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THE CHILDREN OF THE PIED-PIPER OF HAMELYN: the ROMANIAN END, in TRANSYLVANIA Once upon a time, in 1284, the tiny town of Hamelyn (Hameln) in Westfalia was invaded by rats and mice. Nothing worked - no traps, no cats, no poison. Till a stranger came and offered to rid the town of the pest. A price was agreed and the stranger played a magic tune coercing the rats and mice to follow him into the river Weser, where they drowned. The happy inhabitants started to sing and dance, forgetting about payment. The Piper left the town only to return one early morning, very early. He played a different magic tune and 130 children rose in their nightgowns and followed the Piper to a near-by hill, Koppenberg, which opened up to receive them, then closed.
This metaphor of the departure of groups of Saxons, Luxemburgers, Flanders to faraway lands in eastern Europe - is a treasured legend of mankind. One day, though, in 1819, the brothers Grimm announced - in their "Deutsche Sagen" - that the Children did not perish, they surfaced somewhere in Transylvania. "In their relative seclusion, the Lower Saxons who have emigrated to Transylvania about 700 years ago, preserved the oral traditions purer and more folk-like than us (in Germany)" - said Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Then a Transylvanian priest serving with the Black Church in Brasov, Friederich Mueller, followed Grimm's advice to write down the oral tales while people still remembered them. He toured Saxon communities in Transylvania and published a little-known book, "Siebenburgische Sagen" (Tales of Transylvania) which mentions, under Tale No. 141 (in brief): "We, Germans of Transylvania, are the children taken by the Pied-piper from Hamelyn, and we traveled a long time under the ground (in the unknown) and emerged in the middle of Transylvania through the cave of Meresti in the Varghis Gorge - then spread to our seven cities and many villages". # # # # # # # # 900 years apart, "Best Tours of Transylvania" re-discovered the cave of Meresti in the middle of Transylvania, Romania - in a wild place, a karstic area with 125 other caves. The Meresti is the longest (over 1 kilometre), in its primeval state, with mounds of bat-guano and fallen rocks from the ceiling. The enormous entrance, which can room a church, narrows to a trickle, then broadens up again, inside. The remains of a mediaeval wall at the entrance show that the villagers sent their elderly, women and children, and cattle, inside the cave - whenever the Turks or the Tartars roamed in the neighbourhood. Follow into the footsteps of the Children of Hamelyn, as they emerged in the middle of the Varghis Gorge, Transylvania. Blinking, weary and dirty, they must have washed in the clear waters of the Varghis stream, then rested on the grass, in a meadow. Then they spread to their future seven cities and many villages. Some, nevertheless, surfaced in the winter. In the village of Nades, for instance, the Saxon children - dressed in robes, with a rope tied around the waist, march every February toward their church, led by a drummer (leader, piper). When asked what they are doing, they say they re-enact their arrival 850 years ago, crossing the river on ice, as there were no bridges at the time. What has become of the Children of the Pied-piper? Let's enter the legend. DAY 1: GATHERING DAY • If you come into Romania by train: the gathering place is called Sinaia, • If you arrive by plane: the BTT will transfer you to Sinaia directly from • Welcoming cocktail and briefing, followed by dinner and overnight in • The main language is English, with interpreters for Spanish, Italian, DAY 2: The Cave of emergence: MERESTI, in the middle of Transylvania • Cross the Carpathians into Transylvania • We are joined by a cave explorer who knows the way to Meresti. Leave all • The rocky gates of the Varghis Gorge will stop our bus. Prepare to walk
You will be invited to step inside the dark halls of the cave, past guano mounds, listening to dropping water, to the occasional flutter of a bat's wing and to your heart beat. Then to emerge - just like the Children did 900 years ago - in the middle of Transylvania. That afternoon you'll set up camp on the meadow at the gate of the Gorge - tent, mattress, sleeping-bag, wood for the camp fire, basket-food, watched - no doubt - by the curious eyes of the deer, bears and wild-boars. Shepherd dogs might wait for a treat, in dignified posture. If the time is right, pick your berries and fish for your trout in the Varghis stream. That's what the Children must have done. DAY 3: the first village of the Children in Transylvania The Pied-piper settled the Children in parts of southern and central Transylvania. A handful of them founded the village of Viscri, watched by the curious Romanians and the first Szecklers who had just arrived there, too,- as they marched in the dusty road toward their location. The population were small at that time and much of the land laid virgin, baren.
DAY 4: CHILD of the PIED-PIPER Today we shall put you to work. Some may choose to cut or turn the hay in the field, to dry. Others may choose the care of horses, cows, sheep, geese. Others still may wish to learn Saxon cuisine, helping with the meals. There is something to do for everyone - knitting socks, sweeping fallen leaves, gathering fruits in the orchard, repairing tools, cutting wood or tending tombs in the cemetery of the first Children, under the walls of the fortified church.
DAY 5: the best-preserved mediaeval town in Europe belongs to the Children Transylvania has 140 villages and 7 towns inhabited by the Children of the Pied-piper of Hamelyn (generically known as Saxons).
DAY 6: the "WITCH-TRIAL" and other marvels The Catholic parts of Transylvania had their share of witch-trials, in the hundreds (the last took place as near as 1753).
DAY 7: the GLORY TIME of the CHILDREN From humble villages and towns, through hard work (privileges helped) the Children rose to economic and political pre-eminence in Transylvania. Their manufactured goods reached far away markets in the Middle East. Such riches attracted attacks by Turks and Tartars, leading to sophisticated defence systems. DAY 8: Crown your tour with a Nobility Title You have crossed 900 years of history in one week. The afternoon is free - unless you wish (optional event) to add a nobility title to your name (there is a difference between Mr. or Mrs. Johnson and Sir or Lady Johnson, wouldn't you say?). This title cannot be bought, it is based on personal merit. You will be initiated into Knightly Orders, then taken to the Citadel in Brasov, a 16 century fortress, where the Castellan and his court of knights, ladies-in-waiting , pages, jester will see if you can pass 6 chivalry tests: archery, strength of arm, walking on a beam, jumping through a fire, answering a riddle, dancing a minuet. If you can pass them - and many could - then investiture ceremonies will be activated : oath, sword-on-shoulder, knighthooding diploma, medallion. DAY 9: Romantically yours Departure to the airport/ railway station. Reminder: "The Children" is just one of the many legends of Transylvania, Romania. |
