Miercurea Ciuc

Pope Francis presented on Saturday the Sanctuary of the Virgin Mary in Sumuleu Ciuc with a Golden Rose, a gift the Popes have been offering since long to the world's major sanctuaries. The Pontiff placed the rose at the feet of the wonder-working statue of the Virgin Mary.

The Catholic churches in Miercurea Ciuc will stay open all night for the pilgrims who would wish to rest or just step into the worship places on their way to the Marian shrine in Sumuleu Ciuc, where Pope Francis will celebrate Mass on Saturday, on the second day of his apostolic visit to Romania.

Pilgrims from Rwanda, Pakistan, Madagascar, Namibia or Reunion have registered online to attend the Divine Liturgy Pope Francis will be celebrating in Sumuleu Ciuc on June 1, father Olah Zoltan from the Alba Iulia Roman Catholic Archdiocese announced on Wednesday.

Hungary on Thursday marked its national day with marches, parades, uniformed hussars and inaugurations of monuments dedicated to figures from the 1848 revolution and the war of independence against the Habsburg monarchy.

Daniel Castle of Talisoara, built almost 400 years ago, hides a few unsolved mysteries, among which the one of the significance of the frescoes and of the secret chamber discovered during the restoration works.

Daniel Castle's Constantinople room with frescoes of 1680
Photo credit: (c) Racz Lilla and Racz Attila / PERSONAL ARCHIVE

Italo De Michelis, the manager of the only Italian restaurant in the city of Miercurea Ciuc, is in love with our country and in the ten years since he moved here he taught the Romanians and ethnic Hungarian locals to appreciate Italian cuisine, and his friends to see Romania with different eyes.