Transylvania, Romania: Cârța Monastery, The Most Eastern Monument Built by Cistercians in Europe

The Cistercian Abbey of Carta also known as Cârța Monastery is the most Eastern monument built by the Cistercians in Europe. Cârța Monastery is located in southern Transylvania between Brașov and Sibiu and it is a place that worth visiting if you like old history and architecture. The founding year of the monastery is somewhere around 1202–1203 by monks belonging to the Cistercian order, who came from Pontigny, France. They started the construction of the first buildings using most probably wood, according to Cistercian customs of using perishable materials. A few years later (1210-1215), a stone chapel was added to the initial wood buildings. The construction of the main stone edifice was started, most probably, between 1220 and 1230, by some skilled stone masons from France who built a true gothic construction. The new church became an inspirational model in the architecture for the future fortified churches from Transylvania. The Cistercian monastery introduced the French Gothic art in the region. In order to build a better defense against their enemies, the monks from the Cârţa Abbey built two grottoes near the monastery, where they could hide and they dug a tunnel from the church altar to the Olt river to escape in case of attacks. In 1474, the king Mathias Corvin dissolved the Abbey to stop the constant enemy attacks against the monastery. The impressive abbey has kept parts of its beautiful architecture: windows, keystones and capitals, the 15th century western portal and the gate tower which offers an excellent view of the entire monument. The empty space of the main nave became a war cemetery and a lapidarium. The largest part still standing is the choir, transformed today into an evangelical church, frequented by the evangelical community of Cârţa.
Carta Monastery was the set for the film “The Nun”, a horror film in which a priest and a novice investigate the death of a young nun at the Saint Cartha's Monastery in Romania in the year 1952.
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