SOLAR EQUILIBRISTIC IN CRISANA

-text and photos Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
design Florin Alexandru Stancu-

This project begins in Romania
from the spectacular fortress of Deva
(firstly an antique Geto-Dacian fortification,
transformed by the Magyar conquerors into an imposing fortress
and the temporary residency of the “voievods” of Transylvania in the 13th century),
and continues with two borders of a historical province, Crisana,
which was shared between Romania and Hungary after World War II:
the Mures River (south)
and the Transylvanian Mountains (east).

Another major border of this province (west and north)
is the Tisza River in Hungary.

In one of the largest towns of Crisana (in the Romanian zone),
Arad (first mentioned in the 11th century,
with a tremendous history
and about 160.000 inhabitants),
during the Austro-Hungarian Empire
a group of Magyar specialists made an original narrow railroad of 60 km in 1906,
which was electrified in 1913
and on which a train, Green Arrow,
transported travellers through rural zones
to the small towns of Ghioroc, Pancota and Radna.

70 years later the train was replaced by a tram,
and in 2017 June 16 I was lucky to travel for a while along this line.

Then I stopped for a few minutes near the Arad Central Railway Station,
which was opened in 1858 and contains an impressive palace
made later by the Magyar architect Lajos Szantay.

Still amazed of what I had seen,
I continued to cross Crisana, moving through the Hungarian zone,
where a romantic sunset made me imagine that
the Sun daily goes on a celestial narrow railway.