Saturday, 10 September 2011
We invite you to a marvelous excursion on Prahova Valley as well as to discover the touristic pearls of Romania, the fabulous Peles Castle – former Royal residence and famous Bran Castle, known as Dracula Castle.
Prahova Valley includes touristic resorts famous on international level like Sinaia, Predeal, towns with special touristic potential (Brasov, Sinaia, Busteni) and architectonic monuments, the most important being Peles Castle, as well as mountain views (Bucegi mountains, Piatra Craiului mountains).
Bran Castle is an important national monument and landmark for tourism in Romania, due to both its beauty, landscape, as well as Dracula legend.
The excursion will include:
- Trip on Prahova Valley
- Guided tour of Peles Castle
- Lunch in Bran
- Guided tour of Bran Castle
Price per person for the excursion: 60€, taxes included
Prahova Valley Description
Geographical layout of the area: Prahova Valley is in the South-eastern part of Romania, in the middle of Muntenia, in the upper and middle basin of Prahova River, and in part of the basin of Ialomita River. It borders Ilfov and Ialomita to the south; Dambovita to the west; Brasov to the north; Buzau (Bucegi Mountains) to the east and has a surface of 4,716 km2 (respectively 2% of the country’s territory). The population is of 868,000 inhabitants, with a density almost double compared to the country average.
Bucegi Mountain is located to the east of the Southern Carpathians, between the rivers Dambovita and Prahova, comprising Bucegi (2507 m), Leaota (2135 m), Piatra Craiului (2239 m) and the Rucar-Bran narrow path. In Bucegi Mountains there are structural shapes: the Sphinx, Babele (rock formation resembling a group of old ladies) and steep slopes, especially towards Prahova Valley.
Glacial traces appear on the valleys starting below Omu Peak, and along Ialomita Valley, we can see that the presence of limestone has lead to the formation of quay. Rucar-Bran narrow path is a plain area (1000-1200 m high) between Bucegi and Piatra Craiului, with an old function of connecting Campulung to Brasov.
Touristic Site – Peleş Castle
King Carol I of Romania (1839–1914), under whose reign the country gained its Independence, first visited the site of the future castle in 1866 and fell in love with the magnificent mountain scenery. In 1872 the Crown purchased 1,300 square kilometers (500 sq mi) of land near the Piatra Arsă River. The estate was named the Royal Estate of Sinaia. The monarchy commissioned the construction of a royal hunting preserve and summer retreat on the property, and the foundation was laid for Peleş Castle On August 22, 1873. Several auxiliary buildings were built simultaneously with the castle: the guard’s chambers, the Foişor hunting lodge, the royal stables, and a power plant. Peleş became the world’s first castle fully powered by locally produced electricity.
Throughout its history, the Castle hosted some important personalities, from royalty and politicians to artists. Artists like George Enesco, Sarah Bernhardt, Jacques Thibaud, and Vasile Alecsandri visited often as guests of Queen Elizabeth of Romania (also known under her literary alias of Carmen Sylva). In more recent times, many foreign dignitaries such as Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Muammar al-Gaddafi, and Yasser Arafat were welcomed at the Castle.
By form and function, Peleş is a palace, but it is consistently called a castle. Its architectural style is a romantically inspired blend Neo-Renaissance and Gothic Revival similar to Schloss Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. A Saxon influence can be observed in the interior courtyard facades, which have allegorical hand painted murals and ornate fachwerk similar to that seen in northern European alpine architecture. Interior decoration is mostly Baroque influenced, with heavy carved woods and exquisite fabrics.
Peleş Castle has a 3,200-square-metre (34,000 sq ft) floor plan with over 170 rooms, many with dedicated themes from world cultures (in a similar fashion as other Romanian palaces, like Cotroceni Palace). Themes vary by function (offices, libraries, armories, art galleries) or by style (Florentine, Turkish, Moorish, French, Imperial); all the rooms are extremely lavishly furnished and decorated to the slightest detail. There are 30 bathrooms. The establishment hosts one of the finest collections of art in Eastern and Central Europe, consisting of statues, paintings, furniture, arms and armor, gold, silver, stained glass, ivory, fine china, tapestries, and rugs. The collection of arms and armor has over 4,000 pieces, divided between Eastern and Western war pieces and ceremonial or hunting pieces, spreading over four centuries of history. Oriental rugs come from many sources: Bukhara, Mosul, Isparta, Saruk, and Smirna. The porcelain is from Sèvres and Meissen; the leather is from Córdoba. Perhaps the most acclaimed items are the hand painted stained glass vitralios, which are mostly Swiss.
A towering statue of King Carol I by Raffaello Romanelli overlooks the main entrance. Many other statues are present on the seven Italian neo-Renaissance terrace gardens, mostly of Carrara marble executed by the Italian sculptor Romanelli. The gardens also host fountains, urns, stairways, guarding lions, marble paths, and other decorative pieces.
Peleş Castle shelters a painting collection of almost 2,000 pieces.
Touristic Site – Bran Castle
Bran Castle is situated near Bran and in the immediate proximity of Braşov, is a national monument and landmark in Romania. The fortress is situated on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia, on DN73. Commonly known as “Dracula’s Castle” (although it is one among several locations linked to the Dracula legend, including Poenari Castle and Hunyad Castle), it is marketed as the home of the titular character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. There is, however, no evidence that Stoker knew anything about this castle, which has only tangential associations with Vlad III, ruler of Wallachia, the putative inspiration for Dracula.
The castle is now a museum open to tourists, displaying art and furniture collected by Queen Marie. At the bottom of the hill is a small open air museum park exhibiting traditional Romanian peasant structures (cottages, barns, etc.) from across the country.
In 1212, Teutonic Knights built the wooden castle of Dietrichstein as a fortified position in the Burzenland at the entrance to a mountain valley through which traders had traveled for more than a millennium, although it was destroyed in 1242 by the Mongols. The first documented mentioning of Bran Castle is the act issued by Louis I of Hungary on November 19, 1377, giving the Saxons of Kronstadt (Braşov) the privilege to build the stone citadel on their own expense and labor force; the settlement of Bran began to develop nearby. The castle was first used in 1378 in defense against the Ottoman Empire, and later became a customs post on the mountain pass between Transylvania and Wallachia. The castle briefly belonged to Mircea the Elder of Wallachia. Vlad III besieged Bran at least one occasion, taking the castle in 1459 during a punitive incursion into the Burzenland.
From 1920 the castle became a royal residence within the Kingdom of Romania. It was the principal home of Queen Marie, and is decorated largely with artifacts from her time, including traditional furniture and tapestries that she collected to highlight Romanian crafts and skills. The castle was inherited by her daughter, Princess Ileana, and was later seized by the communist regime after the expulsion of the royal family in 1948.
In 2005, the Romanian government passed a special law allowing restitution claims on properties such as Bran, which was seized by the Communist government of Romania in 1948. In 2006, the Romanian government awarded ownership to Archduke Dominic of Austria-Tuscany, known professionally as Dominic von Habsburg, an architect in New York State and the son and heir of Princess Ileana.
In 2007, Archduke Dominic put the castle up for sale for a price of £40 million ($78 million). On July 2, 2007, Michael Gardner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Baytree Capital, the New York investment firm which has been retained to create a plan for the castle and to sell it, predicted it would sell for more than $135 million, but added that Archduke Dominic will only sell it to a buyer “who will treat the property and its history with appropriate respect.”
In September 2007 an investigation committee of the Romanian Parliament stated that the retrocession of the castle to Archduke Dominic was illegal, as it broke the Romanian law on property and succession. However, in October 2007 the Constitutional Court of Romania rejected the parliament’s petition on the matter. In addition, an investigation commission of the Romanian government issued a decision in December 2007 reaffirming the validity and legality of the restitution procedures used and confirming that the restitution was made in full compliance with the law.
On January 26, 2009, it was revealed that the family had decided not to sell the castle, but instead turn it into a museum dedicated to the history of the surrounding area and the history and memory of Queen Marie and her family. There is acknowledgment in the castle of the tangential association with Vlad III upon whom the fictional character, Dracula is loosely based.
