The Gate of Kiss

The Endless Column

Stool Alley
The Table of Silence
Constantin Brancusi" Memorial House from Hobita, Pestisani village
organized in 1971 on the palce of the house in which the artist was born, in 1876.
ABOUT ANSAMBLUL SCULPTURAL CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI
Sculptural Ensemble of Constantin Brancusi Targu Jiu, known as the
monumental ensemble in Targu-Jiu, is a tribute to the fallen heroes of World
War I, designed and built by Constantin Brancusi
The three components of the sculptural ensemble in Targu Jiu - Table of
Silence, Gate of Kiss and Endless Column - are arranged on the same axis,
oriented from west to east, with a length of 1275 m.
Table of Silence, made in limestone, is the mass before the confrontation with
the battle in which combatants will participate. Time is hourglasses-chairs arranged
in it measured. Everything there in silence.
Kissing gate, built of travertine, is the gateway through which the passage to
another life. Reason Kiss, currently the goal posts could be interpreted as the eyes
looking inward.
Endless Column, or infinite sacrifice, by Sidney Geist considered the peak of
modern art, is a true "spiritual testament" of the artist, a true axis mundi, as if
designed to support the heavens forever. 29.33 meters high, consists of 17 modules
rhomboidal cast.
The assembly was inaugurated on 27 October 1938. In the era of socialist
realism itself, Brancusi was challenged as one of the representatives of
cosmopolitan bourgeois formalism. Only in 1964 was rediscovered in Romania as
a national genius and, consequently, all of Targu-Jiu could be arranged and cared
for, having been left derelict quarter of a century .
GORJ MONASTERIES -HOLY SETTLEMENTS
 DISCOVER THE MANY TOURISTIC ATTRACTIONS
OF GORJ COUNTY
Do you believe you know your country well enough? Have you travelled
through the whole of Romania and are you now ready to go further beyond its
borders? We believe that you haven’t seen anything yet if you don’t know Gorj
county.
Gorj, judeţ (county), southwestern Romania, occupying an area of 2,163
square miles (5,602 square km). The Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians)
and the sub-Carpathians rise above settlement areas in the valleys and lowlands.
The county is drained southward by the Jiu River and its tributaries. Lake Ceauru
lies southwest of Târgu Jiu, the county seat. Industries there manufacture wood
products, textiles, and foodstuffs, and building materials are produced in Birseşti.
Anthracite coal mines operate in Schela, and the towns of Ţicleni and Bâlteni have
oil wells. Lignite mines are worked in Tismana and Rovinari, and graphite is
mined at Baia de Fier. Agricultural activities consist of viticulture in hilly areas
and cereal cultivation and livestock raising in the lowlands.
Târgu Jiu city was built on a Roman settlement. The sculptor Constantin
Brancusi was born in Hobiţa village. A monument that was created by Brancusi
honours Romania’s World War I heroes. The Tismana Monastery, which is located
west of Târgu Jiu, was founded in the 14th century. Târgu Jiu and Târgu
Cărbuneşti are centres for highway and railway connections. Pop. (2007 est.)
381,643.
The Jiu Canyon National Park is one of the most spectacular river valleys that
pass through a mountain chain in Romania. The park lays on a surface of 11000
hectares along the Jiu river starting from Petrosani canyon to near Bumbesti-Jiu.
Mountain ridges covered in characteristic flora and fauna all offer views towards
the tumultuous Jiu which passes determinedly between mountain feet. Jiu Canyon
can’t not impress you even if you’re just passing through on the road that goes
along the riverside.
 THE POLOVRAGI MONASTERY

The Polovragi Monastery, (district of Gorj) is one of the most important

religious and artistic monuments which attracts the admiration and the appreciation
of the visitors from our country and from abroad.
The most recent researches based on two Slavonic inscriptions, establish the
building date of the Polovragi Monastery about 1505. It is attributed tu Radul and
Patru, Danciul Zamona's sons, which are mentioned in a document issued by
Prince Basarab cel Tânar (1477-1481), on 18th January 1480. This document
constitues the first documentary attestation of the village of Polovragi.
The founder of the present church of the Polovragi Monastery is Danciul
Pîrîianu of Milesti, according to the document issued by Prince Matei Basarab
(1632-1654), on 16th July 1648. He built the church on the old foundation
preserving only the lower part of the inferior walls, which were in a better
condition.
When it was finished, its founder Danciul Pîrîianu dedicated it to the Holy
Sepulchre. The great voivode Constantin Brâncoveanu (1688-1714) redeemed it in
1693 and placed it under the jurisdiction of the Hurezi Monastery.
The church is built in the Byzantine style on a trefoil plan. Its interior is divided
into several sections: an ante-nave, a nave and an altar, which are specific of the
Ortodox churches.
The painting of the church is particularly important both from an
iconographic point of view and its technical execution. It is like of that of the
Hurezi Monastery, being the common work of the same painters, but it has
particular characteristics.
In the porch, on the east wall one can admire the two iconographic
representations, unique in our country, of the monasteries from the Mount Athos,
as well as images from the two Testaments and from the Lives of the Saints.
The interior painting is preserved in the original form. It is about 250 years
old and it has a particular artistic value. The colouring on the blue background is
harmonious and sober.
The iconostasis is a real masterpiece of the old Romanian wood carving. Its
rich ornamentation strikes by its finess and brilliancy.
The Polovragi Monastery has a very interesting collection of vestments,
epitaphs, icons, crosses, censes, musical manuscripts and religious books. Here we
can see too Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu's iptych.
POLOVRAGI AND WOMAN’S CAVES
RĂNCA RESORT
SĂCELU
GORJ - TOURISTIC MAP
TÎRGU-JIU
 TOURISTIC
ATTRACTIONS
OF
GORJ COUNTY