At 10 km from Hațeg, in the enigmatic county of Hunedoara, under the sky huge dome, though more generous than elsewhere, there is Densus commune. Although spoiled by the fabulous surroundings of the Retezat mountain, the city would have remained probably anonymous if there hadn’t been the old St. Nicholas Church. Probably, the religious edifice would have remained anonymous if it hadn’t been the oldest Romanian church in which services were held. However, the greatest quality of the building is not that it managed to evade the crude hourglass of time …
By far, St. Nicholas Church looks like a miniature castle built of gingerbread. By close, gingerbread is revealed as Roman stone – marble columns and tombstones from the glorious days of our ancestors. Basically, the ingenious craftsman of the church remained anonymous, “recycled” the precious material inherited from the Romans, giving it a new role in the contemporary community, with motivation and divine grace. The architect did not hesitate to attach missing pieces columns to the edifice or to adorn the small church with tiles that the Romans used as roof.
No wonder that the edifice is considered one of the most bizarre constructions, especially as his entire “cabinet” can be seen as a museum with exhibits from the former Roman colony – Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa, located at almost 10 km distance.
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- The Fortified Church from Densus
