A window into the past – PIATRAONLINE

The window was born from the need for light, it also allows us to see the world, as it is in that moment. Daily reality becomes relatively palpable when looking from the window, the charm of the meditative search for the present underlines our belonging to the present.
But how to see the past? And how can we bring him closer to us, to know him better, receive his vibrations and learn from him?
Spectacular innovations bring the past closer to us, special windows place virtual images of reality alongside them, offering images of the past to the eye and the spirit.

First mentioned in 1381, the construction of the fortress is attributed to Prince Lazar, then ruler of Serbia and Moravia, and the fortress served as the capital. In 1389, after the battle of Campia Mierlei (Kosovo Polje), both Prince Lazar and Sultan Murad I were killed, the outcome of the battle was tactically undecided, but in practice the penetration of Muslims into southern Europe was achieved. For us it is important because the Turks exerted great pressure on the Romanian country, at the time of Mircea the Elder. A few years later the battles of Rovine (1395) and Nicopole (1396) followed, the latter a true catastrophe for Christianity.
Even though the capital moved to Belgrade, the fortress of Krusevac maintained its strategic importance, being subsequently occupied by the Turks and Hungarians, returning under the control of Serbia until 1454. In that year there was the Turkish assault on Serbia led by Muhammad II the Conqueror himself, who a year earlier had become lord of Constantinople. The fortress fell, later becoming a gunpowder depot. After battles, robberies and under the inexorable seal of time, Kusevac is today a ruin. What remains of the ancient capital are the Dijon tower which guarded the entrance and a piece of the eastern city wall. This tower was covered with colored cobblestones, hence the Turkish name of the fortress: «Colorful City». Virtually today it is difficult to imagine what the fortress looked like in its best times. Today, superior technology comes to the aid of visitors, allowing them to view the fortress as it once was.

2. Heidentor (Gate of the Pagans) – Austria

Heidentor is the most famous Roman monument in Austria. It is not clear what it was for, some sources speak of a funerary monument, others consider it a triumphal arch erected in honor of a general. Legend tells of a young shepherd who, passing through the area with his flock, one evening saw a blue light rise from the ground. He dug there and, just as fear gripped him, he struck with his shovel a hard stone, on which a Roman inscription was written. He bent down to pick it up, thinking he had stumbled upon a treasure, when it was pulled up over his shoulder, looking back he saw a strange man, dressed in a black cloak and wearing a plumed hat, who said to him:
«You bastard, leave the treasure! It’s not for you! Take care of your livestock»!

While looking after the herd, the boy noticed that the cows had entered the vineyard and were tearing the meat apart. He ran to chase them away. Then looking back, he saw how the man began to grow until he became enormous and surpassed the Pagan Gate in height. Then he tore off a piece of masonry and threw it into the hole the young man had made, plugging the treasure forever. The shepherd then lost consciousness and when he regained it late, it was night around him, the stranger had disappeared, as had the guiding light, and the cattle had dispersed. He went to look for them, leaving a piece of wall behind him, stuck in the ground. Using technology similar to that applied to the Krusevac fortress, you can see the gate as it was, next to it, embedded in the ground, is the piece of wall covering the legendary treasure.

Truth or legend, the past transmits its messages to subsequent generations over time, challenging the contemporary imagination to understand them.