Folklore · Romanian traditions
Meșterul Manole · the wall and the promise
Romanian ballad tradition · the legend of the builder
The story
The builder Manole’s legend turns a collapsing construction into a tragic story about love, creation and sacrifice.
Walls rise by day and fall by night. In the legend, Manole and his fellow builders seek a terrible answer to their unfinished work, and Ana becomes the story’s emotional centre. The ballad’s association with the monastery at Curtea de Argeș has given it a lasting architectural setting and an extensive literary afterlife.