Places to go
Castles and palaces
Baroque, Renaissance and Gothic, Art Nouveau, Rococo and Brâncovenesc are architectural styles of the Romanian castles and palaces that are combined in an amazing diversity. A interpenetration of images and legends, these castles tell the story of the last millennium of history and are a living proof of the fact that Romania has always been at the meeting place of Western innovation and pragmatism with the traditionalism and glow of the East. Whether it is about the medieval castles of the counts of Transylvania, the palaces of the Wallachian boyards or the modern palaces from the beginning of the 20th century, these art and architectural monuments are spread all over the country.
Today Transylvania houses dozens of churches and fortified Saxon settlements. At Bran the tourists still look for Dracula, while the castle of the Corvini, with its ranges of tower, preserve intact the spirit of the medieval knights. The hundreds of years of Austro-Hungarian domination have left their distinct mark upon great cities such as Oradea, Cluj – Napoca, Arad, Sibiu which house palaces and other sumptuous edifices built in a pure Viennese Baroque style.
Moldavia, famous for the religious art and churches with exterior frescos, has a series of impressive palaces whose architecture obey the canons of the Gothic style, representative being the Palace of Culture from Iaşi and Ruginoasa Palace.
The Romanian country is the cradle of the Brâncovenesc style. Numerous churches and palaces founded by the old rulers of the country have known the richness of details carved in wood. Byzantine arabesques, vegetable and animal motifs were harmoniously combined by the masters for the decoration of the gates, railings, columns and terraces. A living example for the beauty of the Brâncovenesc style is Mogoşoaia Palace, situated near Bucureşti.
The architectural achievements from the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century have turned Bucharest into a ”Little Paris”, sprinkled with luxurious buildings that can be admired even today: Şuţu palace, Cantacuzino palace, the Romanian Atheneum. King Carol I built the modern castle of the time – Peleş Castle in Sinaia and Queen Maria practised her good taste building the Pelişor and Cotroceni Palace.
The communism created the modern symbol of Bucharest: Casa Poporului (The People’s House), now The Palace of Parliament, the second public building in size after the Pentagon from the whole world.
Bran Castle has been watching over the road that winds through the mountain massifs of Piatra Craiului (King’s Rock) and Bucegi. As if directly born out from the stone mountain, as a natural continuation of it, the solid walls of the castle rise their red tile roofs over the fir trees to watch over the narrow road that connects Transylvania to Wallachia. To this fortress, the name of Vlad Ţepes is related in an intrinsic way, a ruler of the Romanians shrouded in a legend associated more or less justifiably to the character of Dracula. Even if they are not great admirers of vampire stories, visitors should definitely cross the castle door, the paved alley that crosses the yard of the castle leads straight to the front of the door and from there the small interior yard, which is the central point of the entire construction. Four dungeon floors, the round tower and the gate tower with tiny windows to soot in the exterior and with wooden balconies, dressed in the ivy move visitors toward the interior. Adapted to the purpose of the castle, the rooms are relatively low, with arches at the doors and windows, and ornaments of Romanian or Saxon influence. Especially notable are the narrow stone stairs and the mobile wooden stairs which complete the mysterious atmosphere that dominates the place. Built in the 12th century, first made of wood and initially having a exclusively military purpose, the edifice has undergone several changes while preserving the 14th-15th century shape. Starting from 1920, after a minute renovation watched by the very architect of the Royal Court, Carol Liman, after which the position was completed by a park with promenade alleys, a lake, fountains, terraces and a tea house, the Bran Castle has become the summer residence of the Royal Family.
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