The first capital of Wallachia, the town of Câmpulung Muscel will be certified as a Tourist Resort of National Interest by the summer of this year. A few more procedural steps are needed to make this status a reality.
Câmpulung Muscel was the capital of Wallachia for four decades PHOTO Câmpulung City Hall
Currently, according to the data on the website of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, 54 localities in Romania are certified as Tourist Resorts of National Interest, most of them -12- being from Constanța county.
The documentation for Campulung Muscel has already been completed, and the next step consists of the interministerial approval and a Government Decision and a Local Council Decision.
And the advantages of this status are numerous. “Both the mayor's office and economic agents can receive non-refundable funding from the Ministry of Tourism for the development of tourism infrastructure. Another advantage: you have a higher score when you want to access non-refundable European funds for projects related to the development of tourism. Economic agents can access funds to build hotels, guesthouses”declared the mayor Elena Lasconi for “Adevărul”.
From the year 1330, after the victory at Posada against the King of Hungary Carol Robert, Basarab I, the first ruler of the independent state of Wallachia, established his seat at Campulung. Campulung thus became, for almost four decades, the political and administrative center of the state. In 1369, the ruler Vladislav I Vlaicu, successor to the throne of Nicolae Alexandru, the son of the great Besarab, moved the country's capital to Curtea de Argeş. Campulung Muscel is home to numerous tourist attractions of great historical importance.
“There is a lot to see in Câmpulung, but most importantly there is a lot to feel, to experience. Religious tourism can be done. We have many monasteries and churches with a great spiritual charge and with extraordinary true stories”says mayor Elena Lasconi.
The unique feudal complex
A few hundred meters from the town hall, in the town of Câmpulung Muscel, you can visit a unique feudal complex, dating from the 14th century. It is about the Bărătia ensemble.
The Bărăţia religious monumental ensemble (XIV century), a historical architectural monument of national interest, is composed of three distinct objectives: the “St. Jacob” Church, the Bărăţiei Tower and the Parish House.
The ensemble was built by Franciscan monks from Transylvania, who settled in the city. The “Saint Jacob” church is the oldest building in this ensemble, being interesting for the presence of the well-known slab of the Laurentiu de Longo Campo Committee, dated 1300, located inside, under the altar.
The funerary slab is the oldest medieval epigraphic document in Wallachia and, at the same time, the first written mention of the town of Câmpulung.
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Also close to the city center is the Negru Vodă monastery, which houses the oldest funerary slab of a Romanian ruler.
In its original form, the place of worship was founded at the beginning of the 13th century. In 1628, the monastery was damaged by an earthquake. Matei Basarab, the second founder of the monastery, rebuilt from the ground up the place destroyed after the devastating earthquake of 1628, transforming the mir church into a monastery of monks.
In the church is the birth certificate of Romania. “At the entrance to the church, on the western wall, you can see an inscription in Slavonic, the birth certificate of the Wallachia, announcing that the edifice was built “initially by Radu Negru, in 1215, by Basarab I the Great, son of Negru Vodă, and finished by Nicolae Alexandru Basarab”, buried here. In the southern part of the pronaos, you can see the oldest slab of a ruler from Wallachia, which covers the tomb of Nicolae Alexandru. The inscription announces the date of death – November 16, 1364″says Cristian Cocea, director of the County Directorate for Culture, Cults and Heritage Argeş.
Nicolae Alexandru, the son of Basarab I, ruled the Wallachia between 1352 and 1364. According to some Turkish chronicles, Nicolae Alexandru was the first Romanian ruler to participate in the anti-Ottoman battles.
The only city in our country with dozens of stone crosses on the streets
The town of Câmpulung Muscel is a unique case in Romania. On the streets of this city, for more than four centuries, 37 impressive votive crosses, carved in stone from Albeşti, erected in crossroads, testify even today about man, road and faith.
The 37 monuments make the former capital of Romania a unique case in Romania. Made of Albeşti nummulitic limestone, used since ancient times by stonemasons, the votive crosses were erected between 1576 and 1868 in the old quarters of the city, at the crossroads of important roads.
A customs point between Wallachia and Transylvania, Câmpulungul was for a long time on one of the main trade routes connecting Europe with Greece and the Ottoman Empire. Dozens of streets started from this road to the localities neighboring the town. In 1576, large stone crosses began to be erected at these crossroads, so that passers-by would not deviate from the right path.
“I want us to value and protect the votive crosses through European funds”says Elena Lasconi.
And also in Campulung Muscel, right at the entrance to the city, there is another very interesting objective. It is the Romanian Automobile Museum, inaugurated on July 19, 2014, where a total of over 60 exhibits can be seen, of which 15 are ARO IMS and ARO. The most special model is a unique one: ARO 16, manufactured in a single copy.
“The status of Tourist Resort of National Interest, a dream that I have been working on for several years with my team, is a huge step for the development of the city for the next ten years. For now, Campulung is a transit city. In a maximum of two years it will be on weekends. Through European funds we will develop the infrastructure and I think that in 5-6 years it will be a destination for a week's stay. Miracles don't happen overnight, but if we work every day on this, Câmpulung will become a European tourist landmark”adds Elena Lasconi.
After Campulung Muscel will be certified as a tourist resort of national interest, the local authorities will start the steps for the town to be certified as a balneoclimatic tourist resort. Here is the complex of the Krețulescu baths, a historical monument in Câmpulung that once attracted thousands of tourists from all over Europe. The ensemble has been in disrepair for several decades. The two monumental buildings were built between 1897 and 1905 following the discovery of weakly mineralized springs in the park of the same name, then located in the north of the city. The name of the complex comes from Nicolae Kretzulescu, former Prime Minister of Romania, on whose initiative it was built.
“I want to bring Kretulescu Baths back to life, to have a premium SPA”Elena Lasconi also specifies.
