Fortresses and fortified Churches - Darjiu
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Darjiu
DARJIU
Darjiu is a parish in the Harghita county, made up of two villages, and situated in the Homoroadelor Subcarpathians. It is 18 km away from Sighisoara on a county road. Its population notes 1300 inhabitants.
is a parish in the Harghita county, made up of two villages, and situated in the Homoroadelor Subcarpathians. It is 18 km away from Sighisoara on a county road. Its population notes 1300 inhabitants.Darjiu was first mentioned in writing in 1334, but on its present territory have been discovered early human traces dating from the neolithic age.
was first mentioned in writing in 1334, but on its present territory have been discovered early human traces dating from the neolithic age.Darjiu boasts a Fortified Church, which is today Unitarian, and gathers together about 900 parishioners. Formerly built in the Romanesque style (14th and 15th centuries), the Church acquired a Gothic aspect in 1640, under the rule of Transylvania's prince Gheorghe Ră¡ckă³zi (1630-1648). Fortified in 1400, it has a rectangular precinct with high walls, strengthened by five towers. The Gate Tower preserves its original aspect, with massive masonry pierced by loop-holes provided with wooden shutters. The Fortified Church was embellished by Gothic rib vaults; unfortunately, the rib embedding process damaged many of the original murals dating from 1419.
boasts a, which is today Unitarian, and gathers together about 900 parishioners. Formerly built in the Romanesque style (14th and 15th centuries), the acquired a Gothic aspect in 1640, under the rule of Transylvania's prince (1630-1648). Fortified in 1400, it has a rectangular precinct with high walls, strengthened by five towers. The preserves its original aspect, with massive masonry pierced by loop-holes provided with wooden shutters. The was embellished by Gothic rib vaults; unfortunately, the rib embedding process damaged many of the original murals dating from 1419.The fortified storey covers both the nave and the choir, while the parapet of the wall-walk supported on corbels is placed over the buttresses. This set-up facilitates the wide opening of the loop-holes below the cornice. Although designed for utility purposes, these loop-holes have a special decorative effect. So has the stairway to the organ, dating from 1837. Placed on the eastern side of the building, the stairway is massively carved in rigorously cut planes. The Church has the overall aspect of a bastion, with a high roof and no towers. The precinct is covered by an inner roof below which can be seen the supply cells where the villagers have stored their hams to the day. The Church has a big bell dating from 1612, which was donated to it by Ioan Petki, a general in the Székelys' army and a chancellor of Transylvania. In the northwestern corner of the Church there is a deep fountain that used to supply water during wars.
The Fortified Church at Darjiu is well-known due to its murals brought to view in 1887. Their author is master painter Paul, Stephen of Ung's son, born in Slovakia. Educated in an eclectic environment, the painter would blend the Gothic e and the Italian Renaissance styles.
Unfortunately, very few of the initial murals have been preserved to the day. Most of them were effaced when the bracket rib vaults were built, by the end of the 15th century, and also, later on, in the 17th century, when a gallery was added.
Murals depict Apostle Paul's Conversion, the Martyrdom of the 10,000, as well as several likenesses of sanctified bishops. The most valuable paintings are those relating to King Ladislas' Legend (In the Pursuit of the Cumanian, The Wrestle, The Cumanian's Defeat and Killing, Ladislas' Rest).
As in the case of other medieval paintings in Transylvania, their background is uniform. It looks as a screen on which the scenes would be displayed. Its surface is adorned with a sort of stencil-made wallpaper on which are drawn patterns of four stylized lily flowers laid in a cross-like form. This wallpaper type of decoration was adopted by Gothic mural artists under the influence of the miniatures, especially of the French ones, which flourished in Europe in the second half of the 14th century. In this sense, it is worth-mentioning the jeweler's minuteness with which Paul rendered the costumes, of the weapons, or the horses' harnesses. The hero of this set of paintings is the Hungarian king Ladislas (1077 - 1095), whose crown and belt trimmed with pearls, and pearled halo, remind of olden Italian-Byzantine models. The uplift of these models can be related to the last period in which Ladislas the Saint's cult flourished, in the first decades of the Hungary's king Sigismund of Luxembourg's rule (1387 - 1437).
Apostle Paul's Conversion is another valuable painting of the Darjiu Church. It presents the scene in which Saul, rebaptised as Paul, falls down from his horse's saddle, on the way to Damascus. It is interesting to note however that the painter's attention focuses primarily on the apostle's group of companions, who wear squires' garments. From the group singles out the master artist himself. Close to him, on a flag that waves somewhere over his head, there is an inscription in Latin written in Gothic small letters which says "This work was done and prepared by master painter Paul, son of Stephen of Ung, fourteen nineteen A.D. I was writing and thinking of a beautiful girl". This text shows the artist's surprising freedom of expression, as well as the fact that in 1419, the Transylvanian society was not at all far from the Renaissance spirit.
's is another valuable painting of the . It presents the scene in which Saul, rebaptised as Paul, falls down from his horse's saddle, on the way to Damascus. It is interesting to note however that the painter's attention focuses primarily on the apostle's group of companions, who wear squires' garments. From the group singles out the master artist himself. Close to him, on a flag that waves somewhere over his head, there is an inscription in Latin written in Gothic small letters which says ",". This text shows the artist's surprising freedom of expression, as well as the fact that in 1419, the Transylvanian society was not at all far from the Renaissance spirit.Also in the parish of Darjiu, but in the village of Mujna, mentioned in writing in 1520, there is a Church from the 15th century, with a curtain wall and a belfry, built in 1834 - 1837.
is a parish in the Harghita county, made up of two villages, and situated in the Homoroadelor Subcarpathians. It is 18 km away from Sighisoara on a county road. Its population notes 1300 inhabitants. was first mentioned in writing in 1334, but on its present territory have been discovered early human traces dating from the neolithic age.boasts a, which is today Unitarian, and gathers together about 900 parishioners. Formerly built in the Romanesque style (14th and 15th centuries), the acquired a Gothic aspect in 1640, under the rule of Transylvania's prince (1630-1648). Fortified in 1400, it has a rectangular precinct with high walls, strengthened by five towers. The preserves its original aspect, with massive masonry pierced by loop-holes provided with wooden shutters. The was embellished by Gothic rib vaults; unfortunately, the rib embedding process damaged many of the original murals dating from 1419. 's is another valuable painting of the . It presents the scene in which Saul, rebaptised as Paul, falls down from his horse's saddle, on the way to Damascus. It is interesting to note however that the painter's attention focuses primarily on the apostle's group of companions, who wear squires' garments. From the group singles out the master artist himself. Close to him, on a flag that waves somewhere over his head, there is an inscription in Latin written in Gothic small letters which says ",". This text shows the artist's surprising freedom of expression, as well as the fact that in 1419, the Transylvanian society was not at all far from the Renaissance spirit.