Last month I visited the Museum of History and Archeology of Targu Mures, which is inside the medieval fortress and it's always home to some cool exhibitions. The one I visited last month was about the Pauline order and you can read my previous posts about it here and here. It is still open till the end of the year, so if you like what you see here, there's still time to visit, if you're in the area.
Before we go on, let's see who are the Paulines.
The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit, commonly called the Pauline Fathers, is a monastic order of the Roman Catholic Church founded in Hungary during the 13th century.
This name is derived from the hermit Saint Paul of Thebes (died c. 345), canonized in 491 by Pope Gelasius I. After his death, the Monastery of Saint Paul the Anchorite was founded and still exists today, taking him as its model. source
Today I'm going to show you some cool stuff they have set up in the museum, that look like toys, but in fact they are not.
Have you ever seen such devices? Do you know what they are?
What about now? Looks like a binocular, but is it really a binocular?
It's not. Just as you're trying to figure out what can you see if you look through these lenses, I was trying to figure out how can I get (at least) a half decent photo, to show you what you can see.
I'm not sure what's the name of this gadget, but it's made of two magnifying glasses, or two lenses that you have to look through in order to see the image inside it. The image here was a part of the library in Budapest, Hungary, that is the permanent home of these old artifacts.
These are unedited images, so you can see how bad the photo is. What you can't see is how difficult it was for me to take a half decent photo. I placed the camera on the lens (on one lens instead of two) and tried my best. At least I'm glad I can show you this gorgeous carved wooden door.
A wonderful carved, wooden spiral staircase, a real masterpiece.
It's not the first time I was seeing such a device. It looks like it was common those days, to use mirrors and all kind of lenses.
Different artifacts, among which this shield of faith award from 2021.
What I saw in the next room exceeded all my expectations, not that I had any. This is a huge mock-up, I mean room size mock-up, with photos, that symbolizes the rout of the Pauline pilgrimage. When i saw it, I had the impression I am in a toy factory and I am just presented the newest attraction, but obviously it wasn't like that.
So like a kid, I stood there and just clicked the button on my camera, trying to capture the good moment and took 178 photos. Can you believe it?
There were two trains moving with different speed.
The setup was very cool, almost seemed real, with trees, hills, animals and train stations.
Each side represented a different country, as far as I can recall. This was from Romania, a place called Harghita Băi, which is a famous tourist place, known for it's spa facilities.
Here the train had to stop at the red light. How cool is that?
While I'm not at the age of playing with these "toys", I would have definitely loved to participate in building the scene.
So, which one is your favorite? The lenses or the railway?
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
