Today's Transylvania - my cultural perspective
72What Transylvania IS and What IS NOT
My personal view
I was not born in the incredibly beautiful land of Transylvania, so my personal account is not motivated by regional pride or local patriotism. As it happens I know well this land blessed by God and loved by its people. Admiring and loving Transylvania is one thing, understanding and respecting it, is another. I want to think I can, I want to think I do.
I often wondered “What is it that makes Transylvania so special, so unique and so controversial” in the context of the Romanian culture and history?
Before deciding what Transylvania is, I had to eliminate most of what Transylvania is not.
Transylvania is not the heart of Romania although it is the cradle of the first settlement and the beginning of more than 2000 years of Romanian culture. The history of this magnificent land started with Burebista who established the capital of Dacia at Sarmisegetuza and its glory reached the apogee during king Decebal reign, way before the Romanization of the Carpatinian land.
The reason this ancient and beloved region is not the heart of the country is mostly because its people are overly realistic, disciplined, hard working, and not sentimental enough to let feelings rule their lives.
Transylvania is not the soul of Romania either; its people are too practical and too straightforward to be “bothered” by transcendental questions and philosophical uncertainties. Their comfort zone is grounded in the palpable reality of everyday life.
Is Transylvania the brain of Romania? Again, the answer is no. Transylvanians are known to take their sweet time before making any decision whether big or small. Those solid people are analytical and well known for thinking everything through; events and history is moving way too fast those days for Transylvanians and keeping up with new realities proved to be hard for them.
Is Transylvania the spine of Romania? In many ways it is. The high working ethics and even higher moral beliefs of its people, the courage to face adversities and fight for what is right has always been an example of dignity for the rest of the country and amply qualifies this region as the spine of Romanian character.
What is Transylvania most of all?
Transylvania is the Magic Eye of a nation; that scrutinizing eye that keeps things in prospective; the eye that sees the obvious, but also the unseen. It is the objective eye that keeps in check the overly enthusiastic optimism the rest of Romanians suffer from.
Transylvania will forever be the unforgiving Eye that analyses and sorts out the details of a meaningful past as well as the only Eye that has an almost 20/20 vision for the future of an entire nation.
Part of Transylvania's History
Petra Vlah
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I enjoyed this - nice approach. Romania's still somewhere I've not visited, though I've met quite a few Romanians abroad.
I find it interesting areas such as Transylvania rich with invasion, conquerers, and perseverance tend to be just as you described: practical, hardworking and tremendously astute morally. Reminds me of Solzhenitsyn's quote, "“The task must be to banish from mankind's thought the idea that anybody has the right to use force against righteousness, against justice, against mutual agreements.” Isn't that what simple, practical, and moral existence exudes?
Solzhenitsyn believed the peasantry to be the moral backbone, or Mother, of Russia. Thus the ultimate savior of his country. I guess the proof is in the pudding. Stalin fell in Russia. The Romans, Mongols, and the Ottomans left Transylvania. The peasantry and its influence remains. Moral fortitude is a heck of a thing.
Very interesting article about a part of the world I know very little about. Well done!
Thank you for your view of Transylvania. I have mixed feelings what I would write about my Slovakia which I love. I will, but who is in love hard to see objectively. Love always see good. The problem of Europe is that is in hostage of religion (I mean even communism is system of belief-religion).
I believe that USA was blessed with freedom because was originally based on Word of God, not religion.
Hello hamburghotel,
I am glad you liked it.
Hello Paraglider,
I would love to officially invite you to Romania; it is a place worth knowing for its culture, beauty and history. I would hope some of the Romanians you met have told you about it.
Petra - it brings tears to my eyes, it is so beautifully written, but mostly for the CARING you bring to it.
"Admiring and loving Transylvania is one thing, understanding and respecting it, is another. I want to think I can, I wand to think I do."
From my perspective - you certainly do! Thanks for giving us this crystal-clear glimpse of it from that vantage point!
Hello ru blog,
Thank you for stopping by and reading this article. Transylvania, like all other parts of Europe has a rich and fascinating history of survival. People had endured and their moral fortitude has prevailed.
Petra, this is a wonderful collection of thoughts you give us about your country, it's diversity, it's moral structure and ethics. The ever watchful scrutinizing Eye. Very good example as proof that Transylvania keeps the country on a straight path. I feel it is a great quality to be optimistic but overly? maybe not. This was a very well written and thought out overview of your beautiful country and the 20/20 vision for their future I say is beyond optimistic but a reality and I truly hope the future is bright for your country, as the light is growing dimmer in America.
Hello Pop,
Always great to see you. You just gave me an idea and I will write more about Romania so more people will get a chance to learn about it and appreciate its beauty and richness.
Hi Vladimir,
Glad you got a chance to read this. My view is personal, but not blinded by love or religion and politics do not enter into my account of what Transylvania IS or it IS NOT.
Thank you so much Nellieanna,
God has blessed this part of the world with incredible beauty and richness, but it is its people that makes it so special in the context of Romania; it has been that way for centuries and it is still true today.
Hello Ken,
Romanians are a “strange” combination of overly optimistic views with an undertone of fatalism – a contradiction that makes them complex and interesting, but hardly even minded.
The rest of us may consider at times Transylvanians as borderline boring, but we need their perspective and their Magic Eye with a welcome 20/20 vision
Oh, do write more. I'd love to know about the everyday life of the people.
Hello Sheila
I would love to write more, but I have been out of the country for 30 years now and I may not have the most update information of what is going on at this time.
Thank you for your interest and maybe you want to read my other hub about "Transylvania, Dracula and Hollywood"
Yes, people from Transylvania had a name for honesty according to other Romanians, when I was there
You are right De Greek,
we have to give Caesar what belongs to Caesar and we gladly do so.
I enjoyed reading about the Romanians, Thank you
I used to work on the railway, and there was a lot of young roumanians working there as labourers. A lot of the other people used to look down their noses at them, and they always referred to them as bosnians, which I thought was rather racist, as they wernt even interested in them enough to realise that Roumania and Bosnia are as different as Portugal and The Netherlands. People can be very ignorant sometimes. Thank you Petra for another very interesting article.
Hello always,
I am glad you enjoy it and I will be writing more about Romania in the future
Hello Chriotopher,
What can I say? People are so ignorant is not even funny anymore. I sometimes wonder if it may be possible that only when we occupay another country people learn about its existence. I bet you those people never knew about Bosnia until the Balkan war and for sure never heard of Messopotamia. Afganistan and its history is out of the question and so on
There is a Romanian proverb that says "if ignorance and stupidity would hurt, all we would hear is cry and laments" - I believe that to be true.
a very interesting and informative article, but then I would expect nothing less from your writing.
Hello Rebecca,
It has been for ever since I last saw you; so glad you are back. I know your personal attachement to the beautiful land of Transylvania and I know your efforts to bring light and truth about the disputed historical issues.
I wrote another hub about Transylvania, Dracula and Hollywood - for the same reason - trying to put things into perspective for the ones who really want to know. Hope you will keep it up as well.
Hi, Petra, it's great to see another side to Transylvania, compared to the usual myths and legends. i would love to visit there, just to see the modern culture. thanks nell
Thank you Nell,
Transylvania is beautiful, but should you decide to visit Romania, I would recommand to make it a priority to visit the monasteries build in the 13-14-15 century in the eastern - north part of Moldova and Bucovina.
Hi, I would love too, i remember reading a book about the monasteries, this is the sort of history that i love. cheers nell
Hello again Nell,
In the near future I will start a series of hubs about Moldavian Monasteries from a historic and cultural perspective. My only regret is that I have no idea how to link to a video, so I will only include pictures.
Thank you for this education. You're very descriptive in all your work. Thank you Petra!
A friend, Mark Boyd keeps webpages on the University of North Carolina Asheville and does bicycle trips all over the US, Canada, and Europe. Here is at least one link for Romania:
Micky dear,
tell your friend that the route they decided on for Romania is fantastic, especially the Transylvania and Maramures part.
Too bad they will not go to Bucovina - north of Moldavia where all the monasteries are - real worth visiting. Maybe in a next trip and I hope you will go then as well.
Thank you, Petra, for this hub about a region I visited so many times in the 1980s, and where I met so wonderful people. Looking forward to your next hubs about Romania.
Thanhk you nextstop,
So glad you came to visit me again. I am sure that for you this hub brought back memories of places and people.
I will be writing soon about the Monasteries of Moldavia and Bucovina
Good news, Petra, I visited these places too.
Great, so we will both go back in time and revisit memories
Well, I must admit I learned oodles and gobs from this hub since I knew almost nothing of Translyvania beforehand. Well, I did remember that it was associated with "werewolves" or "vampires" maybe...not sure which. How did that happen? WB
Hello Wayne,
The vampires story is a Hollywood distorted perspective; to get more information about the real facts you can read my hub "Transylvania, Dracula and Hollywood"
Hello Petra.It is sad that Transylvania is over shadowed by the stories of Dracula and vampires[Ive read that Vlad was a hero there for some time].I have only one Romanian friend and she embodies your description.This was eloquent and beautifuly writen.Thank you for broadening my horizons.
Dean
Hi Dean,
Happy to see you again. It is unfortunate that so many people only know the distorted story Hollywood presented them with. I wrote another hub about this, maybe if you get a chance to read it, will bring more information
Hi Petra, every thing is perfect, matter of fact and interesting,and to top it all Petra Vlah written all over it,nice one.
Hi suny,
I am glad you found it interesting, but I am not sure I understand what you mean about having "Petra Vlah written allover it" - it is a personal perspective after all, so it should reflect my view and part of my personality.
The important thing is that you liked it. I am prepering now a series of hubs about Romania so I hope you will come back and read more.
If you ask me for an explanation,I mean "the way you write your articles" and I shall come back to read all of them,go ahead.Thank you.
Thank you Suny, I thought so, but I was not sure
I never know about Transylvania before. But I believe this was beautiful land, like you said above. I learn much from you. Thanks for share with us. I rate this Up.
Prasetio
Thank you Prasetio
I appreciate your visit and comment. I will write more about Romania and hope you will be back
Well done Petra!A curious reflection of you and your place. I picture (because of old Hollywood movies I guess) that Translyvania is dark with lots of mossy old woods, is it that? I picture lots of old cottages and brick buildings, strange how just a name like Transylvania can stir up such images.
Best!
Ben
Hello Ben,
My reflection on Transylvania may be unique, but by no means “curious”. What is curious and surprising is that even a refined guy like you can get stack in the Hollywood legend of darkness that serves the purpose of scary vampire stories. I wrote a hub about this: http://hubpages.com/hub/Transylvania-Dracula-and-H so you may want to read it and get “the story” straight.
In reality Transylvania is a sunny plateau of rolling hills situated at about 1200 feet above sea level and has the mildest climate (being protected by mountains).
hamburghotels 23 months ago
Great culture..........great place,..great people