We are in the middle of Romania in the Transylvania region during a cultural festival. Sighisoara is a town where ethnicities and religions collide. Lutheran, Orthodox, Catholic, Jew and Muslim are all part of the mix.
The incongruity is that blaring over the speaker at our campsite swimming pool is a collection of American musical rubbish.
It is a privilege to be in a place where history has been made in the furnace of conflict and interaction. At least this weekend’s festival is an intercultural affair. Every group is invited to be part of the presentation. We attended a concert in which Hungarians in Romania, Jews as well as Romanians took part. Over the week many more ethnic groups had been involved.
From a religious perspective the Lutheran church is part of the long Saxon presence in this area. The German Catholics converted to Lutheranism at the time of the Reformation. The Orthodox church represents the Hellenic and the Catholic Church has been a presence for even longer. The Jews, of course, have even wandering this part of the world for 2000 years.
It has been an eye opener to come here and learn more about a part of the world I had known so little about.
Travels from Ur 