Curtea de Arges

bout 130 km northwest of Bucharest, Curtea de Arges is a town held dear by many Romanians. A city with a great past, it succeeded Cîmpulung as capital of feudal Walachia. The ruins of St. Nicoara church (late 13^th century) and the church of St. Nicholas, one of the oldest churches in Walachia, with an exceptional ensemble of interior frescoes, are witnesses to the rich history of these places.

ut Curtea de Arges is also a place of pilgrimage for many Romanians. Here stands a legendary church built in the 16^th century under the rule of king Neagoe Basarab. The story goes that the king wanted to build a church to be unmatched in beauty throughout the world. For this great task he hired the best builders. The chief of these master builders was Manole. They started building, but everything they erected during the day, fell apart during the night. Then they knew there was a curse upon them. One night Manole had a dream. A man appeared in his sleep and told him that in order to complete the building successfully, the builders had to build someone dear inside the wall of the church. Manole woke up and told his fellow workers about the dream. In great sadness, they agreed they had to do this. They decided to wait for their wives, that brought them food everyday at noon. The first one to come was to be built alive in the wall. But Manole's fellows cheated on him and told their wives not to come to bring them food the next day. Manole kept his word and didn't tell his wife, so Ana was the only one to come at noon. Devastated, Manole started asking God for mercy. He implored for a strong wind to blow and stop his wife on her way. A storm started, but the gusting wind, rain and lightning didn't stop his faithful wife. When she arrived to the spot, Manole pretended he wanted to play a game and build a wall around his wife. Amused, she accepted. He started building, and as the wall grew taller, she realized he wasn't going to stop and it was not a game. She started crying and imploring him to spare her. In great grief, Manole finished the wall. When the building was done, the king came and realized that indeed, it was the most beautiful church on the face of the Earth. He congratulated the master builders and asked them if they thought they could erect an even more beautiful church. Conceitedly, they said they could. Then the king, fearing that another ruler could hire them to make that church, took away the ladders, leaving the builders on the roof, with no food, no water and no way to come down. After a few desperate days, they started building wooden wings, hoping they could fly to the ground, but they all crashed and died. The last one to jump was Manole himself. He died and on the place where he fell, a spring of salty water emerged, from the tears cried for his lost beloved wife. Nowadays, the story says, if you listen carefully, you can still hear Ana crying from inside the wall.