La Băile Olănești se află o biserică de lemn ce surprinde, mai ales când afli istoria ei: este biserica lui Horea din Albac, din munții Apuseni.
Atunci cum de se găsește la Băile Olănești?
At Băile Olănești there is a surprising wooden church, especially when you learn its story: it is a church from the Apuseni mountains in Transylvania where revolutionary leader Horea once prayed.
Un panou informativ la biserică ne spune povestea ei: ridicată în 1746 în Albac, biserica a fost strămutată în vechiul regat de Ionel Brătianu în 1907. Căzuse în nefolosire și a cumpărat-o, ducând-o pe moșia lui de la Florica, Argeș. Transilvania se afla pe atunci încă în componența Austro-Ungariei.
An information panel details the way it was disassembled and brought south by Romania's Prime-minister Ionel Brătianu in 1907, to avoid its ruin. It was assembled on his domain in Florica. Transylvania was still in Austria-Hungary at the time.
În această biserică a pășit și Horea, conducătorul răscoalei țărănești de la 1784 și pentru al ei simbolism a fost salvată.
Its symbolic importance saved the church. The region of Albac, in the Apuseni mountains, was the center of the 1784 peasant uprising for social and national rights.
După al doilea război mondial biserica fiind din nou părăsită, domeniul de la Florica fiind vitregit și Brătienii exilați sau uciși, biserica era din nou aproape ruinată. A fost strămutată o a treia oară la Băile Olănești la inițiativa Patriarhului Iustinian și a Episcopului Iosif al Râmnicului.
After the Second World War, it was again about to be ruined. The democratic parties were outlawed and communists were imprisoning or killing all opposition, the Brătianu family included. The church was again moved from the Brătianu estate, this time to Băile Olănești, by Patriarch Iustinian and Bishop Joseph.
Poetul ardelean Octavian Goga i-a dedicat o frumoasă poezie ce evocă rugile și speranțelor românilor de la acea vreme.
A poem by Transylvanian poet Octavian Goga, describing the hopes and prayers of Romanians at the time, that I translate below:
The little church from Albac
Little church from Albac
You are the the sign of the times
Still our poor cries
Are locked within your wooden frame.
Of what we asked, of what we thought
You encompass so many prayers
And so many vain dreams
Under your rooftop and shingles.
You know our lonely efforts
Forever, without faith
Before God in the heavens
And before the Emperor (of Austria-Hungary) here on Earth
Remain here and have a respite
Be our wise adviser now
And send a message home of what remained
The little church from Albac.
The little church from Albac
Little church from Albac
You are the the sign of the times
Still our poor cries
Are locked within your wooden frame.
Of what we asked, of what we thought
You encompass so many prayers
And so many vain dreams
Under your rooftop and shingles.
You know our lonely efforts
Forever, without faith
Before God in the heavens
And before the Emperor (of Austria-Hungary) here on Earth
Remain here and have a respite
Be our wise adviser now
And send a message home of what remained
The little church from Albac.