After the parade we continued to Council Square known as Piața Sfatului in Romanian and former Marktplatz in German. It has been the place for annual markets since 1364, being visited by merchants from the country and abroad. The middle of the square, was used as a means for public humiliation, punishment and scorn. Witches were also punished here. The most important building in the square is the Council House, which was built in 1420 and is located in the middle of the square. The Old Town, including the Black Church and main square or Council Square, features medieval buildings in different architectural styles. A local tradition holds that the children that the Pied Piper of Hamelin (Germany) sent underground appeared near this square.
It was a Sunday and it was church going time, so we stopped inside a church, it was so beautiful to see the people attending, and the church itself. We also saw a bunch of gypsies, couldn't resist taking pictures of some of this beautiful people.
Don't miss out the video on the bottom of the page of traditional Romanian dance
At this point we all got scattered all over the place, and we couldn't find my aunt Stella, so we can continue on our tour. She was nowhere to be found. We started to really worry where can she be, and all of a sudden we see her coming with a big bag of bread to feed the birds. That's our Stella :)
In the picture below is The coat of arms. Brasov– Solomon’s crown with oak roots, each representing one of the 32 villages of Brasov County. It is said that Solomon was a Hungarian king that was cursed by his mother for killing her other son. The spell would kill Solomon the first time he would be noticed by a commoner, and so he ran away and reached the Gates of Brasov. To his misfortune, he met a shepherd in the mountains and once he was seen, a lightning stroke the land behind him and thus he fell into the abyss along with his horse. Before the curse to be fulfilled, Solomon hid his crown close to a tree that became the symbol of Brasov. A document written in 1901 states that a villager went into the forest to gather wood and found Solomon’s crown by chance. He handed it to the village mayor and later kept in the Black Church.
Out tour guide Daniel, telling us the history of Council Square.
This all trip I wanted to see Gypsies, I was so happy I was able to see gypsies here. They were not in their tradition gypsy cloths, but I was very happy. I asked if I can take pictures and they were ok with that.
I even got cursed by this gypsy in the pic below, the one time I didn't ask permission to take a picture, and I get cursed.I guess I deserved it, I should know better. I got so freaked out, I asked Daniel our guide to take me to the market to buy a bunch of garlic and chilly peppers, to make a neckless to put around my neck. I don't think they took me very seriously, but I was serious :) Now I can check this off my list, "Got cursed by a Gypsy".
In the picture below is Strada Sforii, meaning "String Street", is the narrowest street in the city of Brașov, Romania. It is believed to be one of the narrowest streets in Europe
Below is the beautiful Brașov, Neolog synagogue. The first Jew families settled in Brasov in 1807. There were 769 jewish people in 1890, while at the end of the last century there were around 6000 Jews. During WWII the Jews were safe in Brasov, they were not sent to death camps, though many of them were despised, excluded from commercial life, children were banned from schools, and in 1941 the synagogue was robbed. Though, at the beginning the Jews in Brasov got the jobs that the Saxons did not want: they worked as hatmakers, tailors, painters, goldsmiths.They played an important role in the economic, commercial and cultural life of the town. The highbrows became entrepreneurs, architects, factory-, and newspaper owners . . .and just how small the world is, the wife of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli minister of foreign affairs, is from Brasov. The three-nave synagogue in Black street was built in 1901 in Spanish style and was renovated on its centenary.
National Folklore Festival of Children and teenagers.
