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| A nun walks in the yard
of Barsana monastery in the Maramures region of Romania, July 2,
2004.(Reuters) | Hidden for centuries in a
corner of the northern Carpathians , the wooden churches of
Maramures have long been one of Romania's most secret treasures.
These sleeping princesses, declared world heritage monuments by UNESCO
in 1999 for their simple beauty and superb craftsmanship, will finally be
awakened in an effort to lure tourists to a remote but charming part of
the Balkan country.
"We have amazing cultural and natural resources that we haven't opened
up to the world because we lack the infrastructure," said Ioan Marchis,
the Culture Ministry's local director.
European Union candidate Romania has launched a program to help local
communities get EU funds to make the churches more visitor friendly and
attract wealthy western tourists to this unique but distant region
bordering Ukraine.
At the church of Surdesti, which at 236 feet high claims to be the
tallest oak building in the world, the priest's wife, Maria, says potholes , lack of road signs and
information prevent tourists from reaching the 1767 UNESCO monument.
"Tourists must be able to find it to visit it," she said.
Romania failed to capitalize on its natural beauty and cultural
heritage. Hotels are basic and roads notoriously bad.
From 4.8 million tourists in 1989, the number rose only to 5.59 million
in 2003, about the same as 10 years ago.
Western countries that painstakingly re-create old towns or villages to
attract culturally sensitive tourists would envy Maramures -- a living,
breathing open air museum of centuries-old Balkan life.
Villagers, who still wear traditional costume, use animals and wooden
tools in their fields, weave by hand and are famous for carving wood,
abundant in the nearby forests.
"Maramures is very important for Europe because it sustains the old
archetypes of a world we no longer know. It's a bridge between the past
and the future," Marchis said.
Most important are its wooden churches, often dating to the early
1600s. Tall towers jutting
high above villages or fields crown the small structures blending Romanian
Orthodox tradition with Gothic elements to create a unique architectural
hybrid .
The narrow, shingle-roof churches are largely restored but the area
surrounding them often remains neglected.
At Rogoz -- one of eight churches on the UNESCO list from about 90
dotting the region -- the local community secured 160,000 euros ($198,200)
from the EU's PHARE regional
development fund to improve tourist' access.
"We only get three or four buses of foreign tourists a month now but
according to the study we submitted we could get 3,700 people a year,"
town councilor Alexandru Santa said.
A dirt road winds through the quiet village to the 1663 church and
visitors must find the local priest for the key to enter and admire its
colorful wall paintings. Chickens and geese run among graves in the
churchyard.
Santa said the EU money will be used to pave and light the road, build
a fence around the church and a tourist area with parking, toilets and a
traditional kiosk for souvenirs.
（Reuters） |
馬拉穆列什的木制老教堂在喀爾巴阡山脈北部的角落里隱藏了幾個世紀(jì)，長期以來它一直是羅馬尼亞最神秘的一筆財富。
這些“沉睡的公主”憑著她們樸素的美麗和精湛的建筑技藝在1999年被聯(lián)合國教科文組織宣布為世界遺產(chǎn)。現(xiàn)在，睡美人們終于要被喚醒，吸引游客們來到這個巴爾干半島國家偏僻但風(fēng)景迷人的地區(qū)。
羅馬尼亞文化部在當(dāng)?shù)氐呢?fù)責(zé)人約安·馬爾基什說：“我們擁有很了不起的文化和自然資源，但尚未公諸于世，因為缺少（必要的）基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施?！?/P>
歐盟準(zhǔn)會員國羅馬尼亞啟動了一個項目，旨在幫助當(dāng)?shù)孬@得歐盟的資助，用來修葺教堂，使它們更適于游客參觀，從而吸引富有的西方旅游者來到這個與烏克蘭接壤的、獨特但偏遠(yuǎn)的地區(qū)。
236英尺高的Surdesti教堂號稱是世界上最高的橡木建筑。在這座教堂里，牧師的妻子瑪麗亞說，路上坑坑洼洼、缺少路標(biāo)和信息匱乏阻礙了游客拜訪這始建于1767
年的世界教科文組織的世界遺產(chǎn)。
她說：“游客們必須能夠找到這里，才能來拜訪?！?/P>
羅馬尼亞沒能夠充分利用其美麗的自然風(fēng)光和文化遺產(chǎn)。這兒的旅館都很簡陋，路況也很糟糕。
1989年，來這里旅游的人數(shù)為480萬，而到2003年，這個數(shù)字僅上升到559萬，和10年前幾乎沒什么兩樣。
西方國家煞費苦心地重建老城或村莊來吸引注重文化氣息的旅游者，它們會羨慕馬拉穆列什，這里是幾個世紀(jì)來巴爾干半島生活栩栩如生的戶外博物館。
仍然穿著傳統(tǒng)服裝的村民們使用耕畜和木制工具在田間勞作，進(jìn)行手工編織，而且以木雕而聞名，附近的森林里有的是木頭。
馬爾基什說：“馬拉穆列什對于歐洲來說十分重要，因為它保持了一個我們不再了解的世界原來的面貌。它是一座連接過去和未來的橋梁?！?/P>
最重要的是那些建于17世紀(jì)初期的木制教堂。高高的塔樓在村落或田野上空高高突出，塔頂上還有混合了羅馬尼亞東正教傳統(tǒng)風(fēng)格和哥特式風(fēng)格的小建筑物，創(chuàng)造出一種獨特的混合型建筑風(fēng)格。
有著卵石屋頂?shù)莫M窄的教堂的面貌在很大程度上得到了恢復(fù)，但教堂周圍的地區(qū)還是被忽視了。
At Rogoz
是聯(lián)合國教科文組織名單上的八座教堂之一，它們是從分布在這一地區(qū)的大約90處教堂中選出的。當(dāng)?shù)孬@得了歐盟“法爾計劃”（對中東歐國家的財政援助計劃）提供的地區(qū)發(fā)展基金16萬歐元，用來吸引更多的游客。
鎮(zhèn)議會議員亞歷山德魯·尚塔說：“現(xiàn)在我們一個月只能接待3到4車外國游客，但根據(jù)我們提交的研究報告，我們一年可以接待3700名游客?！?/P>
一條土路蜿蜒穿過安靜的村莊，通往這座建于1663年的教堂。參觀者必須找到當(dāng)?shù)氐哪翈煵拍苣玫借€匙，進(jìn)去欣賞教堂內(nèi)部多彩的壁畫。教堂院子里還有雞和鵝在墓穴之間跑來跑去。
尚塔說，歐盟的資金將用來鋪設(shè)并照明道路，圍繞教堂修筑藩籬；還要修建一個游客區(qū)，其中包括停車場、公廁和一個出售紀(jì)念品的傳統(tǒng)風(fēng)格的亭子。
（中國日報網(wǎng)站譯） |
Updated: 2004-08-02 14:46