Exploring Brașov

We had a few days to travel around Brașov to discover its beauties, and boy did we! Thursday was the only day forecast to be sunny, so we began the day with a hike up Mount Tampa to the Brașov sign.

It took us about an hour in perfect spring weather. There is a cable car service, but it was being maintained while we were visiting.

Its elevation is 3150', over 1300' above the city. I loved the tile roofs, old castles, and watch towers.

Hiking higher up the mountain we passed through an excavated site from the 1400s.

We hiked down the mountain and walked toward downtown around the Black Church, one of the few Lutheran Churches in the country.

The Black Church stands on the site of an older Romanesque church from the 13th century, destroyed in the great Tatar invasion of 1241. The current construction began in 1383, when Brașov was in a period of strong cultural and economic development.

In the mid-16th century, the Protestant Reformation entered Transylvania and spread largely thanks to Johannes Honterus (1498-1549). In 1542, the first Evangelical-Lutheran service was celebrated in the Black Church, and during the same movement, the secondary altars were also removed.

The Black Church is the largest Gothic religious building in southeastern Europe, measuring 89 meters long and 38 meters wide. This church can accommodate about 5,000 people. Here is a view from the hiking trail.