The Relations of Metropolitan Andrew, Baron of Șaguna, with the Scholar Priest Sava Popovici-Barcianu of Rășinari

Located a mere 12 km away from Sibiu, the Romanian commune of Rășinari, historically recorded in 1488, is well known within the borders of Transylvania and Romania in general for the beauty of its landscapes and the richness of its folkloric, ethnographic and culinary traditions, but even more so for the value and national relevance of its historical, cultural, spiritual and ecclesiastical heritage. Rășinari’s cultural, historical and human treasury has been increased and amplified over time by the exceptional personalities that it has given to the Romanian nation, to its culture and spirituality, as well as by the illustrious figures who have indelibly linked their names to this community. Two famous clergymen of the second half of the 19th century hold places in Rășinari’s hall of fame, namely the scholar-priest Sava Popovici-Barcianu (1814–1879), himself a son of the commune, a polyglot writer and spiritual father of the Orthodox community, and Metropolitan Andrei, Baron of Șaguna (1809–1873), an adopted son of the commune, who became so attached to it and to its inhabitants that he decided to be buried next to the main church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, built between 1800 and 1814, so that the mausoleum of Metropolitan Șaguna has come to be one of the most renowned and visited tourist and religious landmarks in Rășinari. This study aims to reconstruct the ecclesiastical, cultural, national and amicable ties between the famous hierarch of Sibiu and the priest and writer Sava Popovici-Barcianu, one of his closest and most devoted collaborators.