Radio România Internațional

Tag: Jesus

June 24, 2022

FINA Romanian swimmer Robert Glinta has today qualified for the semifinals
of the 50 meter backstroke race of the FINA World Aquatics Championships in
Budapest, Hungary. The best time in the race was obtained by Justin Ress of the
USA, gold medalist in the 4×100 meter relay race. The 50 meter backstroke
semifinals is due tonight and the finals on Saturday. Glinta 25, had previously
ranked 8th in the 100 meter finals. He is colleague with David
Popovici, the 17 year old swimmer who on Wednesday was the second swimmer in
the world to have become world champion in the 200 meter and 100 meter
freestyle races in the same edition of a championships. Angelica Muscalu and
Constantin Popovici will be representing Romania in the diving competition of
the same championship due next week.

HOLIDAY Orthodox believers who are a majority in Romania together with the
Greek-Catholics are today celebrating the birth of John the Baptist, considered
the last prophet of the Old Testament, who announced the coming of the Messiah.
John the Baptist who had been born in the family of Jewish priest Zachariah six
months before Jesus urged people to repentance baptizing them in the Jordan
River. John also baptized Jesus introducing Him to the world as the Messiah who
was to come. This Christian holiday overlaps a heathen celebration known in
Romania as Sanziene, who were believed to be mythological creatures in charge
of prosperity and fertility.

CANDIDACY EU Leaders have granted the statute of accession candidates to Ukraine
and the Republic of Moldova, an ex-soviet, Romanian speaking country. In turn,
Georgia has been encouraged to continue its reforms to be able to get this
status in the future. Romania has hailed the major step towards European
integration taken by its two neighbours.

EXAM
Over 83% of the eight graders in Romania’s secondary schools have recently been
admitted to high schools after passing the national Evaluation Exam, which is a
record figure of the past 10 years. After the results were listed on Thursday,
Education Minister Sorin Campeanu said the number of students taking the
aforementioned exam was also the highest in the past 6 years.

BLOUSE Today is the day of the Romanian traditional blouse known as Ie.
Starting this year Romanians will be able to celebrate this day legally after
the country’s president Klaus Iohannis issued a law, which was already
published in the Official Gazette. Under the new law, cultural, social and
artistic events can be staged in this respect while mass media is encouraged to
disseminate materials promoting this traditional piece of clothing. Education
units, cultural institutions, communication centers as well as Romania’s
diplomatic representations are invited to get involved in various actions of
promoting this event.

(bill)

24 June 2022
June 2, 2022

LETTER Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis has sent a congratulation letter to
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland on her anniversary and the platinum jubilee, the presidential
administration in Bucharest has announced. The Romanian president has voiced
his conviction that the Strategic Partnership between Romania and the UK will
continue being consolidated in the future for the mutual benefit of both
nations. Starting Thursday, Britain is celebrating for four days the Queen’s 70
years of rule, the longest in the kingdom’s history. The government has exceptionally
approved a four-day bank holiday allowing millions to participate in the
various events staged on this occasion, such as street parties, concerts and
military parades. According to the BBC, the 96-year-old monarch, who has
mobility issues and has recently cancelled several public appearances, is
likely to join members of the Royal Family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace
to watch the display.

EURO According to the 2020 Convergence Report published by the European
Commission, Romania presently does not meet any of the four criteria needed to adopt
the single European currency. In order to adopt the euro, an EU member has to
meet four conditions: price stability, stable public finances, exchange rate
stability and long-term interest rates. According to the report, not only that Romania
doesn’t meet any criteria but the country is also the only member state that is
subject to an excessive deficit procedure opened in 2020. In 2016, Romania met only
three out of the four conditions needed to join the Euro zone.

HOLIDAY Romania, a country with an Orthodox majority, is today celebrating the
Ascension of Lord Jesus Christ, 40 days after his resurrection. Orthodox
believers are today celebrating the event with painted eggs and traditional
Easter meals. Since 1920 the Romanians have also paid homage to their war
heroes on Ascension Day. A series of events have been staged to the memory of
Romania’s heroes like wreath laying, religious services as well as moments of
silence in all major institutions across the country. Bucharest will today see
a commemoration ceremony at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is to be
attended by the country’s president Klaus Iohannis, Defence Minister Vasile
Dancu, and Chief of Staff, Daniel Petrescu. In a message on the Heroes Day, the
country’s Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said that our thoughts of gratitude are
today directed towards those who made the supreme sacrifice for the better
destiny of the generations to come.

POLL Over 70 percent
of the Romanians believes Russia is responsible for the war in Ukraine, shows a
poll conducted by INSCOP Research over May 16th and 21st. Over 87% of the
Romanians believes that Russian leaders must be convicted for war crimes and
65% believes that the presence of NATO and the US troops in Romania is a good
thing. 50% of the respondents believes that Ukraine will win the war, whereas
26% believes that Russia will be the victor. According to the poll, only 25%
believes that Russia is defending traditional values against the decadence of
the West, as compared to 41% in February. 67% of the respondents believes that exploitation
of Black Sea gas will significantly reduce the country’s dependence on Russian
gas

(bill)

2 June 2022
Qu’a-t-on appris de la guerre en Ukraine ?

Les efforts immenses déployés par les Roumains et le reste de lEurope ont révélé au grand jour la capacité fondamentale des hommes à se mettre à la place dautrui, à agir dans lurgence pour le sortir dune impasse. Lempathie est une qualité propre à lhomme, et traduit une ouverture profonde et totale à lautre. Si cette guerre doit avoir un bon côté, cest bien celui-ci : lempathie réelle et complète. Il serait peut-être temps alors de méditer un peu sur cette qualité qui nous distingue des autres mammifères. Nous avons échangé avec Elena Maria Dumitrescu, psychothérapeute spécialisée en thérapie cognitive comportementale, autour de cet immense élan de solidarité envers lUkraine. Nous lui avons demandé comment cela sexpliquait sur le plan psychologique. Voilà sa réponse :

« Nous faisons tous partie dun tout que lon appelle la vie, lunivers, lénergie, la création ou encore le divin. Jassocierais la gentillesse à la compassion, au fait de se soucier des autres, davoir envie de les aider. Cette caractéristique sobserve aussi bien au niveau individuel que collectif. Il en existe un très bon exemple dans la nature. La fourmi de feu, qui vit dans des fourmilières au bord des rivières. Lorsque leau monte, elle sait quelle na aucune chance de sen sortir seule. Les fourmis de la colonie vont alors saccrocher les unes aux autres pour former comme un radeau immense. Elles conservent cette position pour se maintenir à la surface de leau jusquà ce que le niveau redescende. Cest comme ça quelles se sauvent les unes les autres, sauvent la fourmilière et surtout lespèce. La religion et Darwin nous ont montré que chaque espèce était équipée pour survivre. Nous aussi nous avons de quoi offrir au monde. La nature ne se soucie pas de savoir si nous allons ou non survivre. Cest à nous de nous en préoccuper et de nous raccrocher à la vie. »

Lamitié est lexpression la plus forte et la plus pure de notre humanité. Les Roumains ont suscité ladmiration du monde entier en accueillant ainsi à bras ouverts leurs voisins ukrainiens qui fuient la guerre. Lamitié pourrait-elle sauver lespèce humaine ? Elena Maria Dumitrescu nous répond :

« Nous sommes amis avec les Ukrainiens. Et lamitié est le moyen de communication le plus pur entre les hommes, aussi bien sur le plan énergétique que psychologique et spirituel. Nous sommes en pleine période du Carême. Et la Bible nous fournit quelques exemples pour illustrer ce propos. Lorsque Jésus fait référence à ses Apôtres et aux femmes dévotes quil appelle ses amis. Dans de nombreux contextes on retrouve cette idée dune amitié puissante, qui guérit les maux physiques, mais aussi mentaux. Du point de vue psychologique, les relations damitié sont essentielles pour notre bien-être. Je tiens à souligner ici que lempathie, la capacité à se mettre à la place dautrui, nexige pas de connaitre forcément lautre personne. Lempathie, la compassion et la bonté donnent du sens à notre existence. Nous avons besoin de cette solidarité, en tant quindividus, mais aussi en tant quespèce. Nous devons dépasser lautosuffisance, la superficialité et la paresse qui selon moi sont nos plus grands ennemis. Nous devons comprendre que nous avons chacun un rôle à jouer. »

Existe-t-il des limites à lempathie ? La psychologue Elena Maria Dumitrescu nous explique quelles en sont les limites, les dangers et le juste milieu à trouver :

« La vie se charge de notre équilibre énergétique, spirituel et de léquilibre du système auquel nous appartenons. Lempathie est une position déquilibre dans la sphère du relationnel. Il arrive fréquemment que notre besoin daider soit supérieur au besoin daide de lautre. Car nous sommes notre propre point de référence. Ce besoin daider peut être motivé par plusieurs choses : surmonter certains aspects de notre vie, atténuer notre culpabilité, répondre à notre besoin de perfectionnismes ou encore aux normes sociales etc. Il arrive parfois que nous franchissions une limite dans lempathie. Nous nous identifions à lautre et lon se place dans la posture du sauveur. Ce faisant, on accentue la posture de victime de lautre. Nous sommes alors plus attentifs à nos propres besoins quà ceux de lautre personne. Bien souvent, cela implique une consommation inutile de nos ressources biologiques, physiologiques et énergétiques. Et il arrive que cela nuise plus quautre chose à notre relation à lautre, car il y a un décalage avec la réalité de la situation. Tout ce qui va au-delà de cet équilibre pour aller vers les extrêmes nest pas bénéfique. Il faut savoir doser, car trop donner peut nuire, mais ne pas donner assez ne suffit pas non plus », a conclu la psychothérapeute Elena Maria Dumitrescu.

(Trad.: Charlotte Fromenteaud)

13 April 2022
April 17, 2020

GOOD FRIDAY Orthodox believers who are a majority in Romania and Greek-Catholics
are today celebrating Good Friday, the day marking the death on a cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ and his burial. Believers have this year been banned from
attending any outdoor or indoor religious services in order to comply with the
measures aimed at preventing the spread of the COVID pandemic. Christians will
be able to watch religious services broadcast live on various TV channels and
online transmissions.

PROGRAMME A state-sponsored programme on supporting the small and
medium-sized businesses to benefit interest-free and commission-free loans has
today come into effect in Romania. The sum allotted for this programme is 3.1
billion euros for working capital and investment. Finance Minister Florin Citu
said this programme is addressing all small and medium-sized businesses in
Romania, not only those, which have been affected by the pandemic crisis. The
programme is aimed at kick-starting the Romanian economy and 600 thousand jobs
will be supported in the programme’s first stage. Companies willing to benefit
from the programme can register on the platform imminvest.ro.

MINISTER According to Romania’s Prime Minister
Ludovic Orban the peak of the coronavirus pandemic has not been reached in
Romania yet. The Romanian official believes that this peak will be reached in
early May and has again called on citizens not to leave their homes unless
necessary. Orban went on to say that the executive’s intention is that students
take their exams and complete studies at the end of the year as initially
planned. Schools could reopen after May 15th. Authorities have
announced 491 new cases of infection and the number of fatalities stands at
400. Nearly 1000 medical workers have so far tested positive for the virus most
of them in Suceava northern Romania and in Bucharest. 1508 people have been
cured and left hospitals. Romania has so far declared 8067 people infected, 22
thousand have been quarantined while over 50 thousand are in home
isolation.

ORDINANCE Authorities in Bucharest have issued another military ordinance,
number 9. Among other things, the ordinance extends the ban on flights to and
from 10 countries: The UK, Northern Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey,
Iran, Italy, France and Germany. Under the same law, sailors are exempted from
being kept in isolation unless they present Covid symptoms as well as truck
drivers and plane crews. Under the same ordinance, the export of wheat and
other derived products is no longer banned as the state reserves have been completed.

PANDEMIC Since its outbreak in China, the Coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly
141 thousand people the world over, two thirds in Europe. The United States has
reported most of the fatalities 35,688 followed by Italy 21,647, Spain 18,579,
France with 17,167 and Britain 12,868. The crisis’ social and economic impact
has fueled concern among experts who believe the pandemic will bring the end of
economy as we know it. OPEC has anticipated for 2020 a sharp drop in the crude
demand worldwide due to the international economic blockage caused by the
pandemic. Some pundits believe that Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal are in
for deep economic recessions. According to European Commission Chief, Ursula von
der Leyen, Europe needs a new Marshall plan for public and private investment
and the creation of new jobs.

(translated by bill)

17 April 2020
April 27, 2019

EASTER Orthodox believers who are a majority in Romania, together with
their Greek-Catholic counterparts will tonight be celebrating Easter, also
known as the Resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ, the most important event of
Christianity. On Saturday in Jerusalem, the Greek Patriarch will be holding the
Ceremony of the Holy Light, a regular Orthodox service during which the
Patriarch is to go out of the Holy Sepulchre and share light with the
believers. A delegation of the Romanian Orthodox Church is in Jerusalem ready to
bring into Romania the Holy Light by means of a charter plane. At midnight,
churches all over Romania will see special services devoted to Christ’s
Resurrection. Roman Catholics and Protestant believers celebrated Easter on
April 21st.

CAMPAIGN An election campaign for the European Parliament, whose elections
are due on May 26th, kicked off in Romania today. Out of the 13
political groups vying for seats in the European Parliament, there are the
ruling PSD and ALDE, UDMR, the Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, as well
as the opposition PNL, the USR-PLUS alliance, PMP and ProRomania, a group
formed by PSD dissidents. There are also other extra-Parliament parties in this
election race, such as the National Unity Bloc, UNPR and the United Romania
Party, PRODEMO, the Romanian Socialist Party, and the Independent Social
Democratic Party. There are also three independent candidates vying for seats
in the European Parliament. Romania will have 33 members in the future European
Parliament, but under a European Council decision, the 33rd mandate
will commence only after Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc has produced
judicial effects. 441 polling stations have been set up for the Romanians
abroad, most of them in Italy, Spain and the neighboring Republic of Moldova.
Concurrently with the aforementioned elections, the Romanians are expected to
have their say in a referendum on justice, initiated by the country’s president
Klaus Iohannis.

TABLE TENNIS Romanian-Spanish pair Ovidiu Ionescu and Alvaro Robles
are today taking on their Chinese opponents Long Ma and Chuqin Wang in the
finals of the World Table Tennis Championship in Budpaest, Hungary. In the
semifinals, Ionescu and Robles secured a 4-3 win against the Portuguese Tiago
Apolonia and Joao Monteiro, while Ma and Wang clinched a 4-0 win against
Jingkun Liang and Gaoyuan. Also on Friday, the board of the European Table
Tennis Federation decided that Romania host the 2021 edition of the European Table
Tennis Team Championships. Romania hosted the European Cadet and Junior Table
Tennis Championship in 2018.

MINI-HOLIDAY Over 22 thousand policemen,
gendarme, border police troops and paramedics have been deployed to crowded
areas in Romania to assist traffic and events unfolding during the mini-holiday
of Easter and Labour Day. According to the Interior Ministry in Bucharest, the over
900 public events due to take place during these days, are expected to bring
together one million people. The Romanian authorities are cooperating with
their Hungarian and Bulgarian counterparts to ease traffic at the most crowded
border checkpoints between these countries.

FOOTBALL Former national champion sides, Astra Giurgiu and Viitorul
Constanta will be playing the finals of Romania’s Football Cup. In the
semifinals, Astra eliminated CFR Cluj, while Viitorul defeated CSU Craiova. All
the four semifinalists are also playing in the domestic championship whose leader
is CFR followed by FCSB, formerly known as Steaua Bucharest.

FREQUENCIES
Dear friends, Radio Romania International has operated new changes into the
frequencies of its transmissions due to come into effect on April 27th.
So, the RRI broadcast at 3:00 UTC to North America, (the West Coast) can be
received on the frequency of 7375 kHz in the analogue system, while our
programmes to India are carried by 13630 kHz in the DRM system.

(translated by bill)

27 April 2019
April 6, 2018

GOOD FRIDAY– The most important events in Christianity are the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose life and teachings are the foundation of Christianity. Today, Orthodox and Greek Catholic believers the world over, including Romania, a mostly Orthodox country, are marking Good Friday. Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. This is a day of mourning in church, a day when Christians meditate on Jesus suffering and death on the cross.

SECURITY MEASURES – Over 50,000 employees of the Romanian Interior Ministry have been mobilised to maintain public order, safety and security across the country at Easter. Gendarme and police troops will be chiefly deployed around churches and other religious institutions. 250 thousand people are expected to attend more than 700 public events that will take place in Romania in the next four days. Traffic police, equipped with more than 300 traffic radars and backed by helicopters, will be monitoring traffic on Romania’s motorways at Easter.

ROMANIAN ACADEMY – Historian Ioan-Aurel Pop, the rector of the Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (north-western Romania) was elected president of the Romanian Academy. He received 86 of the 148 votes that were cast during the General Assembly of the Romanian Academy. The newly elected president, who will have a four-year term in office, will take over the position 15 days since his election. The elections for four positions of vice-president and one of secretary general will be held on April the 20th. The former president of the Romanian Academy, Ionel Valentin Vlad, passed away in December 2017.

MARCH – The “Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi” Institute for the Romanians abroad, an institution subordinated to the Ministry for the Romanians Abroad jointly with the Lauder-Reut Educational Complex will be staging a March of Holocaust survivors dubbed “Let’s learn together’, in Poland, over April 9-13. The event, which has an educational character and is aimed at teaching students a dramatic episode in history, involves the participation of young people from 52 countries. The Romanian delegation includes students from Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

POISONING – A Russian military research base has been identified as the source of the nerve agent used for the poisoning in Salisbury, The Times newspaper reported. The source of the military-grade poison was revealed in a British intelligence briefing for its allies, and was used to persuade world leaders that Russia was responsible for the attack. Britain blames Russia for the poisoning on UK soil of the former double agent and his daughter with what it says was a Soviet-made military-grade nerve agent, something that Kremlin denies. More than 150 Russian diplomats from 28 countries, Romania included, have been expelled. Russia has also retaliated by expelling Western diplomats.

CONVICTION – South Koreas former President Park Geun-hye has been sentenced to 24 years in jail after she was found guilty of abuse of power and coercion, the BBC reports. The verdict was broadcast live and represents the culmination of a scandal which rocked the country, fuelling rage against political and business elites. Park was also fined 17 million dollars. She was found guilty of 16 out of 18 charges, most of which related to bribery and coercion. The former South Korean president has previously accused the courts of being biased against her has denied all wrongdoing.

HANDBALL – The Romanian women’s handball team CSM Bucharest are today meeting on home soil the French team Metz, in the first round of the Champions League quarter finals. In the three other matches, the defending champion, Gyor of Hungary will meet Buducnost Podgorica of Montenegro, FC Midtjylland of Denmark will face Vardar Skopje of Macedonia, and Ferencvaros Budapest of Hungary will take on Rostov-Don of Russia. The winners will qualify for the Final Four tournament. We recall that CSM Bucharest won the Champions League in 2016. (Translated by Elena Enache)

6 April 2018
Easter Preparations

Like every year,
Easter, the greatest feast in Christendom, which the majority Orthodox
Romanians always look forward to, overshadows everything else going on at the
moment. The usual political scandals and almost daily social protests we’ve
seen recently will die out for a few days to make room for prayer,
introspection, generosity and, last but not least, celebration.

The Church says
Easter is a time for love, peace and joy. The Romanians are thus called upon to
help the orphans, the lonely elderly and the helpless sick, in other words all
those in need and sorrow. On Saturday night, many people will be attending the
special services held in most churches and monasteries across the country and
in Orthodox churches abroad. At midnight, the priest will greet the news of
Christ’s resurrection by proclaiming Christ is risen! and the congregation
will respond Truly He is risen!.

Betrayed by Judas, one of his 12 apostles,
Christ is tried for blasphemy by the Jewish religious authorities. His
conviction is, however, a political act, as the Roman authorities of the day
decide to crucify him for his alleged attempt to undermine the state. Jesus
dies on the cross in terrible pain, is put in his grave, but rises from the
dead on the third day. His death does not therefore mean entry into
nothingness, but into the divine light of the Father.

In fact, on Saturday
night, the priest invites people to get Holy Light by lighting a candle. This
light, considered a miracle of Orthodox Christianity, is brought over all the
way from Jerusalem, where it descends every year on Holy Saturday from 12.30 to
14.30. A fire ignites in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, descending on the
tomb where Jesus was placed now more than 2,000 years ago. The Patriarch of
Jerusalem lights two bunches of 33 candles and then starts distributing the
Holy Light to the congregation and the religious delegates who will then
deliver it back to their countries.

94% of Romanians say they celebrate Easter,
with 87% of them saying they will attend the Saturday night service. For most
of them, Easter is also about enjoying a good meal, so the week before Easter
is spent making the final culinary preparations. Women dye the Easter eggs red
and make the special sweet dishes called paska and cozonac. Lamb roast and wine
are also part of the Easter meal, which brings families together. Many Romanians
who work and live abroad return to Romania for the Easter holidays to be with
their loved ones. Others spend Easter in the mountains, at the seaside and even
on a mini-holiday abroad.

5 April 2018
Tall monuments in Romania

Romania has several tall monuments which are real attractions for visitors. Some of those monuments have a short, even very short history, others a long one, depending on what those monuments represented at the time they were built.

The tallest stone sculpture in Europe features the Dacian king Decebalus, who ruled some of the territories making up todays Romania, between 85 and 106 AD. The sculpture is 55 m tall and 25 m wide and was carved into the rocky wall of the Danube Gorges, between the villages of Eselniţa and Dubova, near the town of Orsova, where the river carved the Mraconia Gulf. The area is dotted by small waterfalls and is called the Small Cauldrons. Off the bank, near the statue featuring Decebalus, surrounded by trees, the River Danube is 120 m deep. As regards the sculpture, Decebaluss eyes are 4 m wide and its nose is 7 m long. The monument cost over one million dollars, was ordered and paid for by the businessman Iosif Constantin Dragan, who passed away in 2008, at 91 years of age. The works lasted 10 years and were carried out between 1994 and 2004. The project was carried by sculptor Florin Cotarcea. At the bottom of the statue, there is an inscription in Latin, reading Decebalos Rex – Dragan Fecit (King Decebalus – Made by Dragan).

In the village of Adamclisi in Dobrogea, south-eastern Romania, visitors can see the “Tropaeum Traiani monument, that is “Trajans Trophy. It is a mausoleum which was restored and inaugurated in 1977. The monument was built as a tribute to the Roman Emperor Trajan, who ruled between 98 and 117 AD, to mark the Romans victory against the Dacians in 102 AD. It was archaeologist Grigore Tocilescu who restored the blueprints of the monument in 1882. It is made up of a round-shaped pedestal, with a truncated cone-shaped roof and a hexagonal prism on top of it. A trophy made up of an armour and four shields is placed on the prism, on top of the monument. The mausoleum is 40 m tall, just like the pedestal, whose diameter measures 40 m. The names of 3,800 Roman military who died in the war against the Dacians were inscribed on the old monument.

One of the best-known columns in the world is undoubtedly “The Endless Column by sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957). The column is approximately 30 m tall and is made up of 16 modules. Each module is made up of two truncated square pyramids joined in a common base. Its original name was “The Column of Gratitude; It was built in memory of the Romanian soldiers fallen in 1916 in battles in Gorj County, on the bank of the Jiu River. The monument was inaugurated in 1938, commissioned by Aretia Tatarescu, one of the foremost members of the National League of Gorj Women. The column inspired Spanish sculptor Santiago Calatrava when he designed the 120 meter tall obelisk, inaugurated in Madrid in 2009.

In the Carol Park, on the Filaret Hill, in south-central Bucharest, in the late 1930s, Romanian architects built a memorial to soldiers who had fallen on all fronts in World War I. In 1923, a monument to unknown heroes had been raised there, and the Military Museum was supposed to stand there. In 1944, works ceased because of the war, and the project had to wait until 1963 to be completed. The outcome was a 48 meter tall mausoleum with a funeral wall where the remains of some communist leaders were being kept.

The Cross of the Nations Heroes is yet another monument in memory of soldiers fallen during WWI. It was built between 1926 and 1928 on Caraiman Mountain, at an altitude of 2291 meters. It appears in the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest cross on a mountain. The monument is solemn and impressive: the cross is 29 meters tall, on a 7 and a half meters tall plinth, with 7 meters long arms. The cross, made of steel train rails on a reinforced concrete plinth, was ordered by the Romanian Railroad Company in memory of its workers who gave their lives in battle. In 1938, a lighting installation was fitted up on the cross, with 120 light bulbs of 500 watt each.

The newest tall monument in Romania is the statue called “Jesus Christs Heart, inaugurated in 2011 on Gordon Mountain, at an altitude of 953 meters, in Harghita County, in the centre of Romania. It is considered the biggest statue of Jesus in Eastern Europe, standing at 22 meters in height. It was built of iron and stainless steel by a local foundation and the owner of a dairy company. It has a spiral staircase inside reaching all the way to the top. In the last few years, it has become the most popular tourist attraction, due to the beautiful scenery surrounding it.

22 April 2017