The man of the past, from time immemorial, felt the
\nneed to bequeath to the future generations signs of his presence in this world.
\nUntil writing was discovered, man expressed his thoughts through rupestrian
\ndrawings, or through several objects, adorned or painted. When writing proper
\nappeared, messages and thoughts for posterity became more elaborated, enabling
\nus to know more about the perceptions of the past. As for the messages carved
\nin stone, they were among the most perennial ones, standing the test of time to
\nthis day. When we speak about the messages carved in stone, what mainly comes
\nto mind is the ancient period, with its spectacular temples, statues, and
\ntombs. However, apart from the ancient period, in timeframes closer to our
\ntimes, texts carved in stone are quite a few and no less important, at that.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In 19th century Romanian
\nsociety, the force of the messages carved in stone was impressive, especially
\nwhen we speak about the messages engraved on crosses. In the city of Bucharest
\ntwo centuries ago, stone immortalized what then the Bucharesters thought it was
\nworth reminiscing. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cezar Buiumaci is a museographer
\nwith the museum of Bucharest Municipality. Also, he is a hunter of the city’s
\nstone crosses and of the messages engraved on them. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cezar Buiumaci:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the present research I found two crosses we seem to have lost track
\nof. We’re speaking about Ioan
\nPometcovici’s cross, a fountain cross in the Ferentari neighborhood and which
\ntoday can be found in the Bellu cemetery, at the tomb of general Gheorghe Br\u0103tianu.
\nIt was a fountain cross that changed its purpose, becoming a funeral cross.
\nThat is the model, a matrix, just as it happens with all crosses around
\nBucharest. The other cross is Miloradovici’s cross, another cross which is a reminder
\nof Russian troops’ win over the Turks. General Miloradovici was the one who
\nsucceeded to have the battle sidestep Bucharest and was thus dubbed the savior
\nof Bucharest. A cross was erected in remembrance of that, it was a cross that
\ncan be found on the Patriarchate Hill, close to the belfry. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nstrongest messages carved in the stones of 19th century Bucharest are
\nthose carved on crosses. The cross is one of the oldest universal symbols that existed
\nbefore Christianity. However, it was Christianity that brought the cross center-stage.
\nThe four arms of the cross signify the great axes of the world and the physical
\ncoordinates underlying man’s endeavor to build hid own material world. So the
\ncross was the basic element on which messages for eternity could be drawn or
\nwritten in a concise manner. For instance, on Tanase the Shoemaker’s Cross which
\ntoday can be found in Ferentari neighborhood, located in the south-west of
\nBucharest, the Biblical scene of the Annunciation can be seen. The profile of kneeling
\nVirgin Mary is to the right, while to the left, Archangel Gabriel can be seen
\nstanding. A bunch of rays signifying the presence of the Holy Ghost is drawn
\nabove. The inscription is in Romanian, but it is written in the Cyrillic
\nalphabet, still in use in 1829, the year when the cross and the water fountain were built. The inscription runs as follows: With the mercy and help of the one who in
\nTrinity is most glorified, God, this cross was erected, to the glory of the
\nAnnunciation of the Purest Mother, and this water fountain was also built.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A key aspect of the messages carved
\nin stone is made not only by the abstract side of life, but also by its
\nmaterial side, a fountain, in our case. Cezar Buiumaci emphasizes the bond
\nbetween spirit and matter in the messages he found on Bucharest’s stone crosses, which he studied. One such cross is that in the Putul cu Tei street, which
\ncan be found in Bucharest’s present-day neighborhood, Berceni.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cezar Buiumaci:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The cross in the Bellu district was placed, according to
\nvarious authors, in the time of the pandours, in 1821, or in the time of the eighteen
\nforty-eight revolutionaries. The truth lies somewhere in between, it was
\ncommissioned in 1831. It is a fountain cross, erected on a greenfield land on the Putul cu Tei street, lying a couple of meters away. It was
\ncustomary for a tree to be planted and for a cross to be erected, whenever a
\nfountain was dug. It was a gesture of great humaneness to offer water to the thirsty
\ntraveler, at a time when water supply networks did not exist. Concurrently, the fountains
\nhad the economic function of providing water to the livestock or for irrigation.
\nThere where this cross was found, the vineyards site began, on the Vineyards
\nHill. The story usually went like this: the traveler would arrive, he would
\nquench his thirst and sit in the shade. That is how he took the time to read the diptych
\nthose who erected the cross had inscribed on it. Thus they organized their own
\nalms when they were still alive.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The messages found on stone crosses
\nare messages of gratitude, yet they are also message of triumph, such as the
\none on the cross erected by Wallachian ruling prince Leon Voda, in 1631, by
\nmeans of which he marked his win over the enemy. There are also messages inscribed
\nas a lament for the departed ones whom someone held most dear, such as the
\nmessage on the cross of the great boyar Papa Br\u00e2ncoveanu, who was killed in
\n1655 during an uprising. Such an example is one of the many examples available.
\nWe can thus view diversity as a stone-carved chronicle of Bucharest history. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Stone-carved inscriptions on crosses as rich historical evidence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":588418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[116702,34925,34334,92409,43303],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-621909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia","tag-chronicle","tag-cross","tag-history","tag-inscription","tag-stone"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n