Dracula Myth vs. Legend, Story vs. Reality

Romania – the land of vampires

When referring to Romania the first thing that comes to mind is Transylvania. Home to some of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe, most relating to the legend of Dracula. This is the reason why, for many foreigners, Romania is the land of Dracula. Although,  not as popular at home us he is abroad, Dracula has become a tourist attraction. Many people come to Transylvania seeking his trail, and many go away again disappointed.


Where does Dracula come from?

Did you ever wonder how the legend of Dracula came to be known and why it belongs to Romania? Besides the impressive story of Vlad the Impaler there are other important elements that build the legend. Perhaps one of the main reasons Romania is considered the homeland of vampires ist hat there are several legends that are centered on vampires.

One of the most important is the myth of Nosferatu- the illegitimate child of illegitimate parents. It is said that his name comes from the Greek nosophoros which means plague bearer of from the old Slavic word nosifor-atu or nesuferitu (obnoxious).

But Nosferatu didn’t feed with human blood. Its main feature was its libido, he being able to be intimate with the living. However, he made his victims-mistresses sick. Their fatigue evolved soon into a disease with symptoms similar to those of tuberculosis.

Nosferati, for there wasn’t only one, could also conceive this is why they were considered dangerous to young married couples; their hatred for those legally married making them to leave the young wife pregnant with their offspring.

Nostefati’s portrait is totally different from what we know today about vampires. The inhabitants of the Carpathians considered them to be highly sexual creatures that had nothing of the following features:  blood-drinking, fang-wielding, daylight and crucifix-fearing. This portrait has, unfortunately, no relation with the original Romanian legends, but in part with Bram Stocker’s novel.

dracula1Other very important legends are those of Moroii and Strigoii. These two are seen in close connection. The essential difference between them being the fact that Moroii are living vampires while Strigoii retourn from the dead. Moroii can also be both women and men and have all the characteristics that Strigoii have. Among the ways a person can become a Strigoi there is suicide or the fact that the dead person is the seventh son in the family. There is also the theory that if a pregnant woman drinks impure water or gets out of the house at night with nothing to cover her head the Evil One will appear and will put a red chitie on the head of the baby. This should be removed as soon as possible in order to prevent the transformation of the child. Although there are several versions of the origins of these mythological creatures: Strigoii and Moroii both have one common characteristic: they hurt their victims. However, only in some areas they are assimilated to the notion of vampires.

Varcolacii are other fantastic figures and they are considered to be the strongest type of undead. They are so strong they can eat the Moon and the Sun, making them disappear. They too appear when an unbaptised child dies. Their name seems to come from Bulgarian and Serbian vylx + dlaka meaning wolf hair. However these creatures don’t attack people directly so they are loosely connected with the vampires.

Morii, Varcolacii,Strigoii and the Nosferatu have contributed to the development of the vampire legends on the Romanian territory, influencing creativity all around the world and generating more and more new legends and interpretations, like the most recent Twilight saga.


The Fictional Count Dracula

Vlad the Impaler

Who is Dracula and what connexion  does it have with Transylvania? - this is the main question when somebody wants to discover the real story of legendary character.  

When one hears the name Dracula, most are inclined to think of a Hollywood fairytale with blood sucking vampires and a fictitious Count Dracula. This is true in one sense and completely false in another.

The figure most people associate to Dracula is a fairytale, written from the pen of Irish Novelist Bram Stoker. Many believe Stoker based his novel on the real life figure, Vlad Tepes III. Vlad was a prince of Walachia, located in central Romania. This is where the similarities end, as Stoker never actually visited Transylvania, or Walachia, and merely drew images from the stories written in European papers at the time.

Vlad Tepes was born in or around 1431, in the Transylvanian town of Sighisoara. Today you can visit the house in which Vlad was born, which has been restored to its original condition, and enjoy one of the best preserved medieval citadels in Europe. Prince Vlad III was named Drăculea by his contemporaries. This was because his father, Vlad II was invested by the Emperor Sigismund in Nuremberg on 8th February 1431 with the Order of the Dragon. This chivalric order was a military and religious society whose aims was to stop the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. The arms of the Order depicted a dragon (symbol of the Ottomans) and a cross (symbol of Christianity) in Romanian the word for “Dragon” (“Drahe” in German) is “Drac” (“Devil” in Romanian language) and so Vlad added the epithet “Dracul” (“The Dragon”) this name and his descendents  were named “Drăculești” : Vlad III was “Drăculea” (i.e. “Son of Dracul”).

At the time Vlad was in power, Walachia was a main trading route, and a strategic Vlad Tepes (The Real Dracula) point in the battle between the Turkish, Invaders from the East and the Hungarian throne situated in Budapest. This caused a very turbulent situation, as the battle of religions with these powerful neighbours was often fought on these lands. Vlad was known for many things, most of which being his cruel and ruthless torture methods.

Impalement was Vlad's favourite form of punishment, and he held no favourites, whether it be local thieves, foreign nobleman, or the sick and poor. As stories vary from one person to the next, the true life of Vlad Tepes will never be known. The printing press releases from Germany and Russia have similarities to the stories and life of Vlad, and local folklore is probably the best way to find out more on Vlad's life.

Certainly, it was only the exaggeration of Prince Vlad – The Impaler’s cruelty by malicious chroniclers that led, over time, to the creation of the Dracula myth. A series of chronicles inspired by the life of Vlad The Impaler paint a macabre picture of the prince, who was wont to punish treachery, dishonesty, stupidity, laziness, lying, thievery,  corruption and flattery by impalement, bunging, flying, decapitation, boiling alive, blinding, crucifixion, stabbing and strangulation. Likewise, victims were buried alive, burned, roasted, maimed, or bad their nose, ears, tongues or genitals amputated.

The figure of The Impaler has remained emblematic for Romanians, in spite of the exaggerations  regarding his limitless cruelty. Legends have grown up around him: strange as it might seem, during his reign a golden cup stood at the edge of a fountain in the centre of Târgoviște, without ever beeing stolen.  Many things can be said of Vlad The Impaler: that he was cruel, and merciless, although just and courageous; that he knew no pity, although he was a  “voevod  concerned with people and nation”. The chronicles mention nothing of the monasteries and churches founded by Vlad The Impaler:  Comana (1461), the Churches of Strejnicu and Târgușoru Vechi (1461).  Although inexplicable his identification with a vampire-count, a personage inspired by horror films, has brought Vlad The Impaler an unexpected tourist celebrity. The bloody Drăculea has become a product perfect for “frightening” and “attracting” the tourists.

Vlad Tepes was the Romanian character that is the most famous in Europe and not only. He was the main character in the literary production from the second period of the XVth century in the Eastern Europe and Western Europe. Unfortunately this fame is a negative one and it shows the great leader as the symbol of the evil. How did such a complex personality end up to be such known when he was still alive?

The origins of his image are being pointed out by the nickname he was given “Tepes”, as he is known in the Romanian history. The nickname appears first in the Turkish chronicles of the XVth century and XVIth century. He is named as Kaziklu bey (the prince that impales). Vlad was given this nickname because of the cruel method he had chosen to execute the war prisoners, the convicts and the adversaries. Vlad Tepes was a descendent from the Dragon Order, known as The Draculestilor Order. In German language the Dragon Order is called Drachenorden and in Latin is called Societatis draconistrarum. It was a like any other knightly orders of the time, having as a role model the “Order of St.George” built in 1318. Like his father, Vlad Tepes was a member of the Dragon Order. A proof of this is the signature he used to sign on official documents of the time: Dracula. Along the centuries this signature gained unexpected meanings.

The name Dracula was rapidly spread in all Europe of that time. In the Turkish language it was known under the name of Kazîclî; the Pec Bishop called it Dracole; Dan a knight who wanted the Romanian throne called him Dracul (Devil); in the Serbian annals before 1462 appears as Dracula; in the German story until 1462 appeared as Dracal or Dracao; the bishop Nicolae de Madrussa called him Dracul; the Venice Senat – Dragulia sau Draculia; the Hungarian king Matei. On purpose or not, the name of Vlad Tepes together with his behaviour brought him a great fame. His special skills and qualities along with his actions brought him a special place in the Romanian tradition not as a bad character but as a Robin Hood character. He was unmerciful with the rich people that broke the law and a good friend to the poor people.

For the Romanian land peasants he was the national hero that served their cause. He became famous because of the so called German stories that tried to denigrate the great leader. He is presented here as an antichrist, a criminal, a cannibal (an engraved stone shows him in the middle of the a spike forest waiting for his subjects to serve him human organs). This campaign was coordinated by the Hungarian king Sigismund de Luxemburg, who had to justify the desertion of the crusade against the Ottoman Empire, as he was given important help from the Roman Pope.

Illustration from German chronicles of the time.

This is a scene of the impalement. Vlad Tepes aka Vlad the Impaler  is watching the operation from a table, having his lunch and drinking wine. The picture is not necessary relevant to the image of Romanian prince, because the Germanic sources was affected by the myths and political interests.

As Vlad Tepes had organized himself a campaign against the Ottoman Empire, well seen by the Pope, Sigismund’s action was received very well. He paid for some false writings against the Wallachian leader.This falses include: The manuscript from Viena, incorporated in the Chronichle of Thomas Ebendorfer, the comments of Enea Silvio Piccolomini, the next to be Pope under the name of Pius the II (1458-1464), the verses of MichaelBeheim. From all the documents, the verses of Michael Beheim from 1462 – 1463: “About a tiran under the name of Dracula from the Romanian land” seem to be the most complex with 1070 verses. It is a synthesis of the German stories about Vlad Tepes, having a very powerful and eloquent ending. 950 of the verses describe the cruelties of him and in the other verses the horrible betrayal that led rightfully to his arrest. Being at the wrong time in the wrong moment Vlad Tepes was transformed from a great political and military personality of his time into a criminal of the history. The concept of “vampire” has the meaning taken from prehistoric times when the man being a hunter discoveredthat when an animal is killed and his blood drains’ from his veins, his life ends. The blood became in the mind of the hunter the source of life That is why some tribal members used to drink the blood of the animals killed, in order to claim their vitality. This practice was extended until the middle ages, where the prejudices of the Christian church turned this ritual practice from the life to the dead, and so the vampires appeared. As one of the most frequent phenomenon of the world history, the vampires had left their “fingerprint” on history since antiquity. From the Egyptian culture, from the Greek culture (the first wife of Zeus, Lilith, was considered to be a vampire), and from the Jewish culture until the far East to the Japanese (where are the vampire animals), the vampires have fascinated and intrigued the human society.

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The Legend of Romanian Tricolour

Short  Romania's History

Romanians  have  lived for 2 mileniums in 3 diferent lands/countries, but they were unified through the ortodox faith, which has created an unique language and also an unitary tradition, and after all an unitary state.

The 3 Historical Romanian Provinces: Transilvania, Moldova and Wallachia

The Great Union of Michael the Brave 1600

The Great Union Of Moldavia and Valachia Alexandru Ioan Cuza – 1859, January 24th

December 1st  - Romanias National Day

Romania, nowadays

Saint Andrew – The Patron of Romanians

St. Andrew

On November 30th Romanians celebrate Saint Andrew (Andrei) – who is considered the protector of Romania. Saint Andrew is known as the one who Christianized  our  ancestors. In the evening of St. Andrew’s Day  all the family members put some grain seeds to germinate. 

St. Andrew's green grains

The plants which grow the most beautiful and tall it is said  will give its owner a good and a healthy  year. The Day of November  30th is also know as  the Wolf’s Day. Wolves gain more power, and people should protect their animals and homes with garlic. The night of November 30th is a special night. The witches  pick the magic plants for their future spells. 

The legend of Romanian Flag

Liberty = sky blue
Justice = field yellow
Fraternity = blood red


1. Merger Legend

After 1860, a legend arose stating that the national tricolor had been formed by merging the colours of the Moldavian and Wallachian flags, probably out of a desire to reconcile all parties to the fact that the Wallachian revolutionary flag of 1848 had been chosen for all of Romania.

This legend was also convenient with respect to the colours attributed to the two principalities’ flags at the time (red and blue for Moldavia and blue and yellow for Wallachia).

Constantin Lecca - Moldavians and Muntenians become brothers

Another painting of Lecca shows the assassination of Michael the Brave in 1601. Also depicted is the united standard of the three provinces, with yellow on top (Wallachia), red in the middle (Moldavia) and blue below (Transylvania).

2. The Story of Romanian Tricolour

In 1821, when the revolutionary leader Tudor Vladimirescu called all the brave warriors to fight for freedom, a man, named Dragomir joined them. 

Tudor Vladimirescu

He had 3 daughters, who gave him 3 handkerchiefs: one yellow, one blue and one white. The white one was from the younger daughter, and Dragomir kept this one close to his heart. One day, Dragomir was severely injured in the battle. The white handkerchief became red because of his blood. He died, and his colleagues found his 3 handkerchiefs: one red, one yellow, and one blue. Those brave warriors took the 3 handkerchiefs and put them like a flag on a stick - in the honour of Dragomir. They fought for the Independence and for the Union of Romanians under the three colours of the flag - which became the Romanian National Flag.

Romanian  Flag  before  1989

Romanian  Flag  in December 1989

Romanian  Flag  - nowaday

DOODLE* – for Romanian National Day December 1st 2009

The search engine Google has had several logos. Some special logos have become known as Google Doodles.

The  National Tricolour's Day is celebrate in Romania on June 26th.

Evaluation session: Connecting the past with present

Project: using ICT, learning through drama and outdoor education create a project on the theme "Connecting the past with the present". Present a legend from your country using ICT tools; it has to be a film production; you may introduce sound effects, music, costumes, songs etc; maximum time alloted: 20 min.

Good practice example:

Windows to the past

The legend of Mare de Déu del Vinyet (Sitges)

Once upon a time in the current sanctuary of Mare de Déu del Vinyet in Sitges, it was a vineyard of a very rich and important family called Can Milans dels Ferrers. In their fields they had slaves to cultivate. One day, a slave was digging a vine when he saw an image of the Virgin and he took it thinking it was a doll or a toy because he had never been to a mass. When the slave arrived at home he didn’t find the image. The next day when he was digging in the field, he found the image of the Virgin and he took it to home again. When he was at home he didn’t find it, the image came back to the vineyard. At the third day the Virgin appeared and the slave took the image again. When he was at home again, he talked with his master and he explained to the slave that it was the image of the God’s mother. Finally, they built a church to venerate God’s mother. The church was called Mare de  Déu del Vinyet because the farm’s name was Vinyet.

The Story of Turkish Flag

The current design of the Turkish flag is directly derived from the late Ottoman flag, which had acquired its final form in 1844. It is known that the Ottomans used red flags of triangular shape at least since 1383, which came to be rectangular over the course of history. Ottomans used several different designs, most of them featuring one or more crescents, for different purposes, such as the flag with green background signifying the caliphate. During the late imperial period, the distinctive use of the color red for secular and green for religious institutions became an established practice.

In 1844, the eight-pointed star was replaced with a five-pointed star and the flag reached the form of the present Turkish flag; Red was the colour of Umar I, the Caliph who ruled from AD 634 to 644 and was known as a great consolidator of the Islamic Empire. In the 14th century red became the colour of the Ottoman Empire. The crescent and star is the symbol of Turks.

A legend says that in 1071, after the Battle of Manzikert and the defeat of the Byzantine army, the Seljuk Khan, Alp Arslan was roaming the battlefield where he saw the reflection of the crescent moon and the star on a pool of blood of Turkish warriors. After he saw this image, he decided that this would be the flag representing the Turks.       

LA CITTA DEL TRICOLORE

The Legend of Catalan Flag

The Catalan flag has a name and a history. It is one of the so called heraldic flags that come out of the creation of a cloth from the arms of the Counts of Barcelona. Though it is possible that the flag, or the pennant, is in fact before the time of the arms themselves. There is no historical reference until documents of the XIII century, but we know it is one of the most ancient ones of Europe. Perhaps one of the oldest pennants in Europe this is from 1306.

At first the bars of the arm were represented vertically and then horizontally. Finally it was the horizontal form that became its final form and the official flag of the Catalan nation. A flag with five yellow bars and four red ones, all of the same size. It was made official in the Estatut d'autonomia de Catalunya of 1979.

The popular legend about the origin of the flag says that it was Guifré el Pelós in the IX century who created it. He started the glorious house of Barcelona that then reigned for more than 500 years over Catalunya.

In one particular battle, a victory over the Normandos, his prize at the end of the battle was a shield, with a gold background, from the king Charles el Calb. The legend says that the king Charles, with his own hands, painted the shield with his fingers still covered in blood from the Count of Barcelona's wounds, with the four red bars it has now.

Modern historical investigations have shown that this is not true, but most people prefer the legend.

The Polish White Eagle

A thousand years ago, or maybe even more, there lived three brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus. For many years they had been content in their villages, but the families grew larger and they needed more room to live.

The brothers decided to travel in different directions to search for new homes. Lech, Czech, and Rus traveled with their troops for many days. They rode their horses over mountains and rivers, through forests and wild country. There were no people to be found anywhere, not a town or tiny village. On the crest of a mountain top, they separated, each going in a different direction. Czech went to the left, Rus went to the right and Lech rode straight ahead, down the mountain and across vast plains.

One day Lech saw a splendid sight. He and his troops had come to a place where a meadow surrounded a small lake. They stopped at the edge of the meadow as a great eagle flew over their heads. It flew around in great swooping circles, then perched on its nest, high on a craggy rock. Lech stared in awe at the beautiful sight. As the eagle spread its wings and soared into the heavens again, a ray of sunshine from the red setting sun fell on the eagle's wings, so they appeared tipped with gold, the rest of the bird was pure white.

"Here is where we will stay!" declared Lech.
"Here is our new home, and we will call this place GNIEZNO ... (the eagle's nest).

He and his people built many houses and it became the center of his territory. They called themselves Polonians, which means "People of the Field". They made a banner with a white eagle on a red field and flew it over the town of Gniezno, which became the first historical capital of Poland.  And, now you know how Poland began .

The story of Abraham and King Nemrut

It has been determined that the history of Urfa dates back to the Paleolithic Ages between the dates of 500 and 8000 BC. Valuable historical objects have also been found in excavations from the Neolithic Ages between the dates of 7250 and 5500 BC, the Copper Age between the dates of 5500 and 3200 BC and the Early Bronze Age between the dates of 3200 and 1800 BC.  It is also thought that the city was established by Prophet Idris (Enoch in Bible) and the Prophet Noah after the flood.

The city of Şanlıurfa and its surrounding region has gone through many dominations including; Sumer, Akkadian, Hittites, Babylonia, Chaldea, Hurrians, Mitanni, Aram, Assyria, Medians and the Persian Empires.  Urfa was referred to as Ursu in Hittites' documents in 2000 BC and as Ru'ua in Assyrian documents.  Former names of the city before Şanlıurfa include; Ur, Ur of Kalde, Ur of Harran, Orhei, Orhay, Vurhai, Edessa, Diyar-ı Mudar, Ruha, Reha and Urfa.

Alexander the Great invaded Urfa on his Persian Conquest in 332 BC. This invasion was later overturned by Osroene (Edessa) Kingdom in 132 BC. The Osroene Kingdom period, which lasted until 250 AD, played a significant role in Christianity.  It is also known that Abgar V. of Edessa (Black Abgar) accepted Christianity as an official religion for his kingdom (one of the first kingdoms which did so), and then further corresponded with Jesus Christ for inviting and spreading the religion to the region.  In return Jesus Christ sent a letter to Abgar Ukomo and also a towel expressing his blessing for the city.  After wiping his face with the towel (The Medallion), a portrait of his face miraculously appeared on the towel.  This phenomenon helped make Urfa a present day holy land for Christians.  It's believed that the holy towel has been protecting city for years.  In 944 AD, eastern commander of the Byzantine Empire John Kourkouas invaded Urfa, obtained the towel and brought it back to Istanbul with a glorious ceremony.

After the acceptance of Christianity in its early years, Urfa accepted Islam in 639 AD.  Until the encirclement of Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan in 1077, when the land became an independent crusader state or the country of Edessa (1098-1144), Urfa has been a stage for many religious and political acts, Urfa was ruled by Zengi in 1444 and by Saladin in 1182.  After the two Mongol Invasions in 1240 and 1250, Urfa was ruined by Hulagu Khan.

Urfa was ruled by Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans in 1404, Safavids in 1514 and at last by the Ottoman Empire in 1517.  The British army invaded the city on March 24, 1919 and the French invaded on October 30, 1919.  After a strong defense by the citizens of Urfa, the French armies succeed on April 11, 1920.

Why is Şanlıurfa named the City of Prophets?

Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim)

Nemrut is a ruler who spreads terror and fear all around. One night he asks for an interpretation of his dream. King Nemrut had a dream, in which he loses his kingdom,

“This year a child will be born and he will destroy your heathen religion and kingdom...”

Upon this dream King Nemrut decided to kill every child born within that year.  Sara, pregnant to Prophet Abraham, hid her pregnancy and gave birth to Abraham in a cave secretly.  The cave where Prophet Abraham was born is inside the Mevlid-i Halil Mosque. So, Sara, mother of the Prophet Abraham, gives birth to her child in a cave, leaves him there and goes home. A gazelle nurses the baby. After awhile, soldiers find Abraham in the cave. Prophet Abraham lived in that cave for 7 years furtively.  Nemrut, who never had a child, decides to take care of Abraham.

After the age of 7, he was brought back to his father’s house and after growing up he had struggled against the heathen people.  He expressed his beliefs that their belief in the different gods was not correct; he repeatedly expressed there is only Allah who created the universe. 

Witnessing the horror of Nemrut forcing his people to worship statues, when everyone leaves for a ceremony, Abraham enters the area of statues in the palace and breaks all the statues with an axe, finally leaving the axe in the hands of the largest statue. During his trial, Abraham protests his innocence, saying ?You see the axe is in the hands of the big statue; probably he is the one who did it.? Furious, Nemrut shouts, ?How can a piece of stone take an axe and do this?? Abraham replies: If he is a real God, why can?t he do it?? Infuriated, Nemrut commands Abraham to be thrown into the fire.  Although Zeliha, daughter of Nemrut, begs for mercy, she can't convince her dad.

Wood is piled up in the area of Halil-ul Rahman Lake and the fire is set.  Nemrut soon after captured the prophet and threw him into the flames over the Castle of Urfa.  At that moment, Allah ordered that “All the flames! Be cool and safe for Abraham.”  The place where the Prophet Abraham fell into the fire becomes a lake and a rose garden and the woods become fishes.  Since that day the area in Urfa called Balıklı (Fishy) Lake is considered to be holy ground.

This large rectangular pool is known as Abadur Rahman Havuzu, and contains hundreds of 'sacred' carp. Legend has it that anyone who eats the fish will go blind. This has resulted in an over population of the fish , which are now believed to be cannibalistic.

The small lake located next to Balıklı Lake is called “Ayn-Zeliha”, or Zeliha's Eye, referring to Nemrut's daughter Zeliha, who cried for Abraham and whose tears then turned into a lake. 

The Halil-ür Rahman Mosque, built by Salahaddin Eyyubi's nephew Melik Eşref in the year 1211 and located right next to Balıklı Lake, serves as an architecturally and aesthetically pleasing companion to the natural beauty of the lake.

Islamic legend tells a similar story, but with the added twist, that the sadistic Nemrut catapults Abraham from a giant sling shot situated high on the citadel, into the burning fire. The sling is represented by the 2 corinthian columns at the entrance to the kale. 

When King Antioch decided to build a giant cemetery-monument complex surrounded by three tall statues during his reign 2000 years ago, the 30-degree weather conditions and limited construction time did not stand in the way of his ambitions. Antioch's architects and workers constructed and chiseled giant stone chunks into three large atriums or terraces facing east and west. Huge statues, reaching seven to eight meters high, were then built on these terraces. Antioch also commissioned a “Pantheon,” or a gallery for the gods, for himself and his close ones. He aimed to immortalize his kingdom as a nation of the gods on Nemrut's hill in the name of the god Zeus. It will come as no big surprise that over the centuries the statues crumbled, some disappeared outright, while others were damaged to such an extent as to be unrecognizable. The statues of the gods' heads are still there. For 2000 years they have been watching the meadows of Anatolia from the peaks of Nemrut Mountain.
 

Prophet Job (Eyyub)

As the story goes, Allah had taken all of the children and goods of Prophet Job and then gave him an illness to make prove his loyalty. Worms covered his entire body, as he laid a cave; during this Prophet Job never rebelled against Allah. He continued his devotion; waited patiently and thanked god.  Because of his patience Allah then gave him his goods and health back.  The cave in which the prophet suffered his illness and the well where he washed himself with the blessed water is currently open to visitors in the Eyyub Peygamber district in Urfa.  Prophet Job's tomb is also located in Eyyub Nebi Village about 20 kilometers outside Urfa.   Also on the skirts of the Viranşehir district is mausoleum of Prophet Job, his wife Rahme's tomb and the location where Prophet Eliseus died.

Prophet Eliseus ( Elyasa )

Prophet Eliseus sought to visit Prophet Job however he believed that he was far from Prophet Job was.  One day as he set out to take the journey to reach Prophet Job, the devil (Şeytan) appeared in front of  him, lied to him about the distance and told him that he still had a long journey to reach Prophet Job.  Eliseus was very old at that time and prayed to Allah to take his life away and so he did.   Today his tomb is located in Eyyubi Nebi village located in Şanlıurfa, it is  just 1 kilometer from the tomb of Prophet Job.

Prophet Shoaib ( Şuayb )

It is believed in that Prophet Shoaib was living in ancient city of Şuayb, located 85 km from eastern Urfa.  A cave-house in the ruins of this ancient city is open for visitors as his house.

Prophet Noad ( Nuh )

After the flood, its believed that Noah's Ark landed in Mount Cudi, located between Urfa and Ceylanpınar. ( Re'sulayn ) This mountain has a strange surface; which looks just like the waves of a  sea.  The mountain is located in the same place as the ancient cities Soğmatar and Şuayb.

Prophet Moses (Musa)

Prophet Moses' well and a sign of his staff is located in the ancient city of Soğmatar, currently the area of Soğmatar is known as Yağmurlu Village.

Prophet Lot (Lut)

Prophet Lot, the son of Harran, brother of Prophet Abraham, immigrated with his uncle Abraham to the Sodom, where he was assigned as a prophet.  He was born in Urfa and spent his childhood with Prophet Abraham.   Prophet Lot lived with Prophet Abraham in the Harran region.

Prophet Jacob (Yakup)

It is thought that he lived in a building called Deyr Yakup (The Throne of Nemrud) in the eastern of Urfa, about 10 kilometers outside the city. 

The Legend of Saint George

St. George

According to the Golden Legend the narrative episode of Saint George and the Dragon took place in a place he called "Silene," in Libya; the Golden Legend  is the first to place this legend in Libya as a sufficiently exotic locale, where a dragon might be imagined. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the fictional city of Lasia, and it is the godless Emperor who is Selinus.

The town had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelled that envenomed all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery.

It happened that the lot fell on the king's daughter, who is in some versions of the story called Sabra. The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, decked out as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.

Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain.

The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross, charged it on horseback with his lance and gave it a grievous wound. Then he called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash. She and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptised, he would slay the dragon before them.

The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. "Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children." On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease.

Traditionally, the sword with which St. George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, a name recalling the city of Ashkelon, Israel. From this tradition, the name Ascalon was used by Winston Churchill for his personal aircraft during World War II (records at Bletchley Park), since St. George is the Patron Saint of England.

La Moreneta - The Black Virgin Story

The mountain of Montserrat has always been a source of inspiration for myths and legends because her singular form, but maybe the most important and popular is the legend of the “Moreneta”, the Dark Maiden, the Virgin of Montserrat.

The word Montserrat, means "jagged or serrated mountain" in Catalan. The mountain is also called "La muntanya dels cent cims" (The mountain of 100 peaks) and is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock, popular with climbers. The summit of Montserrat is called Sant Jeroni (Saint Jerome) and stands at 1,236 meters (4,055 feet) above the valley floor. Montserrat, is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands, and stands central to the most populated part of Catalonia, not so far from Barcelona.

Nestled between the peaks for centuries the famous Benedictine abbey Santa Maria de Montserrat. "Monestir de Montserrat" (Monastery of Montserrat) is the center of the Catalan faith. Charles V and his son King Philip II of Spain died holding blessed candles from Montserrat in their hands. The Monastery contains and protects "La Moreneta", named also the Black Virgin of Montserrat and her sanctuary. The mountains were associated in the Middle Ages with Parsifal's search for the Holy Grail in the legends of King Arthur, which was kept in a mountaintop castle called Montsalvat, even famous German composer Wagner set his opera "Parsifal" there...

According to legend La Moreneta was carved by St. Luke and brought to Montserrat by St. Peter in 50 AD, then hidden from the moors in the Santa Cova (holy cave) just down the mountain from the monastery. By the late 1100s, a new wooden sculpture of the miraculous image was made, and it is this Romanesque statue that pilgrims are familiar with today. In 1522, St. Ignatius of Loyola came in pilgrimage, and made the decision to abandon his former life as a warrior, leaving his sword as an offering to Our Lady of Montserrat and settling for some time in the nearby town of Manresa as he discerned his vacation and wrote his Spiritual Exercises. The old church was replaced with an enormous transitional late Gothic/Renaissance-style basilica in 1592, and this building stood until much of it was destroyed by the armies of a retreating Napoleon in 1811. Fortunately, the monks managed to hide the image of Our Lady of Montserrat so that it was not destroyed along with the rest of the abbey. In 1880, Our Lady of Montserrat was officially declared to be Patroness of Catalonia by Leo XIII. In more recent times, Pope John Paul II came to Montserrat on pilgrimage in 1982, to pray before the image of the Black Madonna...

On a rugged carved mountain not far from Barcelona lies one of the most popular destinations of the Catalan region and Spain: the statue of the Black Madonna. According to the legend, the statue was discovered in the year 880 by some shepherds who have seen a strange light on the sky and heard music coming from a cave in the mountain. From that moment on the statue remained on the Montserrat mountain becoming one of the most famous pilgrimage sights in Spain.

The statue became more and more famous after people started reporting miracles and attributing it mystical healing powers. In 1881 the Montserrat Madonna was crowned in accordance with Canon Law and proclaimed patron saint of Catalonia by Pope Leo XIII. Its fame still attracts flocks of pilgrims who come to the sacred mountain either to take part at the monks’ daily celebrations of Mass and recitations of the Liturgy of the Hours either to visit the Basilica, next to the monastery, to see La Moreneta.

Sacred Cave: this is where they evidently found La Moreneta. There's a replica there now.

The Holy Grotto (Santa Cova) were the statue was discovered by the shepherds  can  be visited by following the walking paths or taking the funicular.

Montserrat, Spain-Hike to Capella de Santa cova (Sacred Cave)

Another attraction point of the Monastery is the 50 member Escolania, one of the oldest and the most famous boys’ choir in Europe. The choir dates back from the 13th century. At 1 pm daily you can hear them sing "Salve Regina" and the "Virolai" (hymn of Montserrat) in the basilica.

There are many stories about the black Madonna and the mountain, who many believe to be magic and some say she guards the Holy Grail, but we can never deny that she will always be the symbol of joy and hope for millions of her worshippers.

The Legend of Montserrat:  The "Moreneta"

 A legend of year 1239 tells that, at dusk from a Saturday of year 880, a great light descended from the sky, and whose brilliance left ecstatics young shepherds that contemplated the event; formidable brilliance was accompanied of beautiful angelic melody as background music. Following Saturday the children returned to the same place of the event accompanied by their parents, and the moving vision was repeated; the same it happened four following Saturdays, when it accompanied the vice-chancellor of Olesa de Montserrat, and all together stated the same and surprising stellar wonder.

The bishop, who by those then was in Manresa, would not take in having the news of the happened thing in the mountain and this one did not doubt in raising its top to verify the facts with its own eyes; in the expedition a natural cavern was discovered: Santa Cova, in whose interior they found an image of Maria with the Boy in his lap, with the face and hands of black color.

Gotmar, the bishop of Vic, did not doubt in proposing that outside transferred to Manresa; but it was as soon as to remove it from the interior of the cave, when the image became so heavy that there was no form to move it of the ground; the interpretation for the bishop was easy: the will of the Virgin was to remain in that sacred place; reason why it endorsed the divine will and it decided to construct a chapel so that Maria was venerated in the mountain of Montserrat.

According to the legend, “the Moreneta” (the brunette),  was carved in wood burned by the effect of a ray, by the same San Lucas in Jerusalem and brought to Catalonia by San Pedro, later being deposited in the church of San Justo, to be venerated by Santa Eulalia and San Oleguer; the image, well-known like “the Jerosolimitana”, would be hidden at the beginning of century VIII because of the Muslim invasion, taking it to Montserrat, where it would be hidden in Santa Cova, remaining there hidden until the 880, year of the phenomena of the strange lights.

This is the legend but the truth is that many historians have done hypotheses about this subject, and the most accepted is that the Virgin was hidden in the cave by some monks to avoid that the Muslims found it and burned it. Some years after, some pastors saw a shooting star and they found the cave and the statuette. The bishop built a monastery and the rest of the story is a legend.