Bulci Castle

Bulci is a village in Bata commune, Arad county, Banat, Romania. Older names: Bulch, Bulchu, Bulciu, Bulcz, Bulţ, Bulţi, Bulczy, Bols, Bolş Bwlch, Wulch, Vulci.

Since the Roman period there was a Roman camp and a castrum belonging to the Legion XIII Gemina. Bricks bearing the inscription of the legion, were used to build a medieval monastery of the Benedictine monks, dating back at least the 13th century, one of the oldest and richest in the Banat. In 1241, many monasteries in Banat were destroyed by Tatar invasions. Attracted by the grandeur of the abbey and church, Tatars attacked them and terrible battles were fought here. Monastery of Bulci was destroyed by the Tatars, and was rebuilt by Bishop Bulcsú, from whose name comes the name of the village. In 14th century monastery became an important cultural center where working clerk, from which was kept a codex containing the texts of the Roman historian Titus Livius. Later in the 16th century (1551-1552), Bulci monastery was subject to the Turkish attacks in Transylvania, and the village was almost entirely destroyed. Who escaped with their lives fled to other cities of the Mureş Valley, living over one hundred years away from their village, but still keeping their Catholic faith. In 1749, the monk Berecky Hiarion founded again Bulci village, seeking the descendants of those who left the village during the Turks and rebuilding the old church. In the mid 18th century Bulci belonged to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.

The first known owners were the Varadi family (early 13th century). In the 15th century, the domain belonged to Goroy Jobt, and had approx. 1500 inhabitants. In 1664 it was owned by Janka family. In 1717, Bata had only eight houses. In 1798 it was rented by Kormelycs Karol. The castle in Bulci was built in Neo-Classical style in the early 19th century by Baron Fechtig-Fechtenberg, the owner of the domain since 1838, but received the current form around 1860. The domain was bought in March 30, 1858 by Austrian Baron Anton Mocioni (or Mocsonyi) de Foen. Subsequently, it was inherited by his son Zeno (1842-1905), who payed as a compensation to his brother Victor (who has spent his life abroad) an annual rent of 10 000 gold florins. The next owner was Baron Antoniu Marius Mocioni de Foen, MP, minister and grand master of hunting of the Royal House of Romania. The castle experienced an intense social life, so King Carol II often came here for hunting. The domain was inherited by the adoptive son of the Baron, Ionel Mocioni-Stârcea, secretary of the King. After 1940, here have been arranged rooms for Queen Mother Elena and King Michael I. Castle of Bulci was nationalized and transformed in 1949 into the seat of an agricultural association. Subsequently, here was arranged a TB preventorium. The castle was claimed by Michael Stârcea, nephew of Ionel Mocioni-Stârcea.

Located in a huge park, on the bank of Mureş River, Bulci castle is one of the most impressive buildings of its kind. On the facades of the building are two terraces with family's coats of arms carved in relief, which survived to destruction after the Second World War. Central body has a beautiful room of weapons, with a magnificent fireplace, and the park was a greenhouse. Besides the castle, Antoniu Mocioni built a church and a school for children in the village.

Peleş Castle

Peleş Castle is considered by many one of the most beautiful castles in all Europe. It is a Neo-Renaissance castle placed in an idyllic setting in the Carpathian Mountains, in Sinaia (44 km from Braşov and 122 km from Bucharest), in Prahova County, Romania, on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia.

King Carol I of the Romanians (1839–1914) first visited the region and future site of the castle in 1866, when he fell in love with the rugged but magnificent mountain scenery. So, in 1872, a total of approx. 1,300 acres (5.3 km2), was purchased by the King and Piatra Arsă region becomes The Royal Domain of Sinaia, destined to be a royal hunting preserve and summer retreat for the monarch. The building of the castle began on August 22, 1873 under the direct order of the Viennese architect Wilhelm Doderer and was continued in 1876 by his assistant, Johann Schultz de Lemberg. Because of the the Independence War, between 1877-1879 the works were abandoned. That's why the castle was inaugurated only on October 7, 1883. Several other buildings, annexed to the castle, were built simultaneously: the Guard's Chambers, the Economat Building, the 'Foişor' Hunting Chateau (with 42 rooms, designed in the Swiss style), the Royal Stables. The power plant was also constructed then, and Peleş became world's first castle fully operated by electric power. The 'Şipot' Villa was constructed later. To the initial castle the Czech architect Karel Liman added, during 1896-1914, Pelişor, a small castle with 70 rooms.

Between three and four hundred men worked consistently on it. Queen Elisabeth of the Romanians, during the construction phase, wrote in her journal: "Italians were masons, Romanians were building terraces, the Gypsies were coolies. Albanians and Greeks worked in stone, Germans and Hungarians were carpenters. Turks were burning brick. Engineers were Polish and the stone carvers were Czech. The Frenchmen were drawing, the Englishmen were measuring, and so was then when you could see hundreds of national costumes and fourteen languages in which they spoke, sang, cursed and quarreled on all dialects and tones, a joyful mix of men, horses, cart oxen and domestic buffaloes".

The castle was built in 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 in Carrara 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. Quite outstanding are the Big Armory Room, the Small Armory Room, the Florentine Room, the Reception Room (where paintings and wooden sculptures depicting 16 castles of the Hohenzollern are exhibited), the Moorish Room, the French Room, the Turkish Room, the Council Room, the Concert Room as well as the Imperial Suite.

Other exquisite attractions such as the statues, the ceramics, the gold and silver plates, the Meissen and Sèvres porcelain, the Murano crystal chandeliers, German stained-glass windows, walls covered with Cordoba leather, ebony and ivory sculptures, as well as the extensive weapon collections are worth mentioning. It is also important to know that Peleş Castle shelters one of the most important and most valuable painting collections in Europe, almost 2.000 pieces.

Peleş Castle has 3200 sq. meters of floor plan, over 170 rooms, 30 bathrooms, many with dedicated themes from world cultures (in similar fashion with other Romanian palaces), themes that can vary by function (offices, libraries, armouries, art galleries) or by style (Florentine, Turkish, Moorish, French, Imperial) all extremely lavishly furnished and decorated to the slightest detail. The establishment hosts one of the finest collections of art in East and Central Europe, consisting of statues, paintings, furniture, arms and armor, gold, silver, stained glass, ivory, fine china, tapestries and rugs; the collection of arms and armour has over 4000 pieces, divided between Eastern and Western war, ceremonial or hunting spreading over four centuries in history. Oriental rugs come from the finest sources: Bukhara, Mosul, Isparta, Saruk and Smirna, porcelain from Sèvres and Meissen, leather from Córdoba but perhaps the most acclaimed are the hand painted stained glass, mostly Swiss.

Almost adjacent to Peleş Castle is Pelişor ("Little Peleş"). King Ferdinand, who succeeded Carol I, intended to use Peles Castle as a summer residence. Supposedly he found Peleş too big and overwhelming, so he commissioned the smaller, Art Nouveau style, Pelişor Castle. Pelişor's 70 rooms feature a unique collection of turn-of-the century Viennese furniture and Tiffany and Lalique glassware.

After King Michael's forced abdication in 1947, the Communist regime seized all royal property, including the whole Peleş Estate. The castle itself was opened as a tourist site for a short time. It also served as a recreation and resting place for Romanian cultural personalities. The castle was declared a museum in 1953. During the last years of the Communist regime, between 1975–1990, Nicolae Ceauşescu closed the entire estate. The only persons permitted on the former royal estate were maintenance and military personnel. The whole area was declared a State Protocol Interest Area.

After the December 1989 Revolution, Peleş and Pelişor Castle's were re-established as heritage sites, open to tourists. Today, the Foişor Castle serves - like in the past - as a presidential residence, unlike the rest of the estate. The Economat Building and the Guard's Chambers Building are now hotels, restaurants and terraces having been established as well. The rest of the Peleş Estate became either tourist villas or state protocol buildings. In 2006, the Romanian Government announced restitution of the castle to King Michael I of the Romanians, the former monarch. Soon after re-obtaining the property, negotiations began between the former King and the Government and Peleş once again became a national heritage site open to the public as a historic monument and museum. In exchange, the Romanian Government granted 30 million euros to The Royal House of Romania. The sum for the remaining villas and surrounding chalets and chateaus are still being negotiated but will eventually remain in possession of the state and touristic circuit after repurchasing (2007). Every year since opening, Peleş Castle received a half million visitors every year. Of the 168 rooms in the castle, only 35 are accessible to the public. While an important area is in the upper levels, this is off limits. Only the museum in the basement and the rooms on the first floor can be visited.

After Wikipedia, Braşov Travel Guide, and other sources.

Săvârşin Castle

The Royal Castle of Săvârşin, Arad County, Transylvania, Romania, is the country seat of King Michael I of Romania. I didn't manage to find an exact history of the castle, so here are some alternatives...

According to 10.1 - The World of Ten, at Săvârşin there was a hunting area and the location was a hunting manor, built in 1650. Brunswick family received the domain as a donation from the Austrian Emperor. Around 1800, Franz Brunswick's daughter, Iulia, married Count Forray Andras and the castle belonged to the Forray family until sometime in the 19th century. Franz Brunswick had another daughter, Tereza Brunswick, and a very good friend: Ludwig van Beethoven. The German composer came at Săvârşin in 1807 and fell in love with Tereza. The story appears in the Săvârşin village monograph including the fact that the famous composer dedicated 'Apassionata' to Franz Brunswick and 'Sonata no. 78' to his beloved Tereza.

According to Virtual Arad, Săvârşin Castle was built between 1650 and 1680, as a manor. Subsequently, the Empress Maria Theresa donated the domain to Count Eidenchpacher. In 1780, the entire property came into possession of Count Forray. On June 9, 1784, here was kidnapped Viscount Forray Andras Sr. by the haiduci (outlaws) led by Petre Baciu. The head of the county administration was released only after the Austrian Emperor Josef II satisfied the claims of the outlaws. On November 9, 1784, the castle was burnt during the uprising of Horea, Cloşca and Crişan. Returned from exile, Count Forray managed to restore much of the building. During the Revolution of 1848, the castle was burned and destroyed.

It subsequently became the property Count Nadajdy. One of the count daughters married with a son of Karol Hunyadi. In 1860, Nadajdy and Hunyadi have employed an Austrian architect who added a new storey and designed the side wings in Neo-Classical style, works finished in 1870. In 1941, the sole heir of the family, Hunyadi Ferenc, became Minister of Interior of Hungary. How the law forbade him to own properties in Romania, in May he made a deal with Baron Ioan Mocsony-Stârcea, grand hunting master of the Royal Court. Castle of the Săvârşin came thus in possession of Mocsony, in exchange for a property which he owned near Budapest. Between 1941-1943, there were performed modernization works.

According to Wikipedia, in 1925, when he was 16 yo, Ionel Stârcea (or Styrcea) was adopted by Austrian baron Anton Mocsonyi of Foen, a family friend who had no direct descendants. On the death of Baron, Ioan Mocioni-Stârcea have received the properties and its title, becoming the owner of a large area on Mureş Valley, between Deva and Arad (including Săvârşin and Bulci castles). He became one of the richest men in Romania.

Queen Elena of Romania fell in love at first sight of the castle. As a gesture of appreciation towards the Royal Family, Baron Mocsony-Stârcea, who was also the godfather of King Michael I, gave him the palace as a gift (according other sources, the Queen bought the castle). It was in 1943 and since then many of the most beautiful memories of King Michael are related to the castle in Săvârşin. On January 3, 1948, King Michael left Romania and the castle was nationalized.

While the castle was seized from the Royal Family by Communist authorities, in 2000, a Romanian court ordered that the building be restored to King Michael I. It entered in the touristic circuit since 2003 and was restored between 2005-2007. The King wants mostly to bring back to life the settlement through a tradition and local arts encouraging programme. Apart from founding workshops, an exhibition space (the Yellow House), and a restaurant, the Royal House wishes to transform the park according to the Highgrove Garden, as arranged by Prince Charles. The works are done on a collaboration basis with a number of London's Writtle College representatives, who thought of developing an eco-horticulture area, of modernizing the green houses, and inventorying the plant species and fauna in the Săvârşin Park.

The dendrological park (arboretum) around the castle was established by Viscount Forray Istvan, who called a renowned landscape architect from the Empire in order to create the park by the year 1857. This park covers an area of 6.5 hectares and contains several rare species of trees and shrubs, monuments of nature, and a beautiful lake.

Gheorghe Marinescu

Gheorghe Marinescu (February 28, 1863, Bucharest – May 15, 1938, Bucharest) was a Romanian neurologist, founder of the Romanian School of Neurology.

Fatherless, Marinescu was guided, at his mother’s insistence and due to precarious means, towards becoming a priest, entering the seminary. Acquiring ethical and moral conduit, he then attends the Polytechnic School and then the classes of the Faculty of Medicine at the Bucharest University, with Victor Babeş as one of his professors. He received most of his medical education as preparator at the laboratory of histology at the Brâncoveanu Hospital and as assistant at the Bacteriological Institute under Victor Babeş, and with Babeş already early published several works on myelitis transversa, hysterical muteness, dilatation of the pupil in pneumonia etc.

Marinescu went with a grant to Paris to undertake postgraduate training in neurology and studied here for eight years while working for two great hospitals: the Salpêtrière Hospital, run by the famous Jean-Martin Charcot, and the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital. He later worked with Carl Weigert in Frankfurt a.M. and then with Emil du Bois-Reymond in Berlin. On the assignment of Pierre Marie he lectured on the pathological anatomy of acromegaly at the Berlin International Congress in 1890. Returning to the country, he will make the best use of what he had previously learned, in the Pantelimon (where a new professorial department had been created for him) and Colentina hospitals. He received his doctorate in 1895 at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris. Shortly thereafter, in 1897, a chair of Clinical Neurology was created in the University of Bucharest, at the Colentina Hospital. He remained in this post for the next 41 years and is regarded as the founder of the Romanian School of Neurology.

Between July 1898 and 1901 Marinescu made the first science films in the world, in his clinic in Bucharest: The walking troubles of organic hemiplegy (1898), The walking troubles of organic paraplegies (1899), A case of hysteric hemiplegy healed through hypnosis (1899), The walking troubles of progressive locomotion ataxy (1900) and Illnesses of the muscles (1901). In 1924, Auguste Lumière recognized the priority of professor Marinescu concerning the first science films.

Gheorghe Marinescu has been one of the first doctors in the world to apply histologic, histopathologic and anatomoclinics in the scientific research in the field of neurology. Important original contributions are made in the field of fiziology, histopathology and the practical learning of the nervous system (the theory of reflex trophicity, the palmomentony reflex, kinetoplasma, chromatolysis, neuronophagy). He owned over 1000 highly precious publications making a significant contribution to the world medicine in the domain of modern neurology. He published the book “The Nervous Cell” (2 volumes, over 1000 pages) in 1909, in Paris. It was the first book of that kind in the world, and it was not surpassed yet. Gheorghe Marinescu was an eminent teacher. In his lectures he emphasised ideas and gave perspective for further investigations. He was elected as a member of Romanian Academy in 1906 and was also member of 7 foreign academies.

Several words from his will: “No flower. No discourse. Those who have loved me should use the money for poor children and the good words to encourage the suffering… leaving for the world nobody ever came back from, I would not want to affect anybody but the truth must yet be told: there is too much injustice in the blessed Romanian Country”.

Anastase Dragomir

Anastase Dragomir (1896-1966) was a distinguished Romanian inventor, most famous for his patent registered together with Tănase Dobrescu, an early version of the modern ejection seat.

Anastase Dragomir was born on February 6, 1896, in Brăila, being the sixth child of the family. He was interested, as many of the young people of that period, of aviation issues. He went to France, where he worked on several aircraft factories. There he perfected his own system to save the pilots and passengers in case of accidents. On November 3, 1928, he recorded in France the patent application "Nouveau système de montage des parachutes dans les appareils de locomotion aérienne" and obtained patent no. 678,566 in April 2, 1930. This invention was "a new system of parachuting from the apparatus for air locomotion, each passenger having his own parachute that allows, in critical moments, the detaching of the whole ensemble from the plane, so the parachute along with the passenger installed in the seat go through a opening in the floor" and the patent require that this set of cell-parachute to have more controls, operated by the pilot.

Since there was not a favorable financial time for aviation, the idea of this system rescue was for a long time regarded with suspicion by officials and companies, due to significantly more expensive planes built. After several interventions, Anastase Dragomir managed to obtain necessary financing and began construction of "catapulted cabin". He experienced the invention in August 28, 1929, at Orly airport near Paris. For this purpose was modified a Farman airplane in which was installed the catapultable cockpit, after the indications of the inventor. The plane was piloted by Lucien Bossoutrot, owner of record of a flight without stopover. The experience was a success, confirming the usefulness of this invention. After the demonstration, French newspapers have emphasized the world priority of the invention.

After the experiment, Anastase Dragomir returned home, where, with the help of captain Constantin Nicolau, engineer of the Romanian aviation technical services, repeated the demonstration at the Băneasa Airport in Bucharest, in October 26, 1929. This time he used an AVIA plane, and the newspapers reported in detail about this ingenious and practical means of rescue. Based on the results obtained, he developed and refined the initial solution. In 1950 he obtained a new patent, Romanian, no. 40658/1950, for the "parachuted cell". In 1959 he recorded a new application, for a transport aircraft with cabins equipped with ejection, for rescuing the passengers (Romanian patent no. 41,424 from 1960). Anastase Dragomir died in 1966 in Bucharest.

Brukenthal Summer Palace

Samuel von Brukenthal (1721, Nocrich – 1803, Sibiu) was the Habsburg governor of the Grand Principality of Transylvania between July 6, 1774 and January 9, 1787. He was a baron of the Holy Roman Empire, and personal adviser of Empress Maria Theresa. A passionate art collector, he built a palace in Sibiu, where in 1817 was arranged, according to his will, the first public museum in southeastern Europe.

The summer residence of Baron, the Brukenthal Summer Palace is located in Avrig, at 30 km from Sibiu. It was built between 1780 and 1785 in Baroque style, on the model of the Viennese Schönbrunn castle. The baron used to keep here his collection consisting of 212 paintings, and 129 engravings. Today these are in the museum of Sibiu.

The U-shaped baroque style palace has a central section and two wings, opening to an axial symmetrical garden. The palace has a ground-floor, one storey, a majestic staircase with several levels. During baron Brukenthal's life-time, the main hall was decorated with murals, there also were paintings and engravings gathered by him all over the palace.

The palace has one of the most beautiful parks, located 12 m below the palace and organized in wide terraces descending to the Olt River meadow. On the east side is the English garden, arranged in a natural way, with large grassy areas, unique trees, paths, halting places and a natural water fall. The central area was modeled on the French gardens, with fountains, central stairs, with lateral walkways, vases, benches, stone statues, greenhouses, an orangery. The Dutch gardens were full of flowers, vegetables and spices, such as pineapple, lemon, coffee and cardamom. The Baron integrate into the garden an agricultural farm - and was famous for his white buffaloes, sold even in Naples. It deserves to be restored as it is the only garden of a Baroque palace in Romania which has been preserved almost entirely.

At 70 years after the death of Samuel von Brukenthal, the line of inheritance of the family finished. His properties have passed through many owners until 1908, when - according to his will, came into possession of Sibiu Lutheran Parish. The Evangelical Church founded here a sanatorium. After WWII, the hospital was nationalized and used as a sanatorium. After the fall of Communism, the summer residence was returned to the German minority, by the Brukenthal Foundation. It took over responsibility for the maintenance and care of the palace and park in the spirit of Brukenthal, and to keep the cultural heritage of this remarkable Transylvanian Saxon.

Photos from Jurnal Românesc and Welcome to Romania.

Costeşti-Cetăţuia Fortress

The development and the prosperity era of the Dacian settlement on the Cetăţuia Hill - also that of whole complex of settlements in Orăştie Mountains - covers the period from Burebista to Decebal (1st century BC - 1st century AD). Destroyed after the second Roman-Dacian war and the conquest of Dacia by the Romans (105-106 AD), the fortress was never rebuilt.

Costeşti Fortress was the oldest and largest "dava" (fortress in Dacian) and is situated on the left side of Apa Grădiştei River, on the Cetăţuia Hill. Cetăţuia Hill with the fortress on its top form a great guard point, with large visibility, placed at the entrance of mountain range, where the valley suddenly narrows.

The defense system of the fortress was based on a sequence of three types of fortifications: a wave of earth, a stone wall 3 m thick, flanked by three towers and a double palisade surrounding the top of the height. The Dacian wall, built 2000-2500 years ago is perfectly straight and does not let any knife blade between its perfectly polished stones.

The highest plateau was occupied by two towers-house, built of stone blocks and bricks, barracks for soldiers and an observation tower. One can reach here climbing on the 'royal stairs', 3 m wide, made of andesite. The tens of andesite were artfully fashioned and endowed with incredible sewage channels.

The tower behind the stairs has cyclopic walls pointing to the solstice and is filled with big ilmenit bricks. On terraces were identified a tumulus on the southern part of the edifice, four sanctuaries, two water tanks and three isolated watchtowers guarding the antique access road.