Myths, Legends, and Stories from Bistrita, in Dreamland

Research made me do it, include myths, legends, and stories, some from Bistrita County, in Dreamland, my latest book: the legend of the Knight’s stone slab, the imposing tower of the Evangelical Church, and Bram Stoker’s Borgo Pass: Tihuta Pass.

Legendary Bistrița is located to the north of Transylvania, nestled by mythical hills.

Once a Neolithic settlement like most of Transylvania, over the centuries Bistrita was home to various migratory tribes, but the ones who remained and made it their home were the Saxon settlers at the dawn of the 13th century.

Remember the big Mongol invasion of 1241 that nearly wiped out Sibiu? Bistrita, too, was affected by it. But after it recovered it blossomed into one of the seven cities of Transylvania, the Siebenburgen, alongside Brașov (Kronstadt), Sibiu (Hermannstadt), Sighișoara (Schassburg), Cluj (Klausenburg), Mediaș (Mediasch), and Sebeș (Muhlbac).

Bistrita, more than just a settlement

A mine for white gold.

It’s been one of the most important salt mines of the Carpathian Basin (and alongside Turda, Ocna Mureş, Ocna Sibiului that were sites known about throughout the last seven or eight thousand years).

The first document issued in Transylvania dates from 1075 and was written in connection with the delivery of a quantity of salt from the Turda salt mine to a monastery.

A city with privileges.

During the 15th century, the royal privilege given by King Matthew Corvin afforded the city to be surrounded by walls, marked by gates (Wood Gate, Frog Gate, Hungarian Gate, Hospital Gate) and defense towers that were manned and guarded by guilds (Tailors ‘Tower, Blacksmiths’ Tower, Carpenters ‘Tower, Saddlers’ Tower, Goldsmiths ‘Tower, Butchers’ Tower, Funerals ‘Tower, Rotarians’ Tower, Masons ‘Tower, Curlers’ Tower).

A defense fortress…

…for the protection of the road that connects Transylvania with Bucovina, on the Bargau Valley, through the Tihuţa Pass.

A land of legends.

The Legend of The Knight’s Slab

Many identities were attributed to this knight.

He was believed to be Paltaleo Circuli, who lived in Bistrita in the 14th century and contributed to the consolidation of the urban community.

A messenger of the Hungarian King sent to Bistrita with news of the new granted privileges, but who sadly who died of typhus was also a possible identity.

My favorite explanation is that the knight with long hair depicted n the Knight’s Slab was (drum roll) a beautiful and very rich woman named Ursula, a rich widow who made many donations to the churches of Bistrita and helped the poor and the needy. A Transylvanian Joan of Arc.

“I inherited needles,
So I forged a sword.
With silken thread,
A shield to guard
My dreams and visions
Ahead of my times –
And it makes them stumble
On their narrow path.”

Patricia Furstenberg on Ursula, the 14th cent. Knight of Bistrita

The carved knight’ stone slab from Bistrita, marked 1327, is one of the oldest carved stones from medieval Transylvania.

The Legendary Story of the Tower of the Evangelical Church of Bistrita

This is the tallest tower in Transylvania, rising at a height of 75 m.

Legend says that the Saxons of Sibiu, upon hearing rumor of a very, very tall tower in Bistriţa, decided to measure it. Then make sure that the tower they were building will surpass the one from Bitrita.
Spies were sent to measure it, so that they could build a taller one in Sibiu. Stairs were climbed. Rope was dropped. Hard labor. So after measuring, the craftsmen of Sibiu stopped by a local inn and, after a few glasses of wine, word for word, loose tongues, they revealed the true purpose of the trip.
The craftsmen from Sibiu, heads heavy with booze, fell asleep and their rope quickly shortened by about 2 meters by the tricksters from Bistrita.
This is why, today, the Tower of the Evangelical Church in Sibiu is around 73 meters tall, while the one in Bistrita is still the tallest tower in Transylvania, standing at 75 meters.

Bistrita, as seen in the novel Dracula written by Bram Stoker

The Borgo Pass mentioned in the famous novel Dracula, the place where the lawyer Jonathan Harker is taken over by Count Dracula’s carriage, to be transported to the castle, the realm of Count Dracula, is in fact Pasul Tihuța (a mountain pass at an elevation of 1.201m, or 3,940ft). Located in Bârgău Mountains, the pass is pretty long, nearly 18km, and it reaches the old border between Moldavia and Transylvania (which is an important detail from a historical fiction point of view…

You can enjoy stories from Bistrita in my book Dreamland:

I’ll whisper now the titles of the three tales inspired by Bistrita’s legends:

Ursula and the Gothic Knight
Vein Victims of Transylvania’s Tallest Tower
Tihuta Pass or Borgo Pass, the Contemporary Myth of Bistrita

Thank you for reading about myths, legends, and stories from Bistrita, as fetured in Dreamland.