In the evening we went on another excursion, this time to the world-famous Bran castle of Romania.

This was our third castle in 2 days and I loved each one in its own way.  Am I a closet aristocrat lover? My ‘man of the people’ street creds were by then in absolute shambles. How can I possibly be so interested in the aristocracy?  The last time in my blog and asked if I was a hypocrite one of my closest friends automatically replied, ‘of course you are!” So I won’t ask it again.

We had all been warned yesterday by Chris the cruise director to consider carefully whether or not we should go into the castle. He made the dangers perfectly clear. Ominously clear. A number of people in our group had suffered serious falls that led to injuries. I had seen some of the walking wounded. Chris said some of the stairs in the castle were without railings.

Fortunately, we got a good view of Bran Castle from the bottom, looking up. We could still see it and photograph it.

Bran Castle (Castelul Bran) was hyped as the legendary Dracula’s castle and some of our friends were excited about that and then were later disappointed when there was no truth to the myth.  Actually, Dracula’s castle was an entirely fictional castle, which many tend to forget.  It was not mentioned in the book and there is no evidence the author ever set inside it.  In the book the castle does not even bear any resemblance to the real castle. Really, tourists were sold fantasy or nonsense.  And they were gullible. The real story is actually much more interesting than the fantasy.

That of course does not detract from the fact that it has been marketed as Dracula’s castle. The claims that it was owned by Dracula are based on a desire to extract dollars from gullible tourists.

Bran castle is named after the town in which it is located. It was built in 1377 by the Saxons who emigrated here from Germany. King Louis I of Hungary allowed the construction and now it is a world-famous monument and landmark in Transylvania..

Some members of our group went to take a look at the interior, but Christiane and I joined friends on the bottom of the hill for a jovial get together.

The original castle built on the site was made of wood and was destroyed by Mongols in 1242. It was built as a fortified structure at the entrance to the mountain pass where traders passed through for more than a century. It was built mainly for fortification against attacks by the Turks, but it was also used to collect tolls or tariffs. Trump was not the first monarch to collect those. The castle was of course fought over from time to time by lords in the area. The castle played a militarily strategic role right up to the middle of the 18^th century. It became a home for royals after the treaty was signed ending the First World War, because the Saxons who owned it no longer had a military use for it and did not wish to pay the costs of upkeep anymore. The castle was old and always in need of repairs like most old homes. Even castle suffer the vagaries of time.

It was for a time the favourite retreat of Marie of Romania who paid for extensive renovations. It was inherited by her daughter Ileana who ran a hospital there in World War II. After that war it was seized by the communists who expelled the royal family in 1948. In 2005, after the Communists were out of power, it was given to the Archduke Dominic, a son of Princess Ileana. Ownership was challenged from time to time, but eventually settled that it was owned by the Hapsburg family. In June of 2009 the Hapsburg family (who are still around) opened the refurbished castle to the public as the first private museum in the country and made an agreement with the village of Bran to maintain it as a tourist facility.

I never heard of Brasov before signing up for this trip to the Balkans. I never had any dreams of coming here, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the beauty of this place and how historically interesting it is.

In the afternoon we participated in a guided tour of Brasov led by Vio who is local guide, as this was his home town, though he no longer lives there.  We basically walked around the old city centre of Brasov and our guide interpreted what we saw.  There is no doubt in my mind that a good interpreter is worth his or her weight in gold. Unless you have a vast amount of historical knowledge it is difficult to understand what you are seeing in an old city centre. Get a guide if you can!

Brașov is a city in the Transylvania region of Romania, ringed by the Carpathian Mountains. It’s known for its medieval Saxon walls and bastions, the towering Gothic-style Black Church and lively cafes. Piaţa Sfatului (Council Square) in the cobbled old town is surrounded by colorful baroque buildings and is home to the Casa Sfatului, a former town hall turned local history museum. Of course, I loved to photograph those old buildings.

Located at the heart of old medieval Brasov and lined with beautiful red-roofed merchant houses, the Council Square, known to the Saxon population as the Marktplatz, is a nice place to rest and watch the locals and visitors. That is exactly what Christiane did here.

The central square is surely one of the most picturesque squares in Europe. It has been claimed that it is the spot where the legendary Pied Piper led the children of Hamlin. It is a great place to rest, and Christiane did exactly that while the rest of us clamoured along the cobblestones which she failed to admire.

Brasov is surrounded by the peaks of the Southern Carpathian Mountains, that can be seen on some of my photos. Brasov is an incredibly beautiful city that I thought matches or surpasses the beauty of most European cities. The walk through the old part of the town was stunning.

Brasov was founded, in 1211, by the Teutonic Knights, on an ancient Dacian site. In the 13^th century Brasov was settled by the Saxons after it got permission from the man Vio claimed owned all of Europe, Sigismund of Luxembourg.  It soon became one of Transylvania’s famous seven walled cities (Siebenburgen or seven walled citadels). Strong defending towers were erected and maintained with funding provided by the town’s craft guilds.

Thanks to its location at the intersection of trade routes linking the Ottoman Empire and western Europe, and a friendly tax regime because Sigismund did not levy taxes, though the Turks often tried to do that, the merchants of the city amassed considerable wealth.  Naturally, that wealth allowed them to obtain significant political influence in the region.   That was why the name of the city in German at the time was Kronstadt or Corona in Latin, meaning the Crown City.

This city has a lot of churches and frankly I don’t remember some of them by name. It’s hard to lug camera gear, take photos and make notes too.

Some of the churches are too large for their space so that you can’t walk away from them for better and more complete photos. I had to do the best I could from up close.  That is a pity. I think every church should be surrounded by open space so it can be appreciated properly from a distance where you can get an overview.

The Transylvanian Saxons built massive stone walls and seven bastions around the city (still visible today), as well as ornate churches, elaborately decorated buildings and one of the most picturesque central squares in Transylvania.

Many people like Mount Tâmpa with its Kitschy Hollywood like sign. Personally, I consider such structures, whether here or Phoenix, a desecration and would prefer an uncluttered mountain. But each to their own. Apparently, the sign can be seen for over 15 miles.

We also stopped to admire Catherine’s Gate (Poarta Ecaterninei)  which was built in 1559.  Please note the 4 turrets on the building.  This tells us that this building housed a judge who had the right to impose capital punishment. It symbolizes the fact that Brasov was independent city with judicial autonomy.  What we saw here, looks like a fairy-tale tower, but originally it was actually part of a much larger structure. That larger structure was demolished in 1827. Above the entrance, can be seen the city’s coat of arms, a crown on a tree trunk.

We also walked by what some call the narrowest road in Europe. I think such claims are dubious and meant to lure tourists to their doom. But I remember one very narrow street from our earlier trip to the Balkans and specifically remember I could barely walk through it. It was that tight. It was definitely narrower than this street, though this was impressively narrow. The street is called Rope Street and is 3.6 to 4 feet wide and 265 feet long. Clearly, big American cars are not welcome here. Another legend, equally unbelievable, was that couples who kissed on Rope Street will never part. Christiane refused to kiss me here, as such a prospect was too daunting for her. OK I never tried, but I am sure that would have been her response. Apparently, this myth though gave comfort to young couples whose parents disapproved of their relationship.

On the way, to the hotel after visiting Peleș Castlewe enjoyed a local lunch at another the legendary Cantacuzino Castle overlooking the beautiful Bucegi Mountains above the Prahova Valley in Romania.  Our tour director called this afternoon, “the Royal Treatment in Romania.”

The castle was not an ancient one. It had been built in 1911 at the direction of prince Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino.  The bus dropped us off close to the castle but we had to walk uphill to reach it.  Very unusually, I decided to leave my camera in the bus. I never do that.  But I was getting a bit weary of carrying my bag with the camera and a spare lens. Another sign of old age.

And there are many signs of old age.  However, I had my cell phone in my pocket and thought I could use that if necessary. So I took a couple of shots with it. Why do idiots like me drag a heavy camera when the phones do such a good job?   This worked out quite well,I thought.

We were told that this castle has been the location for a popular Netflix series called Wednesday filming of their fictional Nevermore Academy.

I such a cretin when it comes to modern culture, this didn’t mean anything at all to me, but I think some members of our group were excited by it.

Peleș Castle, along with the smaller Pelișor Castle, also built for the new Royal Family of Romania, is currently on Romania’s Tentative List for the UNESCO World Heritage List, with work in progress to officially nominate them. The Romanian Ministry of Culture is preparing the necessary documentation to meet the criteria for outstanding universal value, authenticity, and integrity, a process that began in early 2024. As we in Manitoba know it is a very vigorous process.

After Carol became King of Romania, he had a lot of responsibilities. He wanted to establish a stable monarchy.  But he also loved his wife, Elizabeth. After they were married, he learned that she would be unable to have children. His advisors urged him to divorce his wife, or annul the marriage as Henry VIII had done in England, but he refused. He said the next in line in his family could be monarch after he died.  But the first two in line both refused. They did not want to live in the civilizational backwater of Romania. Even being a monarch was not incentive enough for them to make the move. Maybe being a monarch is not such a good thing after all. So, they turned to the 4^th in line to the throne, his nephew Ferdinand, who was sufficiently compliant. He did it because he was told to do it. For the good of the family. He became King Ferdinand I and ruled until 1914.

King Carol I was an avid collector of weaponry. His personal collection numbered about over 4,500 items, enough to start a pretty major war.   Over 400 European and Oriental pieces dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries are on display at Peles armory. The prize of the collection is a knight and his horse armor that weighs 265 lbs.

According to UNESCO,

“With its unique artistic, architectural, landscape and technical features, the Royal Residences of Sinaia represents the cradle of the new dynasty, an imposing monument symbol of the state’s independence and its modernisation. Also, with the use of eclectic historicism in architecture, interior and exterior decorations and of cópies of internationally renowned works of arts and architecture, Carol I and the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen family aimed to legitimise themselves in their adoptive homeland located at the “Gates of the East”, as well as to raise Romania’s prestige on the international arena.”

UNESCO also pointed out that, because the site was continuously used as the domain of the king and his family, what used to be a small village in the mountains of Transylvania became a modern town in the mountains with many private villas most of which adopted the style of the king and queen. These included “regal entourage” and luxurious hotels, a casino and a park, as well as a unique railway station that put Sinaia on the Orient-Express and Arlberg-Express international train voyage routes which until then comprised cities such as London, Paris, Vienna, Istanbul, Milan, Zürich, Budapest or Athens.  In this way, as UNESCO said, “the construction and use of the royal domain directly contributed to the development of a modern and highly complex urban landscape within a mountainous region.”

UNESCO also considered its treatment by the Communist Party, during its reign important:

“After the Communists instituted the republic at the end of 1947, they confiscated all private properties throughout the country and numerous historic residences were destroyed or severely transformed. However, the entire former royal domain at Sinaia is one of the few examples in the country where the property remained mostly unaffected, suffering only minor modifications. Thus, the Peleș castle was transformed into a museum, the Pelișor castle into a house for artists and members of the Communist party, the Foișor castle into a residence/guest house for the Communist leaders and many of the former annexes were transformed into hotels and guest houses.”

The castle remained in use as a royal castle until the Communist Party put an end to such in 1947 just about the time it ended the monarchy.

Now it has become a museum and a big tourist attraction.

The triptych altarpiece shown in my photograph dates to around 1450. The scene is from the Passion of Christ. It is the most ancient triptych in Romania.