Poiana Mucenicului – brief legend

Starting from
martyr, martyrs (masculine noun):

1. Christian martyr from the early centuries after Christ;
2. someone who dies for their faith;
3. a person who suffers, who sacrifices for their ideas, convictions;
4. martyr;
5. a sort of small pastry (braided in the shape of an 8) made from baked or boiled dough, with nuts and either sugar or honey;
6. rye pie (mučnik from Slavic/Russian cuisine).

As the Arefu area, being a mountainous region, is not conducive to cereal crops, we have excluded from the definition what is related to the ‘culinary’ aspect. We were forced to follow the historical thread by piecing together several stories and historical sources that could provide us with an answer, as the area has witnessed many examples of martyrdom starting with Basarab I (cca. 1269 – 1352), Vlad Țepeș (cca. 1431 – 1476), Radu de la Afumați and culminating with the construction of the most important post-war infrastructure buildings of the Vidraru Dam and Transfăgărășan.

So, we have reached the official answer, Poiana Mucenicului actually belonged to Mr. Mucenic Dinescu former active political militant, supporter of the Villagers’ Emancipation Program, close collaborator of Constantin Dobrescu–Argeş, alongside whom he organized the first Peasants’ Committee in Romania (Mică) in 1880 and the first Peasants’ Congress in Corbeni in 1881, successfully becoming a deputy for the Peasants’ Movement and later for the National Liberal Party.

Having said that, we invite you to Poiana Mucenicului (witness to all the mentioned events) to free yourself from the disturbances of our days, breathe the fresh mountain air, and rediscover your identity.