Brasov � Peles Castle in Sinaia � Bran Castle � Rasnov Fortress � Brasov

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Discovery Transylvania

Tour 3 Castles : Bran Castle - Rasnov Fortress - Peles Castle

(We can organize this tour starting and ending in Bucharest).

Brasov – Peles Castle in Sinaia – Bran Castle – Rasnov Fortress – Brasov

departure from Brasov at 08.30 am
visit Peles Castle in Sinaia - residence of the former Romanian royal family
visit Bran Castle – connected with many legends of Count Dracula
lunch at a traditional romanian restaurant in Bran village
visit Rasnov Fortress
return to Brasov around 6 pm

Departure from Brasov is at 09.00 am, form Council Square (Piata Sfatului) or from your Hotel or Pension.

We start the journey by traveling to Predeal - a tourist town and ski area, then Azuga, Busteni - where you can admire the most spectacular view of the Bucegi Mountains : Omu Peak,Costila Peak and Coltii Morarului. You can stop for photos.

We continue to Sinaia - the pearl of the Carpathians, where we visit Peles Castle - residence of the former Romanian royal family.They began building the castle in 1873 under the direct order of the Viennese architect Wilhem Doderer and was continued in 1876 by his assistant, Johann Schultz de Lemberg. During 1877-1879 because of the war they abandoned work. That's why the castle was inaugurated only on October 7, 1883. The location for the castle was chosen by the German prince Carol I de Hohenzollern. The castle was built out of wood, stone, bricks and marble and comprises more than 160 rooms. The representative style used is German Renaissance, but one can easily discover elements belonging to the Italian Renaissance, Gothic, German Baroque and French Rococo style. Peles is surrounded by seven terraces decorated with statues (sculptured by the Italian, Romanelli), stone-made-wells, ornamental vases and Carara marble. The architects used an abundance of wooden decoration, both for the exterior and for the interior of the castle, which confers a very special quality to the building.

We continue our trip to the famous Bran Castle . Also called Dracula's Castle, it is situated at the entrance of Bran-Rucar pass. The monument was built between 1377-1382 on a rock 60 m high due to the privilege of November 19th 1377 the Hungarian king Louis I of Anjou. At the end of the 14th century, king Sigismund gave up the leadership of Bran Castle in to Mircea cel Batran. The royal domain had been given to the Hungarian aristocracy, while the fortress passed under the rule of Mircea's faithful boyars. Few years later, the Hungarian king got back the fortress. Bran Castle was subordinated to the authority of Szeklers Committee.The Castle had an essential role in protecting the Hungarian king from the Ottomans and Tartars' invasion, coming from Wallachia through Rucar Pass. That's the reason why the inhabitants of Brasov built the Castle on their own work and expenses.
In the 18th century the Castle was the house of the Austrians frontier guards. In 1836 Bran became the official border and the defense role of the castle was no longer a priority. In 1920, the Brasov Town council donated Bran Castle to Queen Maria of Great Romania, who lived there with the royal family till 1947. Since 1947 the Castle is opened as a museum.

Many legends are connected with Bran Castle. It is said the castle belonged to Count Dracula (Vlad Tepes), but nobody has any proof. Vlad Tepes lived only for a short time in the castle and only as a guest. What is really true is that Bran Castle conjures up the perfect Gothic fairy-tale image of a Transylvanian castle and as a result draws crowds of tourists from far and wide. In 1897 Bram Stoker wrote a terrifying story about Count Dracula. A century after, there are still people who believe in it. Even researchers are trying to find out the truth about Dracula. All are trying to clear the mystery: was there or wasn't there a vampire in Transylvania? Stoker's story is based on the life of Vlad Tepes/Vlad the Impaler (1431-1476), a ruler revered by Romanians for standing up to the Ottoman Empire. Known as one of the most dreadful enemies of the Turks, Vlad started organizing the state and enforcing the law by applying death penalty and impaling all those he considered enemies: robbers, cunning priests, treacherous noblemen, beggars, usurper Saxons. In fact he fought against everybody who tried to replace him either by his step brother Vlad the Monk or by his cousin Dan the Young. The historians nicknamed him Vlad Tepes while people say he was Count Dracula because he used to sign with his father's name, Dracul "The Devil". Dracula is derived from the Romanian word for devil or dragon. His castle is supposed to be Bran's Castle since its narrow corridors constitute a mysterious labyrinth of ghostly nooks and secret chambers easy to hide a "vampire".The Dracula's Castle was built on the edge of the Bran Pass and nowadays lures guests worldwide who wish to partake in the legend of the Count Dracula.

After visiting the castle you can taste the local produce and you can buy souvenirs.

Lunch at a traditional romanian restaurant in Bran Village.

After the lunch we go to Rasnov to visit Rasnov Fortress. Rasnov Fortress was built about 800 years ago on a rocky hilltop, elevated at about 150m above in the small town of Rasnov. It is located 15 km southwest of Brasov and also about 15 km from Bran Castle. The fortress is on the Bran Pass, a trade route connecting Wallachia with Transylvania. It is one of the biggest rural fortresses in the country and somehow unique in that it was meant to be a place of refuge for the commoners from sieges over extended periods of time. As such it had at least 30 houses, a school, a chapel, and other buildings more commonly associated with a village. Here we see a 143 meters deep water well that, accordind to the legend, was dug by two Turkish prisoners along 17 years in exchange for the promise that they would be released, something that has not happened, they were executed, making them to write on the inner walls of the fountain " you have water now, but you do not have heart."
Finally, the bonus: the view over the mountains, green fields and little brown dots - houses from the small surrounding villages is magnificent!

We return to Brasov around 6 pm.

Shared tour from Brasov :

1 person	145 €/pers
2-3 persons	75 €/pers
4-5 persons	70 €/pers
6-7 persons	65 €/pers

Included: transport with luxury van mercedes Vklass full options, english or german guide, skip the line, permanent assistance,maps.

Not included: lunch, entrance tickets, other services not specified on the intinerary, photo and video fees, banking or e-payment fees.

We can organize trips for bigger groups and prices are negociable.

For private tour please contact us .

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Contact Data

E-mail: office@discovery-transylvania.ro
Phone: (004) 0744352325

Brasov � Peles Castle in Sinaia � Bran Castle � Rasnov Fortress � Brasov