Sarmizegetusa Ulpia Traiana, Museum, Densuș Church, and the Round Church of Geoagiu
This excursion post is going to be mostly photos that we took during our excursion. Anything that I can tell you about these places we visited, is online. I highly encourage that you read about Sarmizegetusa Ulpia Traiana, it’s associated museum, Densuș Church and the round church of Geoagiu.
Even better, when (not if) you visit Romania, you can visit these amazing places yourself!
I will tell you one beautiful story that you will not find online. When we stopped by the round church of Geoagiu, the man in charge of the property showed us around. He had received his Ph.D in history in Cluj and had researched the history of Geoagiu during the Middle Ages among other places in the area. He moved back to Geoagiu after a few years and traded his academic life for a career running the church’s non-profit organization.
The church property holds summer camps for children and when we were visiting there was a group of kids there for guitar camp. The man let us climb up to the top of the round church, which I remember from when I was there years ago.
Anyways, we went into the main sanctuary where there are still services and a very old foot-crank operated organ could still be operated. The man was more than happy to let some of us (mainly Hannah) play the ancient organ because in his mind (and this is the lovely part) this space should be alive with music and it’s history should be shared and celebrated in the present.
It was really lovely to meet someone who wanted to share and experience Geoagiu’s history with us and I do not think I will ever forget that experience.
This was the theme of the day, we started our excursion at the Roman capital of Sarmizegetusa Ulpia Traiana and the museum, and ended up at Medieval churches built with repurposed Roman ruins and building materials. It was really amazing, the churches were beautiful and living, breathing pieces of history where today, visitors can see the trends and cultural norms affecting the buildings over the years.
Also, Hannah rocked the organ. Watch it on Aurel’s facebook page.
Apulum Roman Villa Project 