** Arkhai Sculpture Park in Cluj ,,Capital of Transylvania,,**
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. - Lao Tzu
Have you ever heard of Arkhai Sculpture Park?
Dear travelers from all over the world, last weekend we decided to visit some sights in Cluj county, so we put on a virtual map about what we thought to visit.
Where is Cluj?
First of all Cluj is the third largest city in Romania, it is considered by some to be the capital of Transylvania, it is located in the North-West of Romania, being in a continuous development (this I tell you because I visited Cluj a few years ago and I noticed major changes), the city is eagerly waiting to be discovered by tourists.
We arrived in town in the evening, when there was already a big celebration going on here, "Cluj Days", at how many people were here and how crowded it was here, I think all Romania was present at the celebration.
Being quite tired we did not choose to get lost in the crowd but we chose to go to a restaurant in the center and have lunch, a restaurant with some great food (I'll leave you some pictures taken in Cluj).
The main course consisted of Baba Ganoush.
Also as a main course we served Hummus plus very juicy pieces of beef.
Let's go back to the park. ….
The place I have chosen to share with you is called Arkhai Sculpture Park, an extraordinary, non-conformist concept by Erno Bartha, a visual artist well known in Romania and other European countries for his creations.
The artist bought a plot of land of about 10,000 square meters, which he divided into three floors (floors is a bit of a misnomer, you can even call them areas with a slight difference in level).
What's so interesting here?
The artist wanted to put his ideas into practice and so this place was born, what is interesting is that here you can find some sculptures made of hay, yes, you read that right, hay.
The construction of the park started in 2008 and since then it welcomes its guests with open arms, the park is developing year by year, I know it seems a bit strange how it receives visitors when it is under construction, you read that right, and when we visited the park there were places where they were working on the construction of spaces for the future residents of the park.
I have to say the things I don't like when I visit a place, that's how I discovered the minus of this place, the lack of parking spaces, I had to park my car on the side of the road, but I overlooked this minus when I saw what this place is about.
The park is visited only on weekends, the entrance fee is 10lei/2euro/adult and 5lei/1euro/child, access inside is allowed between 11:00-19:00, also the park can be rented for various private events, here I believe I can have a successful event with this location at the foot of a pine forest.
The entrance to the park is through a very large handcrafted wooden gate as far as I could tell, we went to a covered terrace where we paid the entrance fee and there a very nice lady gave us all the information we needed to visit the park in an organized way without missing any place.
We chose to start exploring the park right at the end, we climbed up to the third level on some stairs made of pieces of stone (the stones looked to be quite old) here we also met the park's inhabitants, three very friendly dogs.
The first sculpture I saw is called ,, Madame Recamier,, I wrote above these are made of hay, I couldn't believe it until I touched them, and the second sculpture on the third level is called ,, The Pendul, , here you see I'm not very good at art and I'm not a good critic of it, but I'm lucky to have had the opportunity to talk to the man who created this park Erno Bartha.
On the stone path we continue our exploration on the second floor, let me not forget to tell you that the view from the third floor is amazing as you can see the whole park.
It's not the most comfortable chair, but for a few moments you can sit down and look into the distance, unless you want to sit directly on the grass, you decide.
On the second floor we can meet the sculpture ,, 1848,, , I'm waiting for you to tell me what this sculpture looks like (it looks to me like a catapult that was used hundreds of years ago in the battles of those times), we go further and come across a barn where there is the most beautiful raven we've seen so far (the owner told us his name, but I forget, it happens).
Another extraordinary idea was to bring from Maramures (Maramures is a few hundred kilometers from Cluj) an old house over a hundred years old, it has been partially refurbished, they are still working on it and in no time it will become a guest house, how interesting it can be to spend a night or a few nights in such a location and such a house, I think it would be an experience worth living.
Also here we noticed an old gate with a stone fence, the stone was like a puzzle, my goodness, how much talent it took the craftsman who built that fence, how much patience to choose the stones with the perfect faces.
Ready we head to the last part of the park, and here we can see some interesting sculptures, namely ,, Spiral of Time, and ,,Zgarienor,, , I am very curious if you have seen somewhere in the world this kind of parks (I would like to know maybe in the future I will visit them).
Besides the sculptures here you can also visit a wine cellar whose entrance is made of stone, my goodness, how nice it looks, also here you can buy some varieties of wines, but also here you can order some food mainly pizza different varieties.
An old car with windows that imitate stained glass.
Wow, cat on the table.
What surprised me the most was the fact that the lady who took care of us and who prepared our food told us that she does not use white flour to prepare the dough and the dishes are gluten free, something incredible, in very few restaurants I have encountered this.
That's it, we're done exploring the park, we're done eating, it's getting dark and we're off to our new destination, see you next post.
If you liked what you saw and read here please don't forget to give a LiKe, Follow, reBlog or a Comment, for all this I thank you, and until the next post I say goodbye.
P.S. The attached pictures you have just seen are taken by me with my mobile phone, and the text is also designed by me.
Yours @triplug!
