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Travel Pictures #18
Travel Pictures #18 - Curtea de Argeș, Romania - Sep 2012

by Colin Reilly

The cathedral of Curtea de Argeș was first constructed in the 1500s under the patronage of Prince Neagoe Basarab. It has undergone several repairs and reconstructions, the latest being completed in the 1885. The building is of a Byzantine style and sits upon a stone pedestal that raises above the surrounding ground. The exterior is constructed predominantly of limestone.

A number of legends surround the construsction of the cathedral, one suggest that whilst being held captive in Constantinople Prince Neagoe designed a magnificent mosque for the Sultan, however he deliberately ordered more construction materail than was required and used the left over materail to construct the cathedral. Another version is that after Prince Neagoe defeated the Ottomans in battle he took the building material as loot and returned to build the material.

A further legend is that the architect told the Prince after completing the construction that he could design and build an even greater structure. Not wanting his new cathedral to be outshone he left the architect and his mason stranded on the cathedral roof to die. The architect and the masons tried to build wings made from wood so as to fly off the roof but fell to their death.


 
Curtea de Argeș cathedral
Curtea de Argeș cathedral
Click to view a larger image
 

 
 
Technical Information
Canon EOS 60D
Camera
Sigma18-200
Lens
21mm
Focal Length
6.3
F Stop
1/160
Shutter Speed
100
Iso Number
 
 

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