Tour Poienari Fortress - Tour : Poienari Fortress - Brasov � Bran Pass � Rucar � Curtea de Arges � Arefu � Poienari � Vidraru Lake � Brasov

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Tour : Poienari Fortress

Brasov – Bran Pass – Rucar – Curtea de Arges – Arefu – Poienari – Vidraru Lake – Brasov

departure from Brasov at 8 am
cross Rucar-Bran Pass
visit Curtea de Arges Monastery - discover the legend of craftsman Manole who had trapped his wife inside the walls to be sure that the construction will last
visit Poienari Castle - build by using people who survived a massacre ordered by Vlad the Impaler as a revenge for their murdering of his father
Vidraru Lake
Optional(Extra)- The tour can continue, we will go in Transylvania, and we visit Balea lake, Balea waterfall , Fagaras, Brasov.
return to Brasov around 8 pm

Departure from Brasov is at 8 am, from Council Square (Piata Sfatului)or from your Hotel or Pension.

We start our journey with Curtea de Arges ,crossing Rucar-Bran Pass. Here we visit Curtea de Arges Monastery, the place where craftsman Manole's legend was born. On this location it was the Episcopal Church of the Diocese, which was reconstructed during the reign of Neagoe Basarab Voivode, and subsequently consecrated in 1517.
The paintings inside the church were executed by Master Dobromir during the reign of the Voivode Radu of Afumati, in 1526.The monastic establishment underwent extensive repairs and restoration during the reign of Matei Basarab, who also had the belfry tower at the entrance to the monastery reconstructed. Unfortunately, the church was seriously deteriorated by the earthquake that struck Romania in 1802, and consequently it had to be renovated. The restoration activities were actually finished two years later (in 1804).

As a result, between 1875 and 1886, it was again renovated by the French architect Lecomte de Nouy, who reconstructed the vaulting design in part, modified the roof and replaced the ornaments of the facades, adding new decorative elements to it. Three wooden churches, which date from the 17^th century, and which are situated inside the park of the monastery, has undergone, complete repairs and restoration after 1990.Curtea de Arges Monastery is the place where craftsman Manole's legend was born. The legend is telling that one day, a very wealthy and religious Walachian prince, the Black Prince, rode with nine stonemasons and their master Manole to find a place and build a church more beautiful than anyone may have seen before. They founded a very nice place and the stonemasons started to work, but whenever they almost reached to the top, the walls would collapse before they could ever finish it. After a dream of Manole, they decided and made a vow that the first women seen by them to be sacrificed in order to see their work done. And it so happened the Manole's wife showed up to bring her husband's lunch, so that he had to keep his vow and immure his own wife alive within the church walls. The place of this immolation can still be seen between two walls of the southern front side of the church. This is how the monastery could be finished, and the prince was pleased to find that it was the most beautiful as ever he saw.

After that, the prince would not want Manole to build another church that could be more beautiful and he ordered to remove the scaffolding, which left Manole stranded on the roof. In an attempt to escape, Manole made himself a pair of wings from shingles, but they were of no avail, and he would crash to the ground like Icarus and die. Upon his crash, on that place, a wellspring has spring out, which is now called Manole's well. Today people would throw coins in its basin, to make their wishes come true.

Our trip continue to Arefu, then we visit Poienari Castle. Standing on a rocky cliff near the Transfagarasan road, Poienari Castle was built at the beginning of the 13th century. Due to its size and location, the castle was very hard to seize. Poienari Castle became one of the main citadels of Basarab rulers in the 14th century. The castle was abandoned and was in ruins at the end of the century. The castle was rebuilt and strengthened by Vlad III Dracula in the 15th century .If there is a castle in Romania which should be called "Dracula's castle", this is the one. The legend says that he first ordered all the local boyars to build the castle as a punishment for their greed, and then had them all killed. Nowadays only a few ruins have remained from the once lively castle, ruins that make the whole story even more appealing.. The castle was again abandoned and left in ruins in the 16th century. Its walls and towers are still standing. Poienari Castle is a popular tourist destination now; many visitors climb its 1426 steps to visit the castle.

After we take lunch, our next stop is Vidraru Lake, an artificial lake. It was created in 1965 by the construction of the Vidraru Dam on the Arges River, for electricity production. The power plant is located underground, in the Cetatuia massive, at 104 meters deep and can provide an annual production of 400 GWH. When the inauguration took place the Vidraru dam was the fifth in Europe and the ninth in the world. As specialists say Vidraru is a dam with a double curvature, 166,6 meters height and length of 307 meters.
At night the outlines are electrically lit so that Vidraru can be seen from airplane.

Optional(Extra) -Tour can continue, we will go in Transylvania, and we visit Balea lake, Balea waterfall , Fagaras, Brasov

Then return to Brasov around 8 pm.

Shared tour from Brasov :

1 person	295 €/pers
2-3 persons	189 €/pers
4-5 persons	169 €/pers
6-7 persons	159 €/pers

Included: transport, english guide, permanent assistance.

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

Tour Poienari Fortress - Tour : Poienari Fortress - Brasov � Bran Pass � Rucar � Curtea de Arges � Arefu � Poienari � Vidraru Lake � Brasov