Tâmpa (, or Kapellenberg; ; ) is a mountain, part of the Postăvarul Massif, located in the southern part of the Eastern Carpathians (alternatively categorized as in the Curvature Carpathians) and almost entirely surrounded by the city of Brașov. Its elevation is 960 m (955 m according to some sources), almost 400 m above the city.
The mountain is mostly made up of limestone formations, having risen up gradually from the Earth's crust.
Most of the mountain (1.5 km2) is a declared nature reserve, due to the rare animal species (bears, birds, butterflies — 35% of Romanian butterfly species) and plant species (a rare liverleaf species, Transylvanian windgrass) that are found there. A number of routes to the summit exist: a serpentine path with 25 hairpin curves, cut in 1837 by Brașov's forest administration; the Knights' road, dating to the days of the Brașovia citadel; an auto road; and Gabony's stairs. A cable car makes the journey between the cabin/restaurant Casa Pădurarului at the base of the mountain to the Restaurantul Panoramic, on its crest, in under three minutes. The view from the summit is spectacular, offering a panoramic view of the city; on a clear day, the entire Burzenland is visible.
Tâmpa's flora and fauna
Plants
Common nameLatin nameBraveheart's crossHepatica transsilvanicaCommon dogwoodCornus sanguineaCommon elderSambucus nigraCommon hazelCorylus avellanaCowslipPrimula officinalisDwarf almondPrunus tenellaEuropean ashFraxinus excelsiorEuropean beechFagus sylvaticaEuropean cornelCornus masEuropean hornbeamCarpinus betulusEuropean larchLarix deciduaFeather grassStipa pennataForking larkspurConsolida regalisGround cherryPrunus fruticosaIrisIris germanicaLady's slipperCypripedium calceolusLarge-leaved lindenTilia platyphyllosLimestone's crownSpiraea crenataMountain elmUlmus montanaNorway sprucePicea abiesPedunculate oakQuercus roburRabbit's tailSesleria rigidaScots pinePinus sylvestrisSilver plantainPlantago argenteaSpotted tulipFritillaria meleagroidesTransylvanian windgrassBromus barcensisWild hyacinthHyacinthus orientalisWolfsbaneAconitumWood anemoneAnemone nemorosa
Animals
Common nameLatin nameBrown bearUrsus arctosButterfliesPapilionoideaCommon ravenCorvus coraxEurasian lynxLynx lynxEuropean viperVipera berusGolden eagleAquila chrysaetosGray wolfCanis lupusRed squirrelSciurus vulgarisOther birdsAves17 rare wasp speciesApocrita
Etymology
The etymology of the word Tâmpa, a name shared by several mountains, has been much discussed among Romanian linguists. Nicolae Drăganu started from the observation that Albanian and southern Italian dialects as well as Catalan have very similar words meaning "boulder", "hillock" or "rocky incline". He then proposed a pre-Roman, Thracian origin (*timpa), meaning "strait, mountain valley" and "mountain, rocky mountain". He was unclear as to whether the word entered Romanian directly or through Latin. Constantin Diculescu accepted the theory without important changes, pointing out that τὑμφα means "hillock" in Doric Greek.
However, Drăganu's theory was contested. Ovid Densusianu raised phonetic objections as to the link between Tâmpa and the Catalan timpes. Gustav Weigand declared that the toponym simply derived from the adjective tâmp, a word of Old Bulgarian origin signifying "worn down, leveled". Somewhat earlier, Alexandru Philippide had expressed the same opinion ("In reality Tâmpa is probably the adjective tâmp). Drăganu published a new article defending his thesis, bringing in new facts.
Iorgu Iordan was hesitant to embrace one hypothesis: he noted that the physical nature of the places called Tâmpa, which tend to be sharp mountains, favors Drăganu, as does the striking phonetic and semantic resemblance between the Romanian term and those in other languages. He notes, too, the existence of a noun, tâmpă, meaning "a very extensive mountainside, rocky and with a very abrupt descent"; also appearing as tâmp, it can mean "a hill or mountain abruptly rising to a great distance above flat land". However, he notes the difficulty of making assumptions about the obscure languages spoken prior to the Roman conquest of Dacia. He also points out that mountains are often named after particular characteristics, a fact that generally points to an origin in the adjective tâmp.Iorgu Iordan, Toponimia romînească, p. 133-34. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, 1963
History Natural disasters Through the years, Tâmpa has been relatively safe from natural disasters like mudslides or earthquakes. The most severe damage has been caused by fires, particularly those of 1689, 1731, 1860, 1880 and 1946.
Dacian cultic site The oldest human traces on Tâmpa date to the time of the Dacians. On Tâmpa, archeologists have discovered a bone pit from that period, indicating that a pagan cult was practiced there.
Brassovia fortress (13th-15th c.)
The Brassovia (Romanian: Brașovia) fortress was one of the seven fortified cities that provided the German name for Transylvania: Siebenbürgen, 'seven fortresses'. The building, located between the peak and the crest of Tâmpa, is presumed to have been raised in the time of the German Knights (1212–1218), or if not, was certainly fortified during their rule. In 1241, several Brașov families were able to find shelter there from Tatar raids. In 1397, before the war against the Turks began, Mircea I of Wallachia placed his family in the citadel. In 1421, the people of Brașov took refuge in the citadel, threatened as they were by Sultan Murad II. That year, the citadel was given as surety to the sultan, as the Turks dominated the city from on high. Thus, the fortification became dangerous for Brașov's inhabitants and for the entire area. After succeeding in taking it back with the help of John Hunyadi, the inhabitants decided to demolish it. Its stones were used to fortify the fortifications in the valley, at that time just being built.
Description The fortress was made of stone, with a small polygonal tower on the west side, on Tâmpa's peak. Along the walls were found small towers for defence. Within the southern walls, traces of small rooms have been discovered. There was also a deep well and a chapel inside. As the fortification was surrounded by precipices on three sides and was well-defended on its fourth, it was one of the most difficult to capture in Transylvania (indeed in all of Europe), and was in fact never occupied by force, only being handed over through treaties. Provisions were brought to it by people from a narrow valley called Cutun, to which it was linked by Drumul Cavalerilor (the Knights' Road). Around 1910, Costantin Lacea wrote that "even today the Romanian populace, especially the Costeni (inhabitants of Coastei and Costiței Streets), led by Junii Curcani ("the Young Turkeys"), go out the day after Pentecost up to the Citadel on Tâmpa, near the Cross of Cutun, and celebrate there. The old people tell how when they were young they used to play up in the Citadel on Tâmpa".
The two watchtowers (15th-18th c.)
In the 15th century, two watchtowers were built at the base of Tâmpa, linked to the citadel through a series of walls, which, taken together, extended from the towers to the peak of the mountain. Probably left to decay after the introduction of firearms, the two towers were demolished in the 18th century (two engravings from that century show Tâmpa first with, then without them). Turnul Cuțitarilor (the Knife-Makers' Tower), located to the right of Bastionul Țesătorilor (the Weavers' Bastion), offered an open view toward the valley (Șchei). No trace of it exists today. Turnul Cizmarilor (the Boot-Makers' Tower), located above Bastionul Postăvarilor (the Drapers' Bastion), dominated Blumăna and Curmătura (the area between Tâmpa and Dealul Melcilor – "the Hill of Snails"). Today, the tower's platform, as well as a good part of the base of the linking wall built on the mountain, still remain.
Wooden summit cross (17th c.) On the map prepared by Giovanni Morando Visconti in 1699, one can see a cross above Brașov, on the peak of Tâmpa. The Saxon author Thomas Tartler confirms this; he wrote, "there was a cross as big as a crucifix, as the Papists have called Tâmpa the Hill of the Cross (Kreutzberg)". The cross belonged to the Romanians from Șchei, who would raise crosses all through the valley, with or without the citadel authorities' approval, sometimes even at a very short distance from the city walls. One chronicle states that the Tâmpa cross was built on August 2, 1696, attributing it to the carpenters of Emperor Hussein.Popovici.
Catholic chapel (c. 1700)
Around 1714 (according to other sources 1696 or 1718), the Brașov senator Johann Draudt, having converted to Catholicism, raised a chapel on Tâmpa, dedicated to Saint Leonard. After it was built, in stages, thieves or Lutherans robbed or desecrated the house of worship. On June 10, 1737, the day after Pentecost, at three in the afternoon, "lightning struck the chapel, in front of the altar, hitting a Papist German tailor and his wife, who had taken shelter there... Their dog was also struck". In time, only ruins were left of the chapel. For a long time afterward, Tâmpa was called Chapel Hill (Kapellenberg in German). Often, the Romanians of Șchei were blamed for the chapel's destruction: one writer said that they broke its door, hurled it into the valley, and stole several objects from within.Oltean.
Russian monument (1849-1869) In 1849, after the Imperial Russian intervention in support of the Austrian Monarchy (see Hungarian Revolution of 1848), Tâmpa became home to a pyramid-shaped monument, raised on the initiative of Lieutenant General von Hassfort and bearing the inscription Rusia et Austria unitæ MDXXXIL ("Russia and Austria united 1849"). Heavily damaged by either natural causes or, according to George Bariț, human intervention ("adverse hands"), the pyramid was ultimately removed by Austro-Hungarian authorities on April 7, 1869.
Schützenhaus (1865-1916); forestry school
After 1865, Tâmpa housed the Schützenhaus (the "Shooting range"), soon a favorite with the city's male population. Aside from fire practice, the location had a bowling lane and a restaurant; it was decorated with numerous hunting trophies and mannequins dressed in plate armor. The building was badly damaged by a 1916 fire, and for a long time remained derelict. Ultimately, the Dr. Nicolae Rucăreanu High School of Silviculture was raised on the location — the plot remains disputed between the Evangelical Church and the city of Brașov.
Árpád monument (1896-1916)
In 1896, upon celebrating the 1000th anniversary of Magyar tribes settling in Pannonia under the leadership of Árpád (see Pannonian basin before Hungary), seven commemorative statues were raised throughout the Kingdom of Hungary. On this occasion, a monumental column topped by the statue of a Magyar archer — popularly identified with Árpád himself — was erected on Tâmpa, causing controversy inside the Romanian community. Stone used for the monument had been transported up the slope by a funicular, and the completed monument featured a lightning rod; overall, it cost 22,585 florins to build.
In September 1913, the monument was damaged by a bomb placed at its base, an attack carried out by two terrorists, Ilie Cătărău and Timofei Kirilov, who were fighting against Hungarian rule in Transylvania. In December of the same year, the monument was heavily damaged by a thunderstorm: the "Árpád statue" fell from atop the column and shattered into pieces. In 1916, the remaining parts were detonated by the Romanian Army during its World War I advance into Transylvania (see Romanian Campaign). The statue's debris was removed by Communist Romanian authorities in 1966, and the head is preserved by the Parish House of the Reformed Church in Brașov. Tâmpa still houses the base of the monument.
Béthlen Restaurant (1890-1977); marble cross and Brașov sign