Romania's famous cities - Târgu Jiu

 

Yesterday I chose to write about Bucharest, being the economic center of theRomania, today I chose to write about "Brâncuși's city", a city that I consider fascinating, largely due to the works of the great sculptor, and not only.

Târgu Jiu is the municipality of residence of Gorj County, Oltenia, Romania which took its name from the stormy river Jiu which is crossed from north to south and which, over time, has moved its bed from Dealul Prejbei to west, forming three terraces that constitute the current territory of the locality. Before the conquest of Dacia by the Romans, the town was a village located on a territory with islands and forests, located between the rivers Jiu, Hodinau, Vojvodici, Putna and Paschia. He thus offered a good shelter to the inhabitants, whom he defended against outside invasions.

 The city is mentioned for the first time in 1406 under the name of "Jiul", in an order given to the Tismana monastery by the voivode Mircea cel Bătrân. Also in the 15th century, the locality appears for the first time in documents having the quality of a fair.

Ecaterina Teodoroiu, the heroine of the First World War, is a native of Vădeni, today a district of the city, who gave her life to defend the ancestral land during the battles of Marasesti in 1917. To honor her memory, as well as other Gorj heroes in 1937 was realized, under the leadership of Constantin Brâncuși, the monumental ensemble that became famous on all the meridians of the globe.

   

Points of atractions - Tourist objectives

 Museums

 Art Museum

 The Art Museum of Târgu Jiu is an institution located in Traian Street (Central Park).

The museum exhibits a collection of icons, wooden sculpture from the 17th - 18th centuries, modern Romanian painting (Mişu Pop, Corneliu Baba, Vasile Grigore) and sculpture (Rodica Popescu), donated.

 It operated, until 1992, in the premises of the Commercial High School, then it was assigned the former presidential residence, built in 1988.

   

Historic buildings and areas

 The trilogy of the Monumental Ensemble from Târgu Jiu

Infinity Column

The Infinity Column or The Endless Column is a sculpture by the Romanian artist Constantin Brâncuși, part of the trilogy of the Monumental Ensemble from Târgu Jiu, composed of the Infinity Column, the Kiss Gate and the Table of Silence conceived and executed by him. Inaugurated on October 27, 1938, the column has a height of 29.35 meters and is composed of 16 superimposed octahedral modules, respectively having at the lower and upper extremities half a module.

The sculpture is a stylization of the funerary columns specific to southern Romania. The original name was the Pillar of Endless Gratitude and was dedicated to the Romanian soldiers from the First World War who fell in 1916 in the battles on the banks of the Jiu.

  

Kiss Gate

The Kiss Gate is a stone sculpture, made by Constantin Brâncuși, part of the triptych of the Monumental Ensemble from Târgu Jiu. The work was placed in its place in October 1937 and was sculpted in the first part of 1938, being completed on September 20 and inaugurated on October 27, 1938.

The kiss gate, located on the alley at the entrance to the city park, is a chiseled trilith from the porous square, extracted from nearby quarries, and consists of two thick, parallelepiped columns that support an architrave larger than columns, take the width of 6.45 m, the height of 5.13 m and the thickness of 1.69 m. The kKss Gate looks like a triumphal arch, symbolizing the triumph of life over death.

  

Table of Silence

The Table of Silence is one of the three pieces of monumental sculpture of the Monumental Ensemble from Târgu Jiu by the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși. Also known as the Târgu-Jiu Monumental Ensemble, the ensemble is a tribute to the heroes who fell during the First World War. The three monumental sculptural components, the Table of Silence, the Kiss Gate and the Infinity Column, are arranged on the same axis, oriented from west to east, with a total length of 1,275 m.

The mass of silence, worked in stone by Banpotoc, represents the mass before the confrontation in the battle in which the combatants are to participate. Time is present, being represented by the circular arrangement of the 12 hourglass chairs, which measure it. The opera was made in 1937.

  

Ecaterina Teodoroiu Memorial House

 "Ecaterina Teodoroiu" Memorial House is a county museum in Târgu Jiu, located in B-dul Ecaterina Teodoroiu no. 270. In a monumental building of popular architecture, built at the end of the 19th century, are exhibited: original peasant interior furniture from the beginning of the 20th century, personal objects, photographs, facsimiles, books belonging to Ecaterina Teodoroiu, young teacher, volunteer in the First World War, who perished in the battles of Marasesti (1917).

The building is a monument of popular architecture, built in the late nineteenth century.

  

  

Ecaterina Teodoroiu Mausoleum

The Ecaterina Teodoroiu Mausoleum is a historical monument located on the territory of Târgu Jiu Municipality, located in Revolution Square, on the pedestrian alley, in front of the Gorj Prefecture building and the Holy Voivodes Church. Made in 1936, at the initiative of the Women's League from Gorj, the mausoleum of Ecaterina Teodoroiu from Târgu Jiu, is the work of the sculptor Milița Pătrașcu, and inside this monument are the remains of Ecaterina Teodoroiu.

The sarcophagus construction was made in 1936, at the initiative of the Women's League from Gorj, by the sculptor Milița Pătrașcu, and inside this monument were the remains of Ecaterina Teodoroiu. It is placed at floor level, being raised 3 steps from the elevation and is surrounded by a floral perimeter field that creates a protection zone of the monument.

The mausoleum is a sarcophagus, over 2 meters high, made of Italian travertine placed on a three-step pedestal.

  

Gănescu House

Gănescu Housein Târgu Jiu is one of the most important historical and architectural monuments in the Gorj county residence. The building dates from the 18th century, close to the Church of St. Voivodes and has been declared a monument of ancient architecture.

One of the inhabitants of this building was Constantin Brâncuși while supervising the installation of his own sculptures.

 

Church „St. Voievozi ”

The church „St. Voievozi ”from Târgu Jiu is a historical monument located on the territory of Târgu Jiu municipality.

The “Holy Voivodes” Church, located in Victoriei Square, in front of the Communal Palace, is the foundation of the merchants Dobre Sîrbu and Radu Cupetu whose portraits can be seen in the narthex. The construction was made between 1748-1764, the building being also known as the Church of the Merchants, the Princely Church and even the "Jii" Church. The plan of the church is in the shape of a cross. The construction has undergone several interventions over time that did not alter its original shape. In 1843, with the help of Pavel Kisseleff, the iconostasis was painted and beautified, and in 1855 the Byzantine-style painting was covered with Renaissance-style painting by the painter Misu Popp. 

 

Places for relaxation and fun 

Constantin Brâncuși Central Park

The “Constantin Brâncuși” Central Park in Târgu-Jiu is one of the main attractions of the Gorj county residence, because here are most of the works of art made by the great sculptor.

There is also a children's playground and a small amusement park in the city's public garden.

The public garden in Târgu Jiu (Central Park) was established in 1856, in the space of a secular dam on the left bank of the Jiu. In 2004 the sculptural ensemble from Tg-Jiu was inscribed on the UNESCO list.

 

  

  

  

Don't you want to come to "Brâncuși's city" as well?

Romania's cities are worth discovering, you just have to want to discover their beauty and history.

Any uploading of these photos is prohibited without citing the source. You can take a maximum of 500 characters from this article, the condition is to specify and visibly insert the link of the article.