2021-06-27 18h16 Carta (Sibiu) Manastirea Cisterciana
Carta (Sibiu County): Cistercian monastery
The city and monastery of Carta are located 43 km from Sibiu on the road to Brasov. Here are preserved the ruins of the Cistercian monastery, one of the oldest and most important monuments of the primitive Gothic church in Transylvania. The Cistercians are a monastic order originating in France and widespread in several countries.
The Carta Cistercian Abbey played a major role in the political, economic and cultural history of medieval Transylvania, as well as in the introduction but also in the dissemination of Gothic art in the inter-Carpathian space.
The monastery was founded in the years 1205-1206 by King Andrew II of Hungary.
The beginnings of the monastery are confirmed with the erection of its first buildings, used, as the Cistercians used it, from perishable materials, that is to say wood. These can be dated with relative certainty between the years 1205-1206.
The stone parts of the monastery will be erected between the years 1220 and the end of 1230. The construction of the monastery was carried out in two main phases of execution, chronologically interrupted by the great Tatar invasion of 1241.
In the first phase of construction, which has stylistic characteristics dependent on the late Romanesque, the general plan of the monastery was drawn, the walls delimiting its inner courtyard being raised to a height of 3-4m above the ground.
In 1260, after the assassination caused by the Mongol invasion in the spring of 1241, construction work will resume under the direction of a new architect, trained in the environment of mature Gothic, and with the contribution of a workshop of stone with an eclectic structure.
By 1300, the church and the eastern wing of the Charter Monastery were completed, with the completion and construction of the southern wing of the abbey continuing for approximately two decades.
The fierce struggles with the Ottomans from 1421 to 1432 and the decline of the order made the church and its monastery a ruin. This also led to its closure by King Mathias Corvin in 1474.
However, the west facade is still standing and above the Gothic portal is a large rose window. The tower attached to the facade was built later, in the middle of the 15th century, and its transformation into a bell tower took place later.
Currently, the monastery no longer has all the original buildings and annexes, many of which collapse. The vaults of the huge church have collapsed and there are only a few exterior walls and two interior beams (south and north). To the south, there is still a single Roman column, and the side ships, according to the Cistercian plan, end in a small square choir. The main ship no longer has a ceiling - in its place is a cemetery in memory of the German soldiers killed in the First World War.
The Reformed Church today occupies only the choir and the apse of the old basilica. The Gothic portal has probably been moved from a side entrance and its profile betrays Gothic influences.
Numerous examples of the tombs of the founders of Cistercian churches allow the existence of a royal necropolis under Carta.
2021-06-27 18h16 Carta (Sibiu) Manastirea Cisterciana
Carta (Sibiu County): Cistercian monastery
The city and monastery of Carta are located 43 km from Sibiu on the road to Brasov. Here are preserved the ruins of the Cistercian monastery, one of the oldest and most important monuments of the primitive Gothic church in Transylvania. The Cistercians are a monastic order originating in France and widespread in several countries.
The Carta Cistercian Abbey played a major role in the political, economic and cultural history of medieval Transylvania, as well as in the introduction but also in the dissemination of Gothic art in the inter-Carpathian space.
The monastery was founded in the years 1205-1206 by King Andrew II of Hungary.
The beginnings of the monastery are confirmed with the erection of its first buildings, used, as the Cistercians used it, from perishable materials, that is to say wood. These can be dated with relative certainty between the years 1205-1206.
The stone parts of the monastery will be erected between the years 1220 and the end of 1230. The construction of the monastery was carried out in two main phases of execution, chronologically interrupted by the great Tatar invasion of 1241.
In the first phase of construction, which has stylistic characteristics dependent on the late Romanesque, the general plan of the monastery was drawn, the walls delimiting its inner courtyard being raised to a height of 3-4m above the ground.
In 1260, after the assassination caused by the Mongol invasion in the spring of 1241, construction work will resume under the direction of a new architect, trained in the environment of mature Gothic, and with the contribution of a workshop of stone with an eclectic structure.
By 1300, the church and the eastern wing of the Charter Monastery were completed, with the completion and construction of the southern wing of the abbey continuing for approximately two decades.
The fierce struggles with the Ottomans from 1421 to 1432 and the decline of the order made the church and its monastery a ruin. This also led to its closure by King Mathias Corvin in 1474.
However, the west facade is still standing and above the Gothic portal is a large rose window. The tower attached to the facade was built later, in the middle of the 15th century, and its transformation into a bell tower took place later.
Currently, the monastery no longer has all the original buildings and annexes, many of which collapse. The vaults of the huge church have collapsed and there are only a few exterior walls and two interior beams (south and north). To the south, there is still a single Roman column, and the side ships, according to the Cistercian plan, end in a small square choir. The main ship no longer has a ceiling - in its place is a cemetery in memory of the German soldiers killed in the First World War.
The Reformed Church today occupies only the choir and the apse of the old basilica. The Gothic portal has probably been moved from a side entrance and its profile betrays Gothic influences.
Numerous examples of the tombs of the founders of Cistercian churches allow the existence of a royal necropolis under Carta.