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The castle of Vlad the Impaler in Bucharest

The most famous historic personality of Romanians, Vlad The Impaler, was very tied to Bucharest, today’s capital, which was first mentioned in a document during his reign, in 1459. The legendary king is usually associated to Transylvania, being born in Sighisoara, but he ruled a neighbor part of today Romania, Wallachia. Several castles, among which […]

Inside Romanian Atheneum, the most beautiful building in Bucharest

Though the term Atheneum usually refers to a library, the Romanian Atheneum is mainly a concert hall. Important personalities like Richard Strauss and Yehudi Menuhin have concerted here. The Atheneum was built by a French architect, with the help of some of the most important Romanian architects, after a national fund raising campaign. It stands […]

Romanian Folk Dances: Călușarii

At origin, this dance was a pre-Christian ritual, which was perfected with time to have more and more spectacular choreographic moves. The name Calusarii is a bit mysterious. It may come from the word horse (cal), from the rhythmic movements and jumps of the dancers and for the little bells that adorn their legs and […]

Contemporary Art Museum in a Baroque Palace in Timisoara

In Timișoara, the most Western city of Romania, contemporary art lives along with the atmosphere of a XVIII building. The most valuable exhibits are part of the painting collection by Corneliu Baba, which you can admire, but not take pictures of. The source of inspiration for this building’s architecture is the Kinsky Palace in Vienna. […]

A Romanian Rushmore on the Danube Gorges honoring the king of Dacians

The narrowest passage of the Danube, the most important river of Europe, creates a fabulous natural landscape. The river breaks through high walls of stone, creating several gorges with luxurious wild vegetation, that also give water a green shade. This is the background against which a record sculpture was carved in ten years. The largest […]

Prehistoric animals and extinct civilizations in the fascinating world of natural science

Natural Sciences Museum Grigore Antipa in Bucharest, found near Victory Plaza, close to the Government building, carries us into many worlds while we learn some about zoology and anthropology. The journey is thousands of years old, starting with reconstructed dinosaur and mammoths skeletons. Though a Natural Sciences museum existed in the National Museum some 150 […]

Slopes and mountain resorts close to Bucharest

Valea Prahovei (The Valley of river Prahova) is the most accessible ski resort when coming from Bucharest. You simply take DN1, a good road but crowded during rush hours, towards Brasov through Ploiesti. You will find the most popular Romanian mountain resorts: Azuga, Busteni, Predeal, Sinaia. They are practically united one to another and accommodation […]

Danube Delta, the greatest delta of Europe

One could not find a river to symbolize Europe better than the Danube: it starts from Germany, crossing 10 countries and several capitals like Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest, to finally poor itself into the Black Sea, forming a delta. On the continent, only the Russian Volga is longer and wider. The Danube Delta is a […]

The sculptures of Constantin Brancusi in Targu Jiu

Constantin Brancusi is one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, marking a revolution in modern sculpture. In fact, his works were so much ahead of his time that when he traveled to America for an exhibition they were confiscated by the customs authorities who could not conceive that sculptures could look that […]

Transfagarasan: “The best road in the world” according to BBC’s Top Gear

When BBC filmed one of its Top Gear editions, the crew couldn’t miss Transfagarasan, a spectacular winding road that climbs the Fagaras Mountain, breaks the mountain through a tunnel and ends near a massive dam. While driving an expensive sports car on the road that resembles a Formula 1 race track in a wild landscape, […]

The Monastery of Curtea de Arges, a spiral towards the Heaven

Five centuries of history have passed over this legendary monastery. The attribute is not arbitrary, as the Monastery of Curtea de Arges (150 km from capital Bucharest) has inspired one of the most famous popular legends in Romania. According to it, the Black King commissioned the building of a church of unseen beauty to the […]

Wild Animals at Baneasa Zoo Garden

Though the area of the zoo garden in Baneasa makes it too small for a modern zoo, it is still one of the last places in the country where children can meet wild animals, which sometimes are not even reluctant to interact with their visitors. The garden used to have elephants and giraffes, but the […]

Black and White Swans in Cismigiu Garden

A traditional presence in the Cismigiu Garden, the swans have returned to enchant the visitors. Soon after it was created, the oldest park in Bucharest, over a century and a half ago, Cismigiu Garden was something close to a zoo garden. This tradition was stopped and the peacocks and swans were moved to the newly […]

Painted Easter eggs, a folkloric tradition in Romania

In some Orthodox countries there is a tradition of skilfully painting eggs before Easter. The tradition is very vivid in areas of Romania like Bukovina (the Nordic part of Moldova). A legend has it that when Jesus Christ was crucified, Mary Magdalene came at the feet of the cross with a basket of food she […]

Traditional village in Bukovina. Crafted objects, folklore and customs at the Village Museum Suceava

Found near the fortress of king Stephen The Great, the Village Museum of Suceava holds a remarkable patrimony of vestiges of Moldavian peasant lifestyle from the area of Bukovina. On the alleys of this village museum you can stroll as if you were in a place untouched by modern technology, with wooden houses that have […]

Bran, the castle that inspired the legend of Dracula

Though it seems that Vlad The Impaler never used it as his usual home, the myth of the vampire-king made Bran the tourist attraction with most foreigners in Romania. And since we are not sure for how long this construction shall maintain its public destination as a museum, the castle should definitely not be missed […]

Voronet Monastery. The Esoteric Message Behind Orthodox Painting

The Voronet Monastery is the most famous buildings of Stephan The Great, a monument included on the list of UNESCO’s world heritage. Its frescoes speak of subtle esoteric knowledge held by medieval theologians of Moldavia and also of the skills of anonymous painters. Voronet is situated 5 km to Gura Humorului, in the county of […]

Ceausescu’s Palace on The Inside (Parliament Building or House of The People)

On certain occasions, such as the national day of Romania, The House of The People, or The Parliament Palace built by the communist dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu in the capital Bucharest is fully opened to the public and cameras. Usually, tours for tourists exclude the greater rooms of the building as various conferences take place there […]

Mud volcanoes and their dirty little secret

When gases in the underground force their way out, an interesting phenomena appears. In their way, gases mix water and soil to form mud and create little eruptions. In time, craters are formed, sometime with a classic shape of a dwarf volcano. In other cases the craters are just some pits of mud. The soil […]

Guiness World Record Santa Claus Costumes

The world record for the greatest Santa Claus gathering was beaten down by almost four thousand men and women dressed in red and white costumes. Guinness World registered the record as the largest number of people dressed as Santa Claus and offering gifts. The exact number of enlisted participants was 3939 who were present near […]

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