Gherla - Nicula Monastery - Sic village tour

Gherla has been an Armenian settlement since 1672 and was called Armenopolis; carved Armenian family crests are still visible over many doorways.

The Baroque Armenian-Catholic cathedral, built between 1748 and 1804, sits in the city center. To the right of the main square is the town museum, which houses a collection of Armenian manuscripts and icons on glass.

The tradition of painting icons on glass derives from fourteenth-century Venice, from where it spread through the mountains of the Tyrol and Bohemia to the Carpathians.

Nicula Monastery - the place of the miracle
In the year of 2002, Nicula Monastery celebrated 450 years since its first documentation (1552), and at least as many years of existence, taking into account the fact that the name of the village and the forest originates from the hermit Nicolae who dates from 1326.

It was initially erected as a modest hermitage, possibly by a single monk, as a place where the peasants could have taken refuge from maurading Tartars, and later on, became a religious school (1659) for "caring about the soul and learning the commandments".

It became a place of miracle when the image of the Holy Virgin, an Icon painted by the orthodox priest Luca of Iclod in 1681, cried with tears for 26 days in 1699.

After this miraculous event, foreboding great sufferings for the Romanians in Transylvania (Austro-Hungarian occupation, the religious disunion, natural calamities, etc), the monastery soon became a well-known pilgrimage place and which even today hosts up to 300,000 believers on its dedication day of August 15th.

The evidence of weeping, confirmed with signatures and seals, brought about the inauguration of the first school of painting on glass in Transylvania, turning Nicula into a village of painters of icons, which is still continued.

The wooden church that dates to 1552 burnt down in a fire in 1973. It was replaced with one brought from Nasal-Fanate hamlet, dated 1650.

For those interested in Orthodox rituals, seeing a Holy Virgin Icon considered to be miraculous and visiting one of the largest collections of icons on wood and glass, NICULA Monastery is the place to visit.

SIC (Szek) - important Hungarian village that is spread over several hills, boasts a number of churches and municipal buildings, testifying to its former importance as a center of salt mining. Sic is considered to be a kind of repository of Hungarian folk culture. The Magyars there wear costumes, the kind you would only see in Hungarian museums. Hungarian cuisine may be tasted at one of the local traditional restaurants.

THE PACKAGE INCLUDES:
1. Transport Cluj - Gherla - Nicula Monastery - Sic village - Cluj
2. Complete guide services

THE PACKAGE DOES NOT INCLUDE:
1. Entrance tickets to the sights.
2. Hungarian lunch in Sic village.

PRICES :

For a price quotation, please contact us directy at [email protected], mentioning the number of people interested to join the tour and the tour dates Thank you!

Note: Our tours are open to everyone interested, every day of the week. The rates are valid for our guests only!