Romanian cultural heritage in the area of interests of the Bessarabian slavist Polychronie Sârcu (1855-1905)

Abstract

The article attempts to prove that, besides the numerous studies about the South Slavic history of culture and literature, Polychronie Sârcu paid a special attention towards the spiritual legacy of the Romanian Bessarabians and particularly towards the history of the Căpriana Monastery, where he received his primary schooling. His works on the history of Russian-Romanian cultural relations, the role of Romanians as a link between the Orthodox peoples of the Balkans and the Eastern Slavic world were highly appreciated. He presented this role of Romanian culture in a special course at the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University. Simultaneously with the study of the old Bulgarian literature, he also paid attention to the Romanian medieval manuscript heritage. Some of these codices and documents were published by P. Sârcu or included in his collection of manuscripts. The materials he accumulated in the Romanian lands are described in the present article. Such scientific interests fully justify the opinion of the authors, who equally appreciate Polihronie Sârcu not only as a Slavist, but also as a Romanian scholar.