come and have a coffee and chat.
I know Bucharest has some beautiful parks,
but this is such a waisted opportunity.
Yes, but the problem is that there are too many entities involved.
For example, just to do what we've done here with these pontoons
and this different way of relating with the river,
we had to negotiate with six different institutions.
But the important moment happened because we succeeded in doing this,
and the people like it,
the young people are starting to show their love for these places,
the emotion is here for the city.
So what...?
I think I know what you are going to ask me.
Well I'm not really dressed for it but I suppose I can give it a try.
You have to try this feeling to be on the water in the middle of Bucharest.
Is this really the only place where you can paddleboard on the river,
in Bucharest?
Yes, in this moment it is the only place,
but we hope we will continue to virus the river.
Spread it up and down,
until the whole river becomes a national park, that would be wonderful.
I swam the Amazon,
I swam the Thames and I think I'm about to swim the Dambovita.
-Come on, Charlie. -No rush.
The water is not cold, it's pretty hot, so don't you worry.
-I'm not worried. -Let us help you a little bit.
-OK, Charlie. -I'm on.
-Don't forget to take your paddle. -Yes, the paddle helps.
-OK, let's go. -I can't believe I'm doing this.
Reverse the paddle.
-Reverse the paddle? -Yes, like this.
Let's just balance first and work out what to do with the paddle in a minute.
-Relax, relax a little bit. -Yes.
You should be able just to do that and not...
Try to avoid doing that. It's cold.
Well, I've done it and it's not so bad, that's the worst that can happen.
And that was really nice, refreshing, the water is clean, is not too bad,
so I'll recommend this to anyone, come and do it, it's fun.
A fully immersive experience.
A quick change of clothing later and we head north,
towards the Southern Carpathians that give Muntenia its name.
On the edge of the mountains is a small town called Berca,
which is famous for a bizarre geological occurrence, peculiar to this region.
MUD VULCANOES
At first glance,
this is a landscape that more closely resembles the surface of the moon.
Mud volcanoes, so called for obvious reasons,
occur as gas erupts from 3,000 metres underground,
rising through layers of clay and water and pushing salty mud upwards,
until it bubbles to the surface forming a volcano-shaped cone.
Resident and guide Thorsten Kirscher took me on a bracing hike to one of them.
That looks like soup.
It's like ciorba but also it's not recommended to eat it,
it's not recommended to swim it or to use it as a beauty treatment. No.
'Cause it's probably quite acidic, isn't it?
And the gas that is bubbling up,
I mean if I was to get a lighter and put it there,
it wouldn't just go bang like a giant zit?
To be honest, I don't know,
but there is a big sign at the entrance not to smoke here.
I imagine people come here and film.
Yes, they do videoclips here, even for weddings it is used,
so people come here with the bride.
To get married.
Not to get married, but to make photos together with the mud,
obviously it's a nice contrast.
While the mud volcanoes are well promoted and lots of people come here,
there is another place nearby, far less well known,
where crude oil, rather than mud, bubbles to the surface.
These are the hidden mud volcanoes of Berca.
There are even people from the village who don't know this place.
When I bring them here, they are amazed and they say:
"Wow, I didn't know that".
Is another one of Romania's best kept secret.
Yes, really.
This area of Buzau will be part of the UNESCO Geo Park,
which is called Land of Buzau.
I can hear the bubbling.
Yes, and this is a unique spot in Romania and I would say even in Europe.
It's not only water and mud coming out here, it's crude oil which is bubbling.
What kind of idiot thinks that it's cool to chuck beer cans
and plastic bottles in something as amazing as this?
It's the sad part of the story we find everywhere in this region.
But it's that mentality I don't get.
You know and you see it all over Romania, you see something that is very beautiful,
so, hey, let's trash it.
That's why we need really to protect this area.
Well, hopefully when they're chucking a beer can in,
they're also lighting a cigarette, Darwin's law of natural selection.
Yes.
As well as working to promote the area, Thorsten and his wife, Juranda,
have a home cookery school located at their palatial villa,
on the edge of town.
I arrived to find an epicurean feast.
-Juranda! -Welcome!
You weren't joking when you said that you have something special!
-No, not at all. -He's making jokes.
-But not about food. -Not about food.
Well you do do this for a living, don't you?
Yes, of course, we are trying.
What have we got? Talk me through this amazing spread.
We've got all the dishes that we are making for our events,
we are trying as much as we can to deliver good food, local food,
seasonal food, everything is home made.
This is a local sausage called babic, it is very spicy,
the pate has a little bit of alcohol in it,
zacusca, but with added value, truffles,
because in this area you can go truffle hunting so you know, why not.
And asparagus, not so local, which is a shame,
because I bet you can grow it very well here, couldn't you?
Yes. I'm pretty sure you can.
And if we can grow it in England,
then I don't think there's any reason why it needs to be imported from abroad.
For sure.
Bread, simple like baskets,
and the other one is with fried onion, with local cheese and herbs and olives.
And this is a truffle machiatto,
a soup based on champignons and truffles.
-So you can serve it chilled? -You can serve it hot or cold.
-Do you have a cook book? -Not yet, but we are going to.
That's an oversight.
We are going to because this is a pity for the others so we have to share it.
I imagine you might get chefs coming here, as well.
I mean it would be good to get some of the Romanian chefs,
in various places, to come and learn things like this.
I would like this very much really.
I don't even know where to start,
there are just so many delicious things on this table.
So I will give you a little bit of bread.
OK. I will have some of that zacusca as well.
Zacusca with truffles is such a great idea.
That is amazing, you saw it here first.
But I think probably quite a few people are going to copy that.
I don't have a problem.
Great, 'cause I was going to ask you, can we have some of your recipes, please?
I think people after seeing this
are going to want to be able to cook some of these for themselves.
Berca sits at the mouth of the Buzau River valley,
which winds down from the surrounding hills.
This area marking the boundary between the flat lands of the south,
and the Carpathians to the north,
has seen its fair share of historic battles.
Here, the Roman invaders fought skirmishes with the native Dacian tribes,
who were forced to retreat back into the safety of the mountains.
But their footprint still exists to this day, if you know where to look.
Luckily, I had an eminent historian to show me.
This region is full of history like the entire Buzau county.
We have bronze age settlements, we have iron age,
and also we have a lot of stone age settlements.
Around 4,000 years ago,
the bronze age people used that area like a graveyard,
but is very interesting that they don't dig the graves in the earth,
they dig graves in the stone.
So they cut the graves out of the rock?
And in the 70's, when they cut that part of the hill,
they discovered the human bones and ceramics and a lot of bracelets
and other artefacts.
70 million years ago here was the bottom of the Sarmatian sea,
and actually that is the secret, because in this part of Romania
we have some of the greatest wine in the whole of Romania,
because of the calcium from the shells.
OK, so you got the calcium that goes into the vines.
Which is why I've driven through so many vineyards on the way up.
The Dacians were inhabiting this part of the mountains a lot?
Yes, actually they loved that part of the mountains, of the first hills,
because they can see days before, the armies when they come.
It must have been terrifying, if you were the Dacians,
looking at the Roman army advancing towards you across this plain.
I mean you would have probably what, a day or two to run to the hills.
If you make a big fire here to announce the enemy,
they are going to see it from...
...pretty much near Brasov they're going to see it.
Yes, something like that.
Driving West into the foothills,
you encounter remote villages and isolated towns, separated by valleys,
alpine pastures and mixed forests that carpet the landscape,
in a symphony of green.
This is a largely untamed world, where the bear and the wolf,
and even their more domesticated cousins still run wild.
Our destination is a small town called Slanic,
home to what is claimed to be the largest salt mine in Romania.
There's not a lot to see...
but that's because most of the action happens downstairs.
Unlike the more publicised Turda mines, Slanic is still operational,
however a large section of it is now open to the public,
and a great place to spend a rainy day
or indeed shelter from a nuclear holocaust.
The mine is certainly impressive,
however the attractions could do with a bit of an update.
The saline air makes it an ideal location for health spa facilities,
and treatment rooms.
A location like this, if done well,
could provide more employment and generate a big income for the local town,
with less risk than the miners faced many years ago.
This has to be the world's largest chainsaw.
It gives you a pretty good idea of what life must have been like
before the invention of health and safety.
Back on the surface,
it was time to leave the foothills behind and head deeper into the mountains.
This is Busteni, a resort town in the Prahova valley.
It's name literally translates as "tree-logs,"
but recently the timber trade has taken a back seat to the tourist industry,
providing a popular destination for hikers in the summer and skiers in the winter.
I am here to visit a particularly grand building,
that has recently been restored to its original splendour.
Cantacuzino Castle,
built in a neo Romanian style by Prince George Grigore Cantacuzino in 1911
was restituted to his descendants following the fall of communism,
and sold to private investors in 2004.
It is now open to the public as an events venue, museum,
and first class restaurant.
To learn more about the man who built it,
I joined official guide David Laurentiu for the grand tour.
I'm getting the impression
that the prince Cantacuzino was extraordinarily rich.
Yes, he was the richest Romanian from that time.
His nickname was Nababu,
the richest Arabian prince, by translation.
If he was rich by Arabian prince standards, that's definitely wealthy.
I suppose all these characters on the murals here were relatives of his.
Yes, during the Communist time they were a little bit lucky,
because all the things from the castle were stolen.
Also these ones were supposed to be taken down,
and maybe disappear without any trace.
But the people who were brought to do this decided to hide them,
so the workers covered all the paintings with a layer of paper, a layer of textile
and after that they painted over them.
So they hid them so it seemed like it was a painted wall.
Yes. And just a few people knew what was behind the walls.
They were uncovered in late 70's.
You can see why the Communists would take exception to these characters.
They're not particularly the sort of people
who would perpetuate the myth of social equality.
Yes.
Nice windows.
Yes, this was the office of prince Cantacuzino, here,
and on the left side there was a stage,
and on that stage was the prince's desk, he always looked at people from the top.
-So he liked to look down a little bit. -Yes he was very proud about himself.
He was also clearly very proud of his moustache.
Yes, I'm pretty sure, I think it was...
Look at the size of that thing, it is down here.
That's like the handlebars on my motorbike.
And these are family members who also kept up the tradition.
Yes, this was the fashion in that time.
It was the fashion in those days exactly.
But take a look what nice ladies were in that time.
It's not really what we today would describe as sexy,
but it was still sort of the Victorian era of primness and propriety.
Cantacuzino Castle has also become an acclaimed gastronomic stopover,
for people travelling between Bucharest and Brasov,
with a constantly changing menu of traditional and avant garde cuisine.
Chef Marian Lamba took time out from the chaos to show me
a couple of signature dishes.
So what are we cooking?
We'll cook some duck and a whole fish with fresh vegetables.
Did you invent these recipes?
No. I've just learned a bit from everyone. I took the best tips.
Here we have a marinade with honey, white wine, salt, pepper.
Now we pour the marinade over it,
and lots of vegetables that will diffuse a great taste.
This is already looking good.
Olive oil. Some pepper.
-Salt from the Himalayas? -Yes.
Not salt from Slanic or Turda salt mine? We should be buying local!
And now we prepare the fish. This is sea bass.
We'll make notches so that spices can diffuse inside,
and salt and pepper can season the fish flesh.
We put some lemon slices inside, to get a special flavour.
We add some rosemary, it's quite fresh.
A bit of coriander and basil.
Now salt and pepper.
And do you slow cook this to let the flavour come out?
Yes. Anything that you slow cook is delicious, full of flavours and tasty.
There you go, it's that simple folks.
I think the fish is ready.
Yes. I've prepared a special side dish that goes with it, fresh vegetables,
asparagus, cherry tomatoes,
and some sauce with tomatoes, kalamata olives, extra virgin olive oil.
We adorn with some basil.
Whoever ordered that is in for a treat, alas it wasn't me, that's going outside,
but I've got the duck to wait for,
and I think I still have enough time to change for dinner. See you in a bit.
So we've tried to recreate
what it might have been like for the Prince of Cantacuzino
eating in his opulent residence, with his relatives gazing down on him,
as he tucks into some incredible dish,
with a host of servants, waiting on his every need.
-Enjoy it! -Thank you.
This sauce is sensational, really good.
I can't really imagine that this happened to the Prince very often,
but it's nice that a place like this is open to everybody.
Cantacuzino castle sits in the shadow of the Carpathian peaks,
which dominate the skyline and afford breath-taking views.
A short ride by cable car takes you to the top of Bucegi national park,
and a series of rock formations that are steeped in folklore.
The Sphynx attracts tourists from across the country,
who flock here to marvel at its strikingly human features.
But according to archaeologist Oana Ghiocel,
we are by no means the first visitors to have made this connection.
Still looks like a pile of rocks.
True, but wait one more moment and...
OK, it really depends on what angle you look at it, doesn't it?
Exactly.
And now you can see the lips and the eye, yes. Not much of a nose.
Not much of a nose. There are two stories,
one that the nose was blown off by the World War I army,
and another one that it fell off in ancient times.
But these are just stories, right? We don't have any evidence for this.
Yes, more like legends of some sort.
Where do you think people's fascination with these rocks comes from?
I think there's a variety of reasons,
but one is that it really looks like a human face.
It's very surprising for people to find this at this elevation,
we are at about 2,200 meters,
and all of a sudden you see this and it's also a gigantic size,
is about sixty meters high.
It's interesting that people are so intrigued by it,
I mean what's the special significance for you?
I remember I was seven years old and I came here and I was moved to tears,
and so that's why I decided later on to make a film about it.
And what's the general consensus from a scientific point of view?
From the scientific point of view of the Romanian Academy,
it's a completely natural rock formation.
OK. So it hasn't been touched by man, according to the experts?
Yes, but again, the experts have never really spent time here,
they have never ever done any archaeological dig,
they just stick to the official way.
-The official line. Absolutely. -Yes.
It could be completely natural,
but that doesn't mean that people wouldn't find this attractive,
and interesting and special and want to gather here.
It is a difficult one, really, isn't it? Because there's no proof,
but there are so many people that find this such an extraordinary place.
I mean I heard lot of stories about Bucegi.
The Americans here,
missile silos, crashed helicopters, weird spooky electromagnetic energy,
there's got to be some truth somewhere.
Yes, I mean there are so many. There was a really famous book,
written about ten years ago, it's a mystery who the author was,
but it's a book about the Sphynx being the site where CIA, FBI where searching
an underground chamber where they found really big bones,
big skulls of aliens.
I knew it's only a matter of time
before the word "aliens" came into this conversation.
But you see that's the point, everyone has got their theory,
it's that kind of place. It inspires theories.
I would say that when I did the film people constantly asked me
if I saw somebody from the US army, from the CIA,
if I belonged to the CIA or FBI,
if I was followed.
And there were times when I did feel that somebody was following me.
They were obviously very good at it because you didn't spot them.
Yes.
But do you think that these rocks have been, shall we say,
surgically enhanced?
Just a bit, at the eye.
Just a bit of cosmetic surgery took place at a certain point.
Well, anyone of these rocks can be something,
they've all got very unique shapes,
I mean you've got that one that looks like a mushroom behind us,
and yeah, that one over there,
which I hesitate to say what that looks like,
perhaps is a fertility symbol, but...yes.
And the other thing to bear in mind is that this is not in Transylvania,
so I'm sorry Transylvania, you know, you are a very big region,
you've got lots of lovely things to promote,
but this isn't yours, this is Muntenia.
-Yes, that's right. -Exactly. So tough.
-Muntenia has the Sphynx. -It does.
Natural geomorphologic. Not man-made!
SPHINX NATIONAL PARK NATURAL GEOMORPHOLOGIC - NO CLIMBING!
Gift shopping at this altitude.
A mini sphinx to take home of your very own.
A mini mini sphynx,
depending on the size of your gift shelf.
The thing I don't really understand is this.
What would you say from an archaeological point of view?
And the American black bear.
Not the European brown bear, of course, but that's a minor detail.
Plus, of course, it is eating a salmon, and to the best of my knowledge,
bears don't eat salmon in Romania very often.
I think this is probably the most useful item you can buy here...
a compass, just what we need,
especially if I am going to be riding my bike that way into the mountains,
with no sat nav 'cause there's no signal, this could come in handy.
Separating Romanian mythology from historical facts is rarely an easy task.
My next stop is Corbii de Piatra or the Church of the Stone Ravens,
which features ancient man-made chambers hewn into the walls of a cliff.
Like the Sphinx,
there are numerous schools of thought regarding its origin,
but many historians now believe it predates Christianity entirely,
and has much earlier pagan roots dating back to Neolithic times.
What a fairy-tale landscape!
I feel like I've ridden magically into the pages of a children's picture book.
While looking around I met a university professor,
who has been coming here since he was a child.
My parents grew up here, my father died 15 years ago,
but my mother still lives around, she is just 62 years old.
-So she is still quite... -She is still a spring chicken!
For people living in this village it seems to me that's quite young.
That's true, yes.
We are two brothers and three sisters and we decided to leave for studies.
For instance,
I made part of my studies in France and then I was travelling to Denmark,
and then I started to travel the world.
You are unusual in the sense that you're a person who comes back,
and chooses to spend all the time you can in the village of your birth,
while a lot of people in communities like this just leave.
This is also the situation of some young people here.
At a certain point we feel the need to leave in order to discover ourselves,
but while coming back you rediscover yourself,
which is about places that you know, feelings that you have,
smells that you understand.
And your identity is defined by where you've grown up and evolved.
-Yes, I think that it is. -You have to embrace it.
I have a grave here in this place.
-You booked a spot, have you? -Yes, so is already established.
It's already waiting.
Well I think if there was a slogan for this community,
it would be there's no rush,
because people seem to be living well into their 80's and 90's.
It's really an amazing place and I think that this state of being amazed
is given by the people, that they still keep the traditions,
and they are proud of this place, that's proud in a good sense,
proud of their place, their neighbours, of their families,
and what they live on a daily basis, I would say.
To get a deeper understanding
of the relationship between the caves and the church,
I sought guidance from local minister Ignatius Jeromonarh Gorunescu.
The history of this place, of this monument is bi-millennial.
Historians that extensively documented this place of worship say that,
2,000 years ago, the first Christians used a natural cave,
which was hidden in the heart of this sandstone rock.
The cave had three purposes.
They used it as a church, to perform the religious service,
as a hideout,
because during early Christianity worshippers were seriously persecuted.
And thirdly, as a place for gospel preaching.
In 1300 the mural church was painted and we can still see it today.
It is the oldest mural painting in Romania.
Namaiesti, Cetatuia and Corbii de Piatra, all have their origins Pre-Christian,
but they've all become very important spiritual sites.
What's the reason do you think for this?
We know from the spirituality of our ancestors, the Dacians,
that they had monotheistic beliefs.
They worshipped just one almighty God.
It's very important that they believed in Resurrection, in life after death.
The transition from pre-Christian paganism to Christianity
was very simple for Romanians.
Thank you so much for taking the time, it was great to meet you.
I'm very glad we talked and please come again.
Thank you so much.
Corbii de Piatra is one of three cave churches that form a spiritual triangle,
here in this remote part of Muntenia.
The second may have originated as a hermit's dwelling,
but has since seeded both a chapel and a thriving monastery.
Namaiesti near Campulung is more of a village,
populated almost entirely by nuns who do everything,
from running the gift shop, to strimming the lawns.
100 steps take you up to the courtyard, where I had a date with the boss.
I'm a bit nervous because I'm about to meet the mother superior,
who certainly in English tradition is quite a severe character,
but apparently this one's rather bubbly and more than that, she's a poet.
She's set up an ethnographic museum
and collected all these wonderful garments,
which tell many stories apparently.
How is this poem called?
-Ilenica, is getting married. -Please!
"Handsome and caring Gheorghita
Is marrying today the good girl, Ilenuta."
"He is headmaster's son
and she's the daughter of the priest."
"On the right and on the left
proud godfathers stay."
"They baptized them and now they marry them."
"When you see the sisters of the bride, you can't look aside."
"Beautiful like fairies, they seem from old stories."
"Groom's sisters are beautiful like two blue flowers,
you can stare at them for hours."
"Mothers-in-law are so gleeful, happy tears in their eyes,
remembering their own wedding in May, as if it were yesterday."
"Fathers-in-law are second to none, so proud,
that it's the greatest wedding under the sun."
"And now, one of the grandmothers speak."
"Oh, God, time flies so fast,
like flowers we picked up in the past."
"Your wedding was like yesterday and all the village was so gay."
"The newly-weds are now over the moon,
still they'll be grandparents soon."
"Tomorrow everything will be just a sweet memory."
For the final corner of the triangle,
we have to head far off the beaten track to a solitary hill,
between Valea lui Coman and Valea Chiliilor,
and overlooking the Dambovita River.
At 880 meters above sea level,
Cetatuia Negru Voda Monastery has been described
as the Meteora of Romania.
Well it's a bit of a stroll to get up here,
it reminds me of the Cerna valley,
Inelet or some of those villages in the hills.
In fact it's a bit like some Himalayan temple,
especially with that music.
It's a very mystical environment.
Built on the site of an ancient citadel,
the rocks and caves carry carved symbols from the pre-Christian era.
Well this region reminds me of Colti,
where there are also prehistoric caves, now chapels, monasteries or churches,
and what makes it so interesting is that these are just the ones we know about,
and I'm sure out there in the mountains and the valleys on the hilltops
there are others that people are either keeping secret,
or have forgotten about or are waiting to be discovered.
And that's the beauty of Muntenia.
And coming here walking through these hills and mountains,
who knows what you could find.
Join us next time,
when we will be leaving the mountains behind
and heading east, to Dobrogea,
the Black sea Coast and Europe's largest wetland,
the majestic Danube Delta.
I will be doing a spot of fishing,
walking in the footsteps of an ancient pre-Christian civilisation,
learning some dance moves and covering myself in mud.
This and more in Flavours of Romania.