The New Romania

In December 1989, Romania was reborn as a free nation. This diverse country now welcomes tourists who can enjoy a wonderfully varied heritage of traditional culture, scenic splendors and opportunities for leisure. A resurgence of endeavor and enthusiasm is revigorating the tourist facilities of the country to create a unique holiday destination.

Plenty of Things to Do and See

The choice of activities and places to visit is extensive. You can ski in traditional or purpose-built mountain resorts or laze in the hot sun on the beaches at the Black Sea, comparable to those on the Mediterranean.

You can hike through unspoiled landscapes, where rivers run clear, or go boating in the 5,640 sq km (2,200 sq miles) water wilderness of the Danube Delta. Out of this total surface 4,340 sq km (1,695 sq miles) are to be found in Romania. There one can see pelicans and other endangered birds among floating iles overgrown with reeds.

One can also enjoy the architecture, museums and galleries of the cities.

A Legendary History

The very name "Romania" reminds us that ancient Rome exercised a decisive influence on this country and on the monuments of that era.

There are feudal fortresses, Byzantine decorated monasteries and adorned village houses to be admired, while "Dracula's" castle is only one among many other fascinating castles and palaces.

Living Cultural Traditions

You can see folk festivals in Transylvania that are genuine expressions of local culture, not merely staged for visitors. When you buy local woodcarvings or pottery you buy things made to give pleasure while in use, not just valueless souvenirs.

One of the many extraordinary aspects of this country is its vibrant rural culture. For decades the outside world heard little about it. Not that Romania's heritage is simply one of folk art! Bucharest used to be called the "Little Paris", and with good reason, too!

Today first class opera and concert halls, permanent art exhibitions, like that of the sculptor Brancusi, fine museums and galleries are all specific for Romania's new sophisticated artistic sensitivity.

Modern Facilities and Affordable Prices

Better still this is all backed up by the comfort of a widening range of hotels and restaurants, good domestic transportation by air, train and bus, and surprisingly low prices. Going to the opera is quite affordable, let alone local dishes and wines. Romania is fun to visit. Come and see for yourself.

Discovering Romania

Some of Romania's many faces

Romania offers a wide choice of general and "theme" touring ideas. These itinerary suggestions are just a few of many possibilities. Your travel agent will have much more to add to them.

Painted Monasteries and Feudal Castles

Your 8 day tour to the "Sixtine Chapel of the East" and some of the most dramatic scenery in Romania starts with a night in Bucharest before driving to Piatra Neamt for wine tasting - Moldavian wines have been famous for 500 years - and overnight stay.

On Day 3 you visit the graceful 17th century convent of Agapia, the monastery of Dragomirna, and tour Suceava, former capital of Moldavia. Overnight in Suceava.

Day 4 brings you to the famous painted monasteries. They have marvelously colored and detailed frescoes of religious and historical scenes on their outside walls.

You will see Humor, where monks taught painters their craft; Voronet, known as the Sixtine Chapel of the East; and Sucevita, set in a dramatically fortified compound. Return to Piatra Neamt to overnight.

Day 5 takes you through the spectacular Bicaz Gorges in the Eastern Carpathians for two nights in the medieval city of Brasov.

Day 6 you visit ancient fortified churches at Prejmer and Harman and the 14th century stronghold of Bran Castle. On Day 7 drive across the mountains to see Peles Castle, built in the 1870s as a summer retreat for King Carol I at Sinaia.

The drive back to Bucharest is along the lovely Prahova valley, stopping to see the Village Museum on the way into the city. Overnight in Bucharest before flying home.

Experiencing Transylvania and Walachia

Starting with a Bucharest city tour including the Village Museum, this comprehensive trip takes in highlights of legendary Transylvania and of the Banat, in the south-west.

Day 3 depart Bucharest for the Curtea de Arges Monastery, Episcopala Church and Targu Jiu, where Constantin Brancusi's massive works are exhibited. Overnight at Targu Jiu.

On the 4th day you see the Iron Gates Museum, ruins of Trajan Bridge at Drobeta - Turnu Severin, with overnight at Timisoara, cradle of the December 1989 revolution.

From Timisoara to medieval Sibiu is via Deva, commanded by the fairy tale Renaissance castle of Hunedoara. Overnight at Sibiu.

Day 6 gives you the fascinating but little known Museum of Folk Technology in Sibiu with exibits from all over Romania. Day 7 takes you to the citadel of Alba Iulia en route to Cluj-Napoca.

Day 8: sightseeing in Cluj-Napoca including the History Museum of Transylvania and the Botanic Gardens. Day 9 is devoted to Targu Mures, with its medieval citadel and early 1900s Palace of Culture.

On Day 10 you call at the lovely lakeside spa of Sovata and transit the dramatic Bicaz Gorges on the way to Piatra Neamt. Day 11 starts off in Piatra Neamt and continues through the tranquil splendour of the Carpathians to the mountain resort of Poiana Brasov.

Now for two days devoted to this lovely area, including Brasov's medieval monuments and Bran Castle, until on Day 14 you leave for Bucharest.

But the tour is not over! The resort of Predeal and the former royal residence of Peles Castle at Sinaia feature on the last stage of a travel experience you will never forget. Overnight at Bucharest before flying home.

BUCHAREST

Bucur's City

A strange and romantic city - this is Bucharest. Its paradoxes and charm are given by the shadows, still tangible, of the past, and the dynamism of present times.

There is a Bucharest of music, a Bucharest of theatres, with some of the most talented European actors, a Bucharest of culture and religion, waiting to be discovered.

A city without legends would be like an adult without childhood. They say that a shepherd named Bucur has set up a village, on the banks of the Dâmbovita river, in a plain that does not go over 98 m.

Historians, indulgent with the romanticism of the legend, proved that the present capital of Romania has been populated ever since the middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic, thanks to its favourable positioning for the traffic of people and goods.

Bucharest is placed at 60 km away from the Danube, 125 km from the Carpathian Mountains and 260 km from the Black Sea.

Bucharest, named in the past the Citadel of Dâmbovita, has had its present name for centuries, a fact attested by the document signed on the 20th September 1459 by Prince Vlad the Impaler, who settled here his second residence after Târgoviste.

Hanul lui Manuc and its courtyard, an early 19th century caravanserai still functioning as an inn and restaurant

Chosen to be the capital of the United Principality of Romania in 1859, Bucharest becomes the capital of Romania in 1862.

The city always got the appreciation of the travellers because of its green spaces, its architecture and the kindness of its inhabitants.

Its elegant and exuberant atmosphere once gave it the name of "small Paris". Nowadays, Bucharest's former atmosphere can be met in the streets around Calea Mosilor St. and in the old churches.

A town of avenues and parks Romania's capital, the nation's centre of cultural and economic life, was founded more than 500 years ago and is a natural starting point for visits to the country. During the 1930's its tree-lined boulevards and "fin de siecle" architecture gave it the nickname "Little Paris". There is even an Arc de Triomphe on the impressive Soseaua Kisseleff which is longer than the Champs Elysees and has ranges of trees which flower beautifully in the spring. Despite the massive reconstruction of the 1980s, Bucharest remains a Garden City, leafy and pleasant, with cafes open on sidewalks in the summer, and with boats on its lakes and rivers.

Springtime in one of Bucharest's delightful parks

Exploring the City

Finding your way is easy in Bucharest. The underground network offers a standard fare and covers most of the city. Major boulevards run North-South from the Arcul de Triumf (Triumphal Arch) down to the Centrul Civic (Civic Center), crossed by others going East-West. Calea Victoriei - a continuation of Soseaua Kisseleff - is the place where the city's inhabitants prefer taking strolls on summer evenings.

Here you will find majestic public buildings like the National History Museum and the main Post Office, whereas close to its Southern end there is the lovely Parcul Cismigiu (Cismigiu Park). Bulevardul (Boulevard) Magheru is parallel to Calea Victoriei and it hosts tourist and airline offices, cinemas and hotels.

An Eclectic Mixture of Styles

You will be intrigued by the city's eclectic mixture of architecture, from Curtea Veche, the remains of Prince Vlad Tepes 15th century palace - he was the city's founder as well as the inspiration for "Dracula", - to Orthodox Churches, Second Empire mansions, the stolid Stalinist architecture of the communist years and the colossal 6,000 room Parliament House, the second largest building in the world after the Pentagon.

Curtea Veche, the founding site of Bucharest

TRANSYLVANIA

A Legendary Land

Transylvania is by far the most romantic and inspiring of Romania's provinces. Its very name brings to mind visions of mountain peaks rising up to the sky above wooded valleys and sparkling streams, visions of high-roofed wooden churches, legendary castles and a troubled history.

But there is much more to it: ski resorts and health spas, hiking trails and the Retezat National Park, fascinating medieval towns, art museums and good hotels. In Transylvania new vistas and leisure activities appear wherever you go.

Brasov and Romania's Mountain Resorts

This medieval city, picturesquely situated nearby the Postavaru Mountain, is both fascinating in itself and is close to Transylvania's major mountain resort area, with first class hotels (see the page on the Mountains).

Look for its old Saxon architecture around the 14th century Black Church, the ruins of the citadel, and the 18th century Old Town Hall.

The Bran Castle and the Royal Resort of Sinaia

Beginning with the stark contours of the Bran Castle, where Prince Vlad Tepes, the legendary Dracula,  is said tohave lived

A trip to take from Brasov is to the castle of Bran, supposed to have been the home of Prince Vlad Tepes, who inspired Dracula's legend. Also, don't miss the castle of Peles, fancifully built in 1883 at the foot of a mountain side for King Carol I, in Sinaia. This resort was first made popular by the King and it is worth a stay either in summer for its glorious mountain scenery, hiking and riding, or in winter for skiing, not to mention health cures.

Sibiu

Sibiu, also Saxon in origin, is a very pretty town, with cobbled streets and pastel colored houses. The open air Museum of Folk Technology in a forest by a lake is a "must" to visit, just as the Brukenthal Art Museum.

The town is well placed for excursions to mountain villages, such as Sibiel, where there is a fascinating museum of icons.

Further away near Deva stands the Corvin Castle, rebuilt in the 15th century in Gothic style by Prince Iancu Corvin, who gave it a sumptuous Knights Hall and towers and buttresses that remind one of the Chateaux de la Loire.

Banat

This south-western corner of the country has a drier, more Mediterranean climate than most of Romania and is also slightly different from the cultural point of view.

Timisoara a city famous throughout the world since the dramatic days of the December 89 revolution

Habsburg rule until 1918 gave it an Art Nouveau architecture, while almost 1,900 years earlier the Romans had established a spa at Baile Herculane that is still one of Romania's most fashionable ones. Nearby Mount Domogled is a 60,000 ha protected area, while the Semenic Mountains have a few small ski resorts. Finally, the capital of Banat, Timisoara, is the city where the 1989 Revolution started.

Medieval Sighisoara Originally a Roman town, Sighisoara is one of the greatest medieval cities left in the world. The city has a walled citadel on the hilltop, secret gateways and passages, a 14th century Clock Tower and the house where Prince Vlad Tepes lived.

Sighisoara, one of the great medieval cities of Europe

Festivals and Folklore

Wherever you go in Transylvania, you will discover rural traditions that are a real part of everyday life. Shepherds produce large round cheese which you will see for sale by the roadside.

The house doors are intricately carved. Colorful traditional costumes are worn on Sundays and for weddings and festivals because they have special meaning.

As to festivals, you will find them in full swing from Easter on.

An Ideal Place to Get Away

To sum it up, both in summer and winter, the valleys and mountains of Transylvania are refreshingly unspoilt and welcoming, an area where you can genuinely get away.

MARAMURES

The fierce individuality of the Maramures mountain valleys in the north-west of Transylvania is legendary. Their inhabitants are of Dacian descent and their independence as a State reached its peak under Decebalus in the first century AD, before the Roman conquest. Wave after wave of invasions followed. A unique lifestyle Nonetheless the villagers here continued to vividly assert the independence of their customs and their folklore. Today you can visit and admire their unique lifestyle. Few other parts of Europe have developed so distinctive a rural culture.

Traditional headscarves during an outdoor religious celebration

An inheritance of folklore

Agriculture has always been the lifeblood of existence in the mountains. Local traditions reflect this, as there are festivals in April, May, August and December.

The one in December is held at Sighetu Marmatiei, with carnival parades and revelers wearing animal masks.

Sighetu Marmatiei

Sighetu Marmatiei is a typical Maramures town, famous for its markets, peasant costumes and lively atmosphere.

The Museum of Maramures has many carnival masks among its exhibits. Here from you may easily drive to the mountain resort of Borsa and such villages as Bogdan-Voda and Rozavlea, renowned for their wooden architecture.

Creativity in wood and costume

A typical high-steep  led Maramures church

Woodcarving skills are the dominant feature of Maramures crafts. Particularly characteristic of the villages are wooden churches, with tall steeples and shingled roofs, some dating back to the 14th century. Highly developed too is the embroidery of traditional costumes. On Sunday afternoons both women and men often parade and dance as they have for centuries. Women wear colorful headscarves and flowered skirts with black sheepskin jerkins; men wear black trousers and white jerkins, though costumes vary from village to village. The Easter festivals are a particularly good time to see them.

Touring the valleys

Baia Mare lies at the heart of this region. Its modern hotels make it the point of departure for many tours. A popular local expedition is to Surdesti, which has the tallest of the region's wooden churches. Another is the one to Sapanta, famous for its "merry cemetery", where carved tombstones and humorous epitaphs are a remembrance of the dead.

The "merry cemetery" in Sapanta - the "gravestones" are carved in wood depicting the deceased's role in life and humorous epitaphs.

MOLDOVA AND BUCOVINA

Bucovina - the north-eastern province of Romania - is renowned for the beautiful exterior frescoes on the walls of its monasteries. These triumphs of Byzantine-influenced art reflect a development of Moldavian civilization in the 15th and 16th centuries, under the patronage of Stephen the Great (1457-1504).

Plenty more to discover - from buffaloes to vineyards

Moldavia has an extensive countryside of forests and hills, with many lesser known delights to discover, especially in the region of Targu Neamt. You might even catch a glimpse of a buffalo, a species which is being reintroduced into a natural reservation.

There are hiking routes and camping facilities, as well as good hotels in the main towns. And Moldavian wines have been known for five centuries. There are vineyards that can be visited.

Iasi and Suceava

These former capitals entice you to a stop on most Bucovina itineraries. Iasi is the home of Romania's oldest University and a centre of intellectual life.

Many well-known Romanian writers' houses are preserved as memorials. The best known monument of the city is the Trei Ierarhi Church, dating from 1639. In Suceava, which has direct airline and rail links with Bucharest, it is worth going up to the ruins of Stephen's princely citadel on the heights near the city.

Remember to ask for specialties of Moldavian cuisine in the restaurants. Moldavian cooking and local wines are widely appreciated.

Targu Neamt

A glimpse on the Agapia convent which stands among the simple but lovely houses of the nuns

This town is the access point for a remarkable group of monasteries and fortresses that are definitely worth a detour. The 18th century convent of Agapia gleams as white as if it stood on a Greek Island. The Monastery in Neamt is the oldest in Moldavia, while the Neamt fortress used to be a key to the region's defence. A little to the west is the mountain and ski resort of Durau.

The Monasteries in Bucovina

The decorated monasteries are the major attraction in Bucovina because of the vivid frescoes on their churches.

The latter depict Biblical and other religious scenes, designed in segments almost like strip cartoons to stir the imagination of the local people and so educate them in the Orthodox spirit.

The churches stand in the centre of the monastery complex and all of them have high pitched roofs and little sunlight comes inside. There are five main monasteries of this kind.

Humor

Humor, founded in 1530, is quite small. Its paintings include illustration of a poem on the "The Siege of Constantinople", which shows the feelings of the Romanians towards the Turks.

The aim was to maintain the Christian faith among Romanians. On other walls are the "Return of the Prodigal Son" and the Devil amusingly pictured as a greedy woman.

Centuries ago the monks here at Humor ran a school where calligraphers and miniature painters learnt their craft.

Voronet

This "Sixtine Chapel of the East" was built by Stephen the Great in 1488 and the vivid colours of its frescoes added later.

The "Sixtine Chapel" of  the East - Voronet

The paintings show an adaptation of classic Byzantine art to Moldavian realities. Thus the archangels' trumpets take the shape of the local shepherds' horn or "bucium" and souls doomed to hellfire wear the turbans of the Turkish enemy.

The "Sixtine Chapel" of the East - Voronet

Sucevita

The Sucevita Monastery complex, set in a beautiful green valley, is fortified like a citadel with watch towers at its four corners.

Legend says it that the artist fell off the wall scaffolding and was killed, so it remained undecorated. When you go there, look for the complex "Jesse's Tree" on the southern wall.

Moldovita

Striking shades of red, blue, yellow and brown characterize the monumental scene of the "Siege of Constantinopole" on the walls of the Moldovita church.

Inside, 16th century furniture survives, including Prince Petru Rares' chair, as large as a throne. The Prince built Moldovita and his statue stands outside.

Arbore

Quite small, and without the high cupola that distinguishes most monastery churches, Arbore is predominantly decorated in shades of green. Look for the scene from "Genesis" along the western wall, since it is particularly lively and graceful.

TIME BOUNDARIES

Although we face the beginning of the third mi llennium, Romania will impress its tourists with the strange sounding of a wooden plate, a ritual which calls the people to church. Regardless of the modesty or the grandeur of the churches, they are places which benefit from the most precious Romanian fortunes: the landscape, the building art and last but not least, valuable objects, from silver or gold jewelry to the most delicate tissues.

All the important moments in the Romanians' life are tightly related to the church: the birth, for the sacred mystery of the baptize, the wedding, the death and the most important holidays of the year, such as Easter and Christmas. Especially in the villages, the church and also the cemetery are places where one can witness picturesque proceedings, which usually take place when feasting or blessing the food and the drinks for holidays. There are also some proceeding to invoke rain, fertility or to drive away malefic spirits. All these rituals are based on the belief in God, Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary.

Most of the Romanians are orthodox. In Dobrogea, at DERVENT, in the middle of a deep forest, issued like a miracle in a dry aria, we find the monastery and the cave where Saint Apostle Andrei preached Christianity for the first time on Romanian land. These lands are the birth place of remarkable people of the Christian world, such as St. Ioan Casian and Dyonisius Exiguus.

As there are many Catholics and Greek-Catholics in Romania, we can find here wonderful establishments serving these religions. Many other ethnic groups were welcome here, and the whole country is adorned with religious edifices belonging to Magyars or Transylvanian Saxons, to Israelites or Turks, to Armenians or Greeks, Lippovans, Serbians and Tartars. By seeing the Romanian churches - regardless of the religion they were dedicated to - a tourist will easily understand the story of the people who gave them life.

Romania's Carpathians - The Pleasure of Freedom

The Carpathians, denominated in ancient times "Corona Montium", form a third of the country's territory, and represent the second European mountain chain after the Alps. Even if they are not as high as the Alps, The Carpathians are equally picturesque and spectacular.

Placed as an arch inside the country, the Carpathians are formed of three mountains chains (Oriental, Southern and Western Carpathians), each of them with its particular beauty and hospitable landscapes.

The Oriental Carpathians stretch from the north-eastern frontier up to the Prahova Valley. They are the longest volcanoes chain in Europe, comprising the massifs Oas, Gutai, Tibles, Calimani, Harghita, Bodoc and Baraolt. The second mountains chain, the Southern Carpathians, is placed between Prahova Valley and the Timis-Cerna corridor. Here there are the highest mountain peaks in Romania (Peak Moldoveanu in Fagaras Massif 2544 m, Negoiu 2535 m, Parângu Mare 2519 m, Peleaga 2509 m, Omu 2505 m).