Densus Church and Sarmizegetusa

After an exciting morning touring Corvin Castle, we departed Hunedoara with no particular place to go except back to our hotel in Alba Iulia.  I'm not saying this is a bad thing as Alba is one of my favorite Romanian cities.  But, as I'm prone to do, I made a hasty decision.  I didn't tell the girls where we were headed (mainly because I didn't know where I was going), but I wanted to head toward Densus Church and Sarmizegetusa.  From what I read over the last many months, I learned Densus Church or Saint Nicholas Church is the oldest stone church in Romania and the pictures looked so cool.

I took the Romanian Hummer and headed south, stopping first to show Teresa and Katie the incredible Gypsy houses - they were amazed!  If you want to see them, go to my Corvin Castle blog page from November.

After a short drive around the neighborhood (and many weird looks), we were quickly back on the road through the now dead corn fields of Western Romania before any curses were cast on us.  And it was COLD!!!!  Snowflakes were falling which was not a good sign...but we persevered and put our trust in Siri to get us to the church time.  Our navigator did not fail us and we eventually drove up on the Densus Church.  I was somewhat underwhelmed.  Let me tell you the story first then explain why.

Reading all about the church, and looking at the pictures online, it seemed really eerie and spooky.  Then I read about the many tales regarding the origin of the building.  One of the more interesting stories about the church is people believe it was originally built as a Roman pagan temple from the 4th century.  Another is it was built on the site of an ancient temple dedicated to the God of Mars.  This theory is partially based on the fact the altar is placed south and not east like in typical Christian churches. Another theory says it was built on the ruins of a mausoleum to worship Roman General Longinus Maximus who was killed by the Dacians. True or not, this small church surely shows hints from a very ancient world.

The first documented mention of the church dates back from around 1360 AD, but because of all the mystery of its unknown origins, many believe the church is much older.  Surprisingly, it is still holding regular religious services after nearly 660 years. The church is said to have been built with materials dating from the Roman Empire, over 2,000 years ago - and it looks like it!

The church at Densus has had many turning points during its long history. One of the most important moments was at some point in the 19th century (gotta look it up) when the locals wanted to destroy it in order to build a bigger church. The Hungarian authorities who ruled this Transylvanian region saved the monument.  Soon afterward, they declared the Densus Church a historical monument.

The unique architecture makes the church of Densus one of the most interesting and beautiful stone churches in Romania. The church is built in a Byzantine style.  It is small - only 98 feet (30 meters) long and 59 feet (18 meters) wide.  Its walls are built from bricks, while the columns and statues are from Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, the ancient Roman capital of the conquered Dacian Kingdom (our next adventure). The narthex (I had to look this up - an antechamber, porch, or distinct area at the western entrance of some early Christian churches, separated off by a railing) is surrounded by four columns made of tombstones and even the rooftop is made of stone (hence the 'stone' church, the main construction material).

We didn't get a chance to go inside the church but the records say inside the monument there are  paintings dating from 1443, including a representation of Baby Jesus dressed in a national Romanian costume.  This is highly unconventional for a Romanian Orthodox church.  Yet another reason why Densus is a church like no other I've been to in Romania.

As I said, we couldn't get inside because there was no one at the church so I hunted for pictures of the frescos painted inside and found these...maybe one day I'll go back and try again.

This is kinda random, but about 50 feet from the Densus Church was this sculpture.  I don't know anything about it and there was no one to ask but I thought it was pretty cool.  There was construction all around it so maybe on the return visit they will have completed the site.  More research needed.

I said in the beginning I was 'underwhelmed' by the Densus Church.  It's my fault for setting an unrealistic expectation of what I would see when I found it.  I'm usually pretty good at anticipating what I will find but this time, I failed.  I researched the structure and its history, with all its stories and tales.  The pictures betrayed me.  We drove for almost two hours into the wilds of the Hunedoara hills and at the end of our quest we found a small, obscure stone church with nothing explaining it's existence.  No placards, no signage, no place to get information...nothing.  UGH!

The Dawn of the Roman Romanian Colony

Leaving Densus, we headed due south about 8 miles (13 km) to Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa.  This ancient city was founded and soon became the Roman capital for this region nearly 2,000 years ago.  After two very bloody wars in 101-102 AD and 105-106 AD, the Roman Empire conquered Dacia people. The city was named in memory of the victorious emperor, Traian, but also after the Dacian capital, Sarmizegetusa Regia, located only 25 miles (40 km) to the east.  I need to get there before I leave Romania but this was not the time.  Dragging the girls on a snowy and cold day to one set of ancient ruins after visiting an old stone church and an awesome Corvin Castle was enough for them for a day.  

Because of Emperor Traian's great campaign against the Dacians, the city received the privileged status of 'colonia' from the beginning and later the 'ius italicum' granted by the Roman Empire to communities outside Italy.  This recognition gave the colony rights similar to those established on Italian land.  The rights included a higher level of autonomy and numerous tax exemptions. At one point in the early second century, the capital achieved the status of 'Metropolis'; a few decades before the Romans retreated south of the Danube. Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa was the only city in the Roman province of Dacia who attained this dubious status.

Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa had a strategic position. It was placed on the imperial road connecting the Roman legions south of the Danube with the northern regions of the province.  This road brought trade to the ancient city Porolissum, while crossing through other key Roman cities like Apulum, Potaissa, and Napoca to the north.

The city was built on the grounds of the Legio V (Fifth Macedonian Legion) during the 2nd century.  In 101 AD, the legion moved to Dacia from Armenia to fight in Emperor Trajan's campaign against the Dacian king Decebalus. After the war ended in 106, the legion relocated to Troesmis (modern Iglita), near the Danube Delta on the Black Sea.

• Legio quinta Macedonica (the Fifth Macedonian Legion) was a Roman legion. It was one of the original twenty-eight legions raised by Octavian in 43 BC. It was based in the Balkan provinces of Macedonia, Moesia, and Dacia.  In records from beginning of the fifth century, the legion was still stationed in Dacia, with detachments stationed in the east and in Egypt.

• The last known evidence shows the legion, or detachments from it, were stationed in Egypt in the seventh century one or two years before the Islamic conquest of Egypt. Scholars believe the legion fought in this war and was destroyed. It's uncertain whether detachments or the whole legion were in Egypt.  There is no further evidence of the legion's eventual fate after this.

When at its height, the city covered an area of approximately 82 acres (33 hectares) and was surrounded by walls 1650 to 1968 feet (500 and 600 meters) in length. The capital also extended well outside the walls, surpassing 148-198 acres (60-80 hectares) to areas  where many private and public houses were built.

The capital was initially settled by the veterans of the Dacian wars and it was inhabited until somewhere near the 5th century. In its heyday, somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 people lived in the city.  This makes Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa one of the many medium-sized cities of the Roman Empire. Many of the wealthy members of the community lived in Sarmizegetusa but built vacation homes or owned farms further away from the capital, in the territories extending from the Apuseni Mountains to the far north near Cluj-Napoca all the way south to the Danube.  Living in these areas gave them access to rich natural resources, primarily gold but including wild game for hunting.

Santamarie Orlea Church

Romania has had a tumultuous and violent history.  This city was not spared and was partially destroyed by continuous invasions by migrant tribes from the north and east.  After its evacuation, for centuries it served as a rich resource of construction materials for local houses, numerous monuments, including churches like the one in Densus we had just visited, as well as Pesteana and Santamarie Orlea.  We didn't get a chance to visit these two churches but they look pretty cool.

Pesteana Church

After nearly 2,000 years

Historical evidence shows the large amphitheater was used at times as a fortress.  Now only the ruins remain of the amphitheater which had a capacity of 5,000 people.  We saw parts of the forum and temples of various gods still preserved.  I wandered off into a field and found acres of ruins.  I left the women while I charged off, in the freezing cold and the light snow.  I rewarded everyone by visiting the museum located just across the street.  Here you can see many more items on exhibit. 

Beginning around the end of the 19th century, a local historical foundation was created in the nearby city of Deva.  This, along with several other archeological operations over the years brought to the life numerous pieces and monuments from the rich Roman history at the site nearly 2,000 years ago.

They don't look very happy do they?  It was around 25 degrees with a light snow falling and I was running around like a child amongst the ruins.  They were champions though and didn't kill me and dump my frozen body in the well (I'm not saying I wasn't worried though). 

Does Teresa look really cold or is she imitating an old Romanian woman?  Hard to tell.  Katie's got the death glare focused on me!

The next couple of pictures have nothing to do with the ruins - I just thought they were cool how the farmers preserved their hay.

I promised them we could go inside the warm museum if they posed for a silly picture for me 💙

If only Ryan was here to fill the vacant face.

This concluded our trip to Densus Church and Sarmizegetusa so we headed back to the Hotel Transylvania in Alba Iulia for a nice dinner, tasty wine, and a wonderful hot chocolate.