After finishing our Lower Daube cruise, we planned a few additional days in Romania. Our first stop was the Comana Monastery.
Danelle found this interesting stop between Giurgiu and Bucharest, originally built in the late 15th century by the legendary Vlad the Impaler.
Vlad was killed on a battlefield near the monastery, so it's speculated that his body may have been buried here.
I enjoyed seeing monks quietly going about their business while we tourists wandered around and gawked.
A headless body which could be that of Vlad Tepes was discovered on the property during archaeological work in the 1970s, but it's unknown if it's actually him. I'm not sure if DNA testing has been done to try and reach a greater degree of certainty one way or another.
Speaking of unidentified remains, this pit was somewhat jarring to stumble upon. It houses the remains of over 750 Romanian, German, Bulgarian, and Turkish soldiers who died on the nearby Argeș-Neajlov front in December 1916 during World War I.
The monastery has been restored repeatedly over the centuries, and is in pretty pristine condition today.
I like the juxtaposition of vibrant life and withered death here. Like the Biblical parable of the seeds that fall on fertile ground versus those that don't.
An engaging place, and a fine stop on our drive!
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