There are a couple of things by foreigners that can be annoying for Hungarians. One of them is surely when people get confused with Budapest and Bucharest, just because they sound similar and ‘they are just some capitals from random Eastern European countries anyway’, as some tourists unfortunately think. However, Romania’s capital is an entirely different world, and I am glad that I had the courage and curiosity to see something that generally I would have never thought of.

If a Hungarian tourist visits Romania, it is almost certain that they choose Transylvania because of its natural beauty and the rich cultural and historical heritage we share with Szeklers and Romanians.

However, this time I had a different idea, and I wanted to see another face of Romania which is more unknown, and let’s say, even more exotic in some terms. 

Although the eclectic city constructions of the late 19th century and the socialist past led to many similar developments in both capitals, there were many features that were new and interesting for me, and I could not declare it in the end that ‘come on, it is something I have already seen, nothing special’. Not at all.

It is true that some streets and boulevards gave me the vibes of Balkan capitals like Sofia, Zagreb and Ljubljana, and the geography of the city also brought me back the memories of the flat, open streets of Valencia and Poznań, but altogether Bucharest represented such a unique composition that I had never experienced before in this form.

Of course, the architecture had some things to do with the one of Budapest, since the examples in both cases were Paris and Vienna.

No wonder therefore that Bucharest is called 'Eastern Paris 'or 'Little Paris' sometimes, which I cannot confirm since I have never been to the 'original one', but this fact also refers to the strong cultural and political relations that Romania has with its Western relatives – Italy, and particularly France.

As a self-taught linguist and lover of Latin languages, I opened my eyes and did my best to examine the local language and culture from the inside, without any stereotypes and prejudice.

Since this is my first article about a Romanian trip, I would like to tell you shortly about the country’s history, especially because it is also related to some sights I observed in Bucharest.

Romanians, as their autonym suggests, derive themselves from ancient Romans, who conquered some parts of nowadays’ Romania (mostly of Transylvania) and created their province called Dacia.

The province was named after the Dacians, an ancient, most – probably Celtic people, and Romanians still declare that the origin of their nation comes from a union of Romans and Romanized Dacians.

This theory is not completely accepted internationally, but there are many references on that in the entire city: at Piața Unirii (Union Square) there is a bust of Decebal, king of the Dacians who rather killed himself than becoming the slave of the Romans.

Apart from that, many Romanian cities erected a copy of the Capitoline Wolf (Lupa Capitolina): the famous statue symbolizing the power of the Rome and referring to the myth of the twins, Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome.

In Bucharest, this statue is erected on Piața Romană (Roman Square), where there is also an underground pass, Pasajul Latin (Latin Passage), full of copies of Roman sculptures and maps of Dacia and the Roman Empire.

Well, this romantic point of view on Romanian history is criticized by most of the international scholars and served political interest when it was created. One thing is sure though.

Romanians, who were called Vlachs (in Hungarian: oláhok) before their nation state was established, clearly speak a Romance (Neolatin) language, although they most probably arrived to their current territory later, and they have cultural, linguistic, anthropological and genetic heritage with Albanians, Cumans, Tatars and Turks as well.

Not to mention that a significant part of the Romanian vocabulary has Slavic roots, which was quite interesting for me since I am also into Slavic culture and could see how it was blended in the Romanian language.

There is also a list of Hungarian words within Romanian that I did not know before such as oraş (város – city), ţuc (csók – kiss), muncă (munka – work) or cătană (katona –  soldier). This shows the intense cultural exchanges between the two ethnicities and also refers to situations when the two nations met –  mostly when it came to agriculture and food.

The first important milestone was the reign of Basarab, the Founder, who made its country, Wallachia (in Hungarian: Havasalföld, ) independent from the Kingdom of Hungary and united the small principalities existing in the region before.

Wallachia and Moldavia, the two Vlach states tried to survive during their history for many centuries either as the vasals of the Ottomans or of other empires, which also left its mark on the Romanian culture.

There was only a short period when Wallachian prince Mihai Viteazul united Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania for a few days – later this was an argument to support the nationalist claims by Romanians to Transylvania.

The time when present-day Romania was established in 1859 by Alexandru Cuza, who was elected as a ruler in both states – then it became a kingdom until the end of World War II when it was turned to a republic and the communist era and began due to Soviet pressure, just like in other countries of the region.

Now we need to go back in time and mention another important figure. Bucharest is a relatively young European city founded sometime in the 15th century on the shores of river Dâmbovița.

The legend says it was founded by a shepherd, hunter or fisherman called Bucur, whose first act was to erect a church, and the settlement around was built later on. 

In fact, linguists say that the name rather comes from the Romanian word bucurie (joy), although the Church of Bucur still exists, as the oldest orthodox church of the city, or at least one of them.

Bucharest actually was founded not a less-known historical ruler, but Vlad, the Impaler himself, whom I also talked about last time when I was visiting medieval castles in Slovakia, and who is considered as the inspiration for Count Drakula.

The religious buildings of Bucharest represent an independent world on their own. There are two main branches worthy to highlight, because some of them, as the Stavropoleos Monastery or the Church of Bucur look like small and humble chapels, as it was the original Greek concept of a church.

The reason beyond these small churches I also witnessed in Sofia is the fact that the orthodox belief says that God is not in Heavens above whom we should impress, but he is among us on Earth.

However, later other, much more monumental buildings joined to the list of churches: first of all the Patriarchal Cathedral and the Radu Vodă Monastery, or the tallest one, the National Cathedral, which is still under construction.

The New Saint Spyridon Church and the Sfânta Ecaterina (St. Catherine) Church also left a strong impression in my mind, particularly that I accidentally met a local engineer who explained me a lot about the orthodox concept, philosophy and art.

Most orthodox churches might look similar to outsiders, because of their round-shaped roofs (the famous ‘onion domes’), but as I learnt, everything has a reason in their structure.

There is a slight difference, because most Orthodox churches have a round floor plan, like the ones I witnessed in Greece and Bulgaria. Romanian churches, from the other hand, have a cross-shaped plan like the Catholic ones, and there is a long carpet usually leading to the altar.

This carpet represent the path towards God and his sacred world from the everyday world from the outside, thus it is a sort of transfiguration.

Eventually the aim of the icons, just like the iconostasis or the colorful and decorative paintings everywhere is to bring the shine, power and love of God closer to the people, and the wooden and golden elements try to express a lot of warmth for this celestial atmosphere.

Unlike the Catholic churches, marble and other kinds of stones are used less, mostly because they are related to cold colors.

The Orthodox point of view wants to show not the fearful and almighty God, but the Saviour of mankind and the God who wanted to help his beloved human beings. The obligatory smell of incense and the silent, eerie religious songs in the background also enstrengthen these vibes. 

I also liked the fact that not only the decoration and atmosphere was friendly and welcoming, but the people as well: even if they did not talk to me and practiced their ceremonies, I did not feel that I was just a random tourist or outsider who should not be there.

Everything just gave me the impression that I am a guest in the house of God and anyone can visit it anytime they need so.

The long candles, the bearded, long-haired priests and the chests of relics of various saints were compulsory parts of all the churches.

I also noticed that the more religious women put on scarves while entering the church, just like Muslim ladies in a mosque. In fact, this tradition in Abrahamic religions goes back to the Jewish times, just as the concept of iconostasis.

The iconostasis, the wall full of icons of saints covers the altar and the most sacred area, where only pure-hearted, orthodox men can enter with the permission of the priest even today.

As I learnt, the doors are open for the holy mass only and the idea comes from the Temple of Jerusalem established by King Solomon: the Ark of the Covenant was kept behind curtains in a sacred room where only the high priest could enter, and even he himself could do that only once a year.

My overall view about Orthodoxy so far, including my experiences from Bulgaria and Greece as well is that there are more people attending the church in general, also from the younger generations and the community appeals to be stronger than what I see in my country among Roman Catholics.

The concept of Protestantism was that we should get rid of saints, statues, frescos, paintings and everything artistic and vein that come from human world, but I think this beauty just keep believers closer to the celestial world.