During the Middle Ages the Fagaras Fortress was a traditional Vlah enclave in Transylvania. The first written document mentioning Romanians in Transylvania referred to Vlah lands (“Terra Blacorum”) in the Fagaras Region in 1222. (In this document, Andrew II of Hungary gave Burzenland and the Cuman territories South of Burzenland up to the Danube to the Teutonic Knights.) After the Tatar invasion in 1241-1242, Saxons settled in the area. In 1369, Louis I of Hungary gave the Royal Estates of Făgăraş to his vassal, Vladislav I of Wallachia, the territory remained in the possession of Wallachian Princes until 1464. Except for this period of Wallachian rule, the town itself was center of the surrounding royal estates belonging to the Hungarian kings. During the rule of Transylvanian Prince Gabriel Bethlen (1613-1629), the city became an economic role model city in the southern regions of the realm. Bethlen rebuilt the Fagaras Fortress entirely. Ever since that time, Făgăraş was the residence of the wives of Transylvanian Princes, as an equivalent of Veszprem, the Hungarian “city of queens”. Of these, Zsuzsanna Lorantfy, the widow of George I Rackoczy established a Vlach (Romanian) school here in 1658. Probably the most prominent of the princesses residing in the town was the orphan Princess Kata Bethlen (1700-1759), buried in front of the reformed church. The church holds several precious relics of her life. Her bridal gal, with the family coat of arms embroided on it, and her bridal veil now covers the altar table. Both are made of yellow silk. Visit the Fagaras Fortress today to discover a place rich in history and beauty!

The “Brancoveanu” Monastery – is famous for being a place of recovery, comfort and spiritual balm for visitors who halt or pray in this sacred dwelling. The Brâncoveanu Monastery was built in the 17th Century, when Preda Brâncoveanu erected on Sambata Valley the first church built in wood. On its place, around the year 1696, Constantin Brâncoveanu, the ruler of Wallachia (1688 – 1714), re-built a monastery in stone, in order to strengthen and save the Romanian Orthodoxy from the danger of Catholicism, which appeared when Transylvania was ruled by the Habsburgs (1683). In 1785 the monastery was partially demolished by the order of general Bukow from Vienna. All the cells were completely destroyed, the church became a ruin and the monks were driven away.

The honor of becoming the second founder of the Brâncoveanu Monastery was given to Metropolitan Nicolae Balan, who started the restoration work in the 1926. Its consecration took place in 1946 , after the war (that is why the precincts were not rebuilt).
The architectural style fits entirely the Brâncoveanu style, which emerged in Wallachia at the end of the 17th Century and the beginning of the 18th Century. Stones decorate the windows and the door frames and I took real interest in observing the front entrance door, the sculptured pillars and the stone panels of the church which add a special beauty to the monastery.

Similar trips: Brasov, Balea lake & Sibiu • Day Tour to Cantacuzino Castle, Peles & Pelisor (or Sinaia Monastery) • Day Tour to Salt Mine Slanic Prahova & Peles Palace • Day Tour to Saxon Villages in Transylvania • Harman & Prejmer Saxon Fortress