Magazine 4 - danube

www.danube-bike.eu
Danube velo route
‘
March - May 2011
4th edition
Wine tasting and culinary art Festival
Cetate Cultural Harbour
The history of Cetate
Cultural Harbour
Cetate Cultural Harbour was
founded in 1997 when Mircea
Dinescu discovered the ruins of
an agricultural port on the
Danube and had the
magnificent idea to turn it into
a haven of art and a
"multinational port of
culture". This abandoned
place became cultural port
that brings together people
from all over Europe with
programs for writers and
artists, filmmakers, workshops
and literacy meeting. Cultural
Harbour Cetate was born from
"the ash of the old grain port "
which was founded in 1880
AT A GLANCE
An old woman peels tomatos in order to prepare
a spicy tomato soup
A “flying” monument
in Cetate
Page.2, 3 - Port of Culture
of Cetate
Page 4, 5 - Medieval
castle "Cherven"
Page. 6, 7 - Ivanovo
Rock Churches
One of the unique exhibits
of the port
March - May 2011
DANUBE VELO ROUTE | 2
Port of Culture
Film tasters and culinary art Festival
Film tasters and culinary art Festival
Each year in September, filmmakers
from Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia and
Turkey participate at the Film tasters and
culinary art Festival.
Thus Cetate Port was called by the
participants for one week "Balcanopolis".
At Cetate, the days pass one by one, and
the Balkan cinematography is revealed
slowly to the audience and guests. Each
participating country presents films made
for this event, the first presented films
being the Romanian ones.
And because the festival is not just about
films but also about food, the gastronomic
art has been brought to Cetate by the
Taverna Sarbului from Turnu Severin.
They speak to the visitors about some of
the secrets of Serbian cuisine, then many
dishes were tasted: a pepper baked
beans, baked cabbage, “turtoi” (a kind of
Romanian polenta with corn flour and egg
and eaten with sour cream and used
instead of bread). Cheesecake (the
difference between the Romanian and
Serbian Serbian is made by the sheet
does) and pumpkin, a stew (“pesalnita”)
with a lot of vegetables, spicy sauce and
grilled pork. Very much desired and tasted
is the “plescavita” - typical Serbian food and
grilled pork sausages.
After the great meal followed a series of
spectacles and discutions with the public,
different documentary films projections,
discussions about intercultural music, culture,
poetry, fine arts. After the films, guests were able
to attend concerts and had the opportunity to
taste Balkan special dishes prepared by the
organizers. Film tasters and culinary art Festival
first edition “Balcanii” had one day dedicated to
one Balkan country (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey
Spicy tomato soup
3 | ДУНАВСКИ ВЕЛО МАРШРУТ
March - May 2011
In Cetate
little known, although representative for SouthEastern Europe. During the festival, "Roosters
have played in all languages ​
​
of the Balkans".
Organizers promised that in the next years
the festival will develop attracting gastronomy
and cinematographic art along the Danube from
its source to the delta.
Museum of culture in Cetate
and Romania).
Every day, guests enjoyed movies from every
country and were served traditional dishes of
the respective area. The festival does not have
a competitive nature, but aims to promote
knowledge and Balkan cinema, which have
seen strong development in the last period,
recognized by the juries of big international
events.
Cetate is a curious settlement
Situtated on the beach in the western part of
the Danube. It's famous not only for being a
center of art near Calafat, where annually are
held various local and international film festivals
and culinary tastings with folk music and
dances... but also for being the cultural gate of
Romania where tourism combine with arts. It's
impressive to meet you here at a picnic in front of
the museum houses on a meadow with
whimsical sculptures and figures facing the river
and treat you with typical mild Romanian brandy
“tsuyka” greaves from fresh meat, vegetable
soup and salad, garden vegetables with
strained cheese. The people who regularly
gather here are writers, artists and musicians.
On 15 hectares they cultivate grapes and make
appetizers for the homemade wine and tsuyka
from ember roasted grounded eggplants,
peppers and tomatoes.
Over 100 filmmakers from Romania, Albania,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Grecia, Macedonia, Serbia,
Slovenia and Turcia were present at the Cetate
Cultural Port and discussed with the audience
about new unconventional ways to promote
films and to attract more spectators both in
Romania and the rest of the Balkans.
The festival brings together young people
(Macedonians, Serbs, Székely, Macedo,
Romania), virtuosity and cultural values ​
​
still
Port of Culture in Cetate
March - May 2011
DANUBE VELO ROUTE | 4
Cherven
The medieval town Cherven is one of the most significant
military, administrative, economic, religious and cultural
centers of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (XII-XIVv.).
It is the successor of a early Byzantine fortress of VI century.
It has a fortified inner city located on a high rock and
unprotected access at the foot.
In this acient city are discovered monumental fortifications, a
large castle, streets, two underground water passages,
churches, public, military, commercial and residential buildings,
equipment for iron mining, etc.
It was declared an archaeological reserve
Medieval Town Cherven
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March - May 2011
March - May 2011
DANUBE VELO ROUTE | 6
Ivanovo rock churches
In the only open to visitors
church dating 1350-60 and carved
into a natural cave there was a
wooden iconostasis, an altar, a
side chapel and a nave. In the
region there are numerous
churches, forming a whole
monastery complex, which was a
monastery for men in 1170. There
served between 84 to 100 monks.
At the end of the 11th and early
12th century in the Orthodox
Church was born the movement
“isihaza” and hesychia translated
from Greek means silence,
solitude. When the monks
hesychasts came in the valley of
Roussenski Lom they found in the
rocks many small karst caves,
which were subsequently enlarged
and extended only with the help of
chisel and hammer. Then they
plastered the walls and ceiling.
The method of painting is
“fresco”, which is repeated
application of paint on the still
wet plaster. The layers of paint
reached the number of 18. After
repeated deposition and
absorption the still damp and wet
plaster becomes saturated with
the colors of the frescoes. Paints
are mineral and are derived only
from nature. The frescoes were
painted in 1357-8 and the
monastery had religious activity
by the mid 16th century before
being abandoned. The main reason
for leaving the monastery is the
structure of the rocks, which are
View of the only church in the rock complex open to visitors
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March - May 2011
limestone, sedimentary rocks, easy to
work with, but also very vulnarable to
erosion. All cracks we see today indicate
that the caves started falling apart due to
the extensive digging of their inhabitants.
All paintings are scenes from the Bible
and New Testament and depict scenes
from the life of Jesus - The Annunciation,
Nativity, Transfiguration, Baptism in the
Jordan River, Descent into Hell, entry into
Jerusalem, Last Supper, Doubting Thomas,
Prayer in the Getseman Garden, kiss of
Judah, Whipping of Christ, Ascension,
Descent from the Cross, Pilate washes his
hands, Peter dresses three times until the
first cock crows, the return of the thirty
silver coins, self-hanging of Judah, the he
beheading of John the Baptist,
Salome dancesin front of the
king, the image of Tsar Ivan
Alexander and his second wife
Sarah Theodora, holding a
model of this rock church and
presenting it to the Virgin Mary,
who is also patron of the church.
The entire monastery is called
St. Michael and is included in
UNESCO list in 1979.
The church is open to visitors
every day and the entrance is
4lv for groups and 3lv for
individuals.
Biblical scenes from the frescoes in the church
March - May 2011
DANUBE VELO ROUTE | 8
View at the lake, "nebuno" in the heart of the Danube Delta
Agency for regional development and Business center Vidin, Bulgaria
Address: 77 Hristo Botev Street, Vidin, Bulgaria
Phone/fax: 00359 94 600 0017; 00359 94 600 0018
E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.bcvidin.org
Investing in your future!
Romania - Bulgaria Cross Border Cooperation Programme2007-2013 is co-financed by the
European Union through the European Regional Development Fund
Project title “Danube Velo route”
Editor of the material: Agency for regional development and Business center Vidin, Bulgaria
Date of publishing: June 2011
The content of this material does not necessarily represent the official position of the European Union.
www.cbcromaniabulgaria.eu