Densus Church

Not far from Hateg town, on the way to Caransebes, a sign towards Densus Church, one of the oldest churches in Romania still standing, attracts my attention in Totesti village.

The explorer in me could not say no to this tempting invite so I found myself discovering one of the most important landmarks of Hateg Country, proposed for the UNESCO Patrimony since 1991.

As you drive towards Densus village, you can spot the old tower of the church from the distance, but this does not prepare you for the wonderful and strange church you are about to discover.

As soon as we enter the church courtyard as we just pass the parochial house where Nicolae Densus used to live, you remain impressed at the very different architectural style that you have been so used to see in Romania.

The church was built in a late Romanesque and Gothic style, some placing its construction by the Densusianu family in the 13th century, while others vaguely place it in the 4th century, its exact dates still remaining a mystery.

The existence of the church stretches back to the Roman and Dacian times, the church being built from river stones, bricks with roman inscriptions, funerary stones, sewerage tubes etc., all taken from the Ulpia Traiana Augusta Sarmisegetusa, the former Roman Dacian capital nearby, making the church have a strange look, but rousing admiration and astonishment.

In its struggling history, this impressive church in Densus collected more than one tale and legends about its existence. Some believed the church was a pagan monument, some that it was a temple of Mars, while others believed it was a mausoleum for General Longinus, killed by the Dacians during one of the Roman campaigns against Dacia.

In the cold darkness of the interior you can hardly distinguish fragments of the old paintings belonging to Stephen of Densus from the 14 century, the paintings in Densus being the most appreciated frescoes created according to the Byzantine tradition that can be found in Transylvania. The particularities of Stephen’s  work send us with the thoughts at the paintings of St. Nicholas Church in Curtea de Arges (also realized in the 14 century), making us assume that Stephen was a representative of the Wallachian art in Transylvania.

The interior of the church is also very unusual, the tower being supported by four pillars made from Roman altars.

Some researchers believe that the church also served as a small monastic community because of the church’s intricate architecture and due to an inner graffiti dated 1473 mentioning priest Daniil and “mother Stanca”.

Elegant and unique in its appearance, the church is surrounded by old crosses and funerary stones of the village cemetery, some belonging to the Densusianu family members.

As a final touch, as if to make everything even more amazing, from the little hill on which the church is placed you can admire in the distance, the majestic white peaks of the Retezat Mountains.