Sights in Romania
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Alexandru Borza Botanic Gardens
West through the student ghetto campus housing, head past fast-food joints up Str Bogdan P Haşdeu to Str Pasteur to reach the fragrant 1930 Alexandru Borza Botanic Gardens, which covers 15 hectares, with shaded green lawns, a super Japanese garden and rose garden with some 600 different varieties, and an observation tower.
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Black Church
Braşov's main landmark, just south of the Piaţa Sfatului (Council Square), is the Black Church, the largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul and still used by German Lutherans today. Built between 1383 and 1480 (delayed by an Ottoman razing), its name comes from its appearance after a fire in 1689.
The original statues on the exterior of the apse are now inside (look back after you enter) and some 120 fabulous Turkish rugs hang from the balconies (gifts from merchants who returned from shopping sprees in the southern Ottoman lands). Worshippers drop coins through the wooden grates in the floor and hope for the best.
The church's 4000-pipe organ, built by Buchhol…
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Mount Tâmpa
Towering above town from the east is Mount Tâmpa, where Braşov's original defensive fortress was built. Vlad Ţepeş attacked it in 1458, finally dismantling it two years later and - out of habit - impaling some 40 merchants atop the peak. These days it's an easy, and irresistible, trip up. Many visitors go via the Tâmpa cable car offering stunning views from the top of Mt Tâmpa and a communist-era dining room. There's access to hiking trails up here.
Walk south to reach the 'Hollywood'-style Braşov sign, with a viewing platform. You can also hike to the top in an hour following zigzag trails from the cable-car station (red triangles) or from the northeastern edge of …
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Pharmaceutical Museum
Here's why we travel - for superb, fully rewarding, ever-surprising quirks like this, the small three-room Pharmaceutical Museum, housed in Cluj's first - and Romania's fourth - apothecary (1573), as a bronze-plate map painstakingly attests. Led by a hilarious pharmacist in a white lab coat, who points like a game-show model towards (seemingly ho-hum) glass cases of ground mummy dust, medieval alchemist symbols and painted 18th-century aphrodisiac bottles.
He speaks some English. If you utter a 'wow' you may get a deadpanned 'For you… interesting… for me… it is normal.'
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First Romanian School Museum
Beside St Nicholas' Cathedral is the two-room 1495 First Romanian School Museum, which packs a staggering far-reaching selection of old books and pieces, including the first Russian Bible (1581), King Ferdinand's coronation flag from 1922 (found in 2006), and 15th-century schoolbooks that warned 'he who will steal this book will be CURSED…his blood shall melt on his body…his left eye shall dry out!' Resist the temptation then. No English; guides are available.
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Bucegi
The easiest way up into the Bucegi from Sinaia is up two cable-car rides, one from the centre to the Cota 1400 station, then another up to Cota 2000 station. In the centre, the 30-person cable-car station leaves half-hourly with two station points marked by elevation. Lines are more likely in winter than summer. Buses just below the station also go up to Cota 1400 when full; there are also taxis.
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Str Storii
Between Piaţa Sfatului and the Mt Tâmpa cable car is Str Storii, which is 1.32m by 83m - one of Europe's narrowest 'streets'. The cobbled pedestrian-only alley has been scrubbed up, with nice views of the 'Braşov' sign on the mountain, and connects Str Porta Schei and Str Cerbului.
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Ethnographic Museum
An Ethnographic Museum was under renovation at last pass, but its collection of folk costumes and decorations should be reopened before your visit. There's a small shop here too.
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Peleş Castle
Full of pomp and brimming with confidence of a new Romanian monarchy, the magnificent century-old Peleş Castle, a 20-minute walk up from the centre, is really a palace. Fairy-tale turrets rise above acres of green meadows and grand reception halls fashioned in Moorish, Florentine and French styles, with heavy wood-carved ceilings and gilded pieces overwhelm our wee mortal minds. Even if you're bent on chasing 'Dracula', it's hard not to get a thrill visiting this castle.
The first European castle to have central heating, electricity and vacuuming(!), Peleş was intended to be the summer residence of Romania's longest-serving monarch, King Carol I (the hand-to-hip statue o…
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National Art Museum
Housed in the Royal Palace, the massive, three-part National Art Museum - all signed in English - could take, along with Piaţa Revoluţii and lunch, the bulk of a day. Start at the north door with the Gallery of Romanian Art, a three-floor survey of Romania's art from several hundred icons and jaw-dropping carved wood altars saved from communist-destroyed churches - all laid out on funky purple and crimson walls.
The country's oil masters - from the impasto stokes of Gheorghe Petrascu to Nicolae Grigorescu's arrestingly frank portraits of Roma and peasant folk - are on the top floor. Walking through the chronological collection, note the phase out/in of 'Eastern' Turk-s…
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Palace of Parliament
Facing B-dul Unirii is the impossible-to-miss Palace of Parliament, the world's second-largest building (after the US Pentagon) and Ceauşescu's most infamous creation. Built in 1984 (and still 10% unfinished), the building's 12 storeys and 3100 rooms covers 330,000 sq metres - an estimated around €3.3 billion project.
Rushed, but interesting, 45 minutes tours go every half-hour or so and lead into a handful of marble rooms - still hired out for conferences - finishing at the balcony Nicolae didn't live long enough to speak from. The whopping €9.60 photography or video fee is widely ignored. Facing from B-dul Unirii, the entrance is around to the right (a 12-minute walk…
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Ghencea Civil Cemetery
About 3km west of the Palace of Parliament, Ghencea Civil Cemetery has two infamous inhabitants: Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena (dubbed the 'Romanian Eva Perón'). The pair were secretly buried here - and notably not at Belu Cemetery, the city's most reputable resting place - on 30 December 1989, in hastily prepared graves. Both lie before the small chapel that faces the entry.
Nicolae lies in row I-35, to the left of the path. No stone tomb adorns his earth grave, dug into a pathway, but two crosses mark his grave. One is a stone cross with a red star, the other is a black steel cross which is inscribed with his name, date of birth and death (26 January 1918-24 De…
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Jewish History Museum
Once a thriving part of Romania, the Jewish community in the capital dates from the 16th century, when merchants and traders settled here. In 1941 800,000 Jews lived in Romania; today the number is less than 10,000. In Lucian Boia's book Romania he lamented the Jewish exodus from Romania after WWII as losing 'part of the Romanian soul'. There was reason to leave - as many as 400,000 Jews were killed in Romania during the war.
Several sites keep this part of Romanian history in the public memory. Housed in the beautiful former Tailor's synagogue, the well-arranged Jewish History Museum bears testimony to the city's once-thriving Jewish life. Exhibits - in English and Roman…
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Piaţa Hermann Oberth
Cobblestones and Dracula we can understand, but what does Sighişoara have to do with space exploration? Heaps, it turns out. If it wasn't for one of Sighişoara's most beloved residents, space might still be 'out there'. Though he was born in Sibiu, Hermann Oberth (1894-1989), considered one of the fathers of modern astronautics and rocketry, is revered as a local boy (don't remind anyone that he only spent a few years here as a child).
Inspired by Jules Verne as a skygazing tyke, he started to design space rockets at the age of 14. Later, when studying medicine and physics in Munich, he wrote prolifically about the possibility and mechanics of space travel. Most of his …
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Dâmboviţa River
All great cities have their rivers, and Bucharest slips in its quest for greatness thanks to the way it's treated the miserly Dâmboviţa River. Centuries ago, when Bucharest first took its steps, the river rushed through woods on this relatively hilly part of the plain. Mosquitoes loved the river though, and brought malaria to a growing population; sewage seemed drawn to it too, and the flood-prone river grew more and more contaminated.
The natural twists and turns of the river were canalised between 1880 and 1883 and was later enhanced with concrete.
In the 1970s, Ceauşescu's destructive gaze fell on the river - perhaps the USSR's canal-building history steered it - and …
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Pelişor Palace
About 100m up hill from Peleş Castle, the German-medieval Pelişor Palace has a hard time competing with its neighbour. King Carol I planned this house for his nephew (and future king) Ferdinand (1865-1927) and wife Marie (who didn't get on well with King C and loathed Peleş). Marie picked the design - pretty pastel decorations in simple Art Nouveau style. Most of the furniture was imported from Vienna. Marie used four apartments while Ferdinand had just one.
Marie died in the arched golden room, the walls of which are entirely covered in gilded leaves.
At the western end of the Peleş estate is the Swiss-chalet-style Foişorul Hunting Lodge, built as a temporary residence…
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Romanian Patriarchal Cathedral
Romanian Patriarchal Cathedral sits south of Piaţa Unirii, atop Patriarchy Hill. It's the majestic centre of the Romanian Orthodox faith. During the 15th century a small wooden church surrounded by vineyards stood on the hill. The cathedral consecrated the metropolitan centre of Wallachia in 1868, and was built in 1656-58 by Wallachian prince Şerban Basarab.
None of the original interior paintings or icons remains, bar a single icon (1665) depicting Constantin and Helen, the cathedral's patron saints. The present-day frescoes were painted by Dimitrie Belizarie in 1923. To the west is a small chapel, linked by a balcony to the Patriarchal Palace, the south wings of which…
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Culture Palace
By far Târgu Mureş' top attraction dominates the square's southwestern corner, the Culture Palace, the city's beloved landmark. Built in 1911-13, the secessionist-style building is unlike anything you'll find around Transylvania. Inside its glittering, tiled, steepled roofs are ornate hallways, colourful walls, giant mirrors imported from Venice, and an often-used concert hall (with a dramatic 4463-pipe organ). Not to mention several worthwhile museums (all included in the entry price).
The best is the Hall of Mirrors (Sala Oglinzi), with 12 stained-glass windows lining a 45m hallway - a tape in various languages explains the Székely fairy tales each portrays. The Art M…
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Press House
At its northern end, Şos Kiseleff splays out into Piaţa Presei Libere, which is dominated by the giant Press House, a 1956 Stalinist wedding-cake of a structure. It gave a clear message to the citizens of Bucharest - Big Brother is watching you! A potent symbol of the powerful communist regime, until 1990 the house was called the 'House of the Sparks' (Casa Scânteii); behind closed doors it was known as the 'House of Lies'. It's still home to the city's hacks.
You can see the imprint on the tower where the hammer and sickle once were. In front of the building is an artful Intersection of Europe sculpture (Interşectie cu Europe), showing two rods entering a cone from di…
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Romanian Athenaeum
This exquisite circular building is the majestic heart of Romania's classical music tradition. The Romanian Athenaeum hosts prestigious concerts and should not be missed. Scenes from Romanian history are featured on the interior fresco inside the Big Hall on the first floor and the dome is 41m high. A huge appeal dubbed 'Give a Penny for the Athenaeum' saved it from disaster after the original patron's funds dried up.
The peristyle is adorned with mosaics of five Romanian rulers, including Moldavian prince Vasile Lupu (r 1512-21), Wallachian Matei Basarab (r 1632-54) and King Carol I (r 1881-1914). Built in 1888, George Enescu made his debut here in 1898, followed five ye…
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St Sava's Monastery
From Golia Monastery, head south along Str Armeană. On the right at No 22 you'll pass a small stone-and-brick Armenian Church (Biserica Armeană; 1395), considered the oldest church in Iaşi. Extensive renovations – which have begun anew – have stripped off most of the original Armenian architecture. At the southern end of Str Armeană, turn right to St Sava's Monastery , a small painted-brick church (1625). If instead you turn left along Str Costache Negri, you'll come to the 19th-century Bărboi Monastery. The church was built in 1841 on the site of a 17th-century church. Not only is the trompe l'oeil–painted interior worth a lingering gander, but the grounds are r…
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History & Art Museum
Housed in a neo-Gothic palace built in the 1830s to host fancy balls, the History & Art Museum, facing Piaţa Universităţii, is a lovely spot with an interesting collection of old artefacts, photos and costumes. A few pieces pre-date the Bronze Era, and some documents hail from the days when Romanians wrote in Cyrillic. Designed by two Austrian architects, the neo-Gothic palace was built in 1832-34 for the Şuţu family, notorious for their high-society parties.
One document upstairs is the first known chronicle of the city (1459), and was issued by the moustached Vlad Ţepeş. A giant Venetian mirror on the stairway reflects a mirrored clock (eternally reading 2.15 these…
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Museum of Zoology
From the centre, walk wast along Str Clinicilor, to where it branches left through a brick gate into the wooded Biology and Geology Faculty, where you'll find (100m up on the left, past the cocky statue of Emil Racoviţa) the surprisingly rewarding Museum of Zoology, an L-shaped lab that looks like it hasn't changed since biologist Racoviţa donned his final lab coat here.
Bird noise penetrates the huge windows, bringing some life to the silence (and death) of hundreds and hundreds of jarred and stuffed specimens. Invertebrates and fish sit vertically in filled tubes that make stuff like larvae look candy-bar sized. We particularly like the display of a vulture feasting o…
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Old Princely Court
Bucharest's historic heart - on and off historic Calea Victoriei - sprang up around the Old Princely Court in the 15th century. The battered remains of this court reveal little; you can peer through the fence to the statues of Vlad Ţepeş.
Artisans and traders whose occupations are still reflected in street names like Str Covaci (trough-makers street) and Str Şelari (saddle-makers street) settled in this area in the 14th century, but it was not until the reigning prince of Wallachia, Vlad Ţepeş, fortified the settlement and built a Prince's Palace (Palatul Voievodal) that it flourished as a commercial centre. At the end of the 18th century, heavily damaged by earthquakes…
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Moldavian Metropolitan Cathedral
The hectic, tree-lined B-dul Ştefan cel Mare leads directly southeast from Piaţa Unirii to the monumental Palace of Culture. Along this way is the prominent Moldavian Metropolitan Cathedral. With a cavernous interior painted by Gheorghe Tattarescu, it's Romania's largest Orthodox cathedral and thus a busy place of worship.
You can forget seeing its interior during Iaşi Days, when most of Moldavia's able-bodied pilgrims flock here to stand in line day and night for the chance to view the body of their beloved St Paraschiva, the patron saint of the cathedral and Moldavia, whose body is trundled out for this brief period each year. Additionally, the cathedral has a coffin …
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