Cotnari Vineyards

Cotnari is a commune in Iaşi County, region of Moldavia. It is located north-west of Iaşi and south of Hârlău, in a major wine-producing region of Romania, and is famous for some wine varieties.


Proofs of habitation in the area go back to the Cucuteni culture; a fortress dating from the 5th or 6th century BC was discovered on the nearby Cătălina Hill (nowadays a nature reserve). It seems that the vineyard have been known since times immemorial. In this area there have been dug out wine cups of the Cucuteni-Tripolie as well as Cătălina and Băiceni civilizations, from the Getic-Dacian epoch. Likewise, Middle Ages Moldavian wine cups and vessels date the old vocation of wine making in the area. Cotnari was first attested in 1448. The establishment of vineyards is attributed by local tradition to an initiative of Moldavian Prince Stephen the Great, under whose rule the village rose to the status of alternate residence, while stone structures and roads to serve the wine trade were built in the area.


The name Cotnari originates from the words “cotitul butoaielor” (“hollowing the barrels”). In 1599 there were 3,500 “smokes” (houses) in Cotnari and the place was one of the largest boroughs of Moldavia, after Suceava and Bacău. Beginning with the latter half of the 16th century, the vineyards started to be parceled out and the population of the settlement decreased more and more, so that in 1832 there were only 230 houses in the borough. Phylloxera gave the finishing stroke to Cotnari in 1891 when, as an ultimate measure, there were cut all the vineyards. In the 19th century, the local vines (Grasa, Feteasca, Tămâioasa, Frâncuşa) were engrafted on American mother plants that were resistant to Phylloxera. This is, in fact, the rebirth of the Cotnari vineyard.


This vineyard is the only one in Romania that has not altered the autochtonous sorts of vine, after the invasion of Phylloxera. At present, the company Cotnari S.A. holds an area of 1316 ha vineyards, of which 1200 ha are in bearing, and the rest consists of young plantations. In the Romanian wine growing landscape, Cotnari is unquestionably one of the most important vineyards. The wine made here is unparalleled in our country and unsurpassed by the wines of Sauternes (France) or Tokay (Hungary) with whom it resembles. Many people still ask about the Cotnari miracle, well known and deeply rooted in the layers of memory. The calcareous soil and the marvelous effect of the “noble rot” (Botrytis cinerea), as well as the selective harvest when berries turn into raisins, contribute to the exquisite quality of the Cotnari wine (D.O.C.C.), known from the Middle Ages as the “Pearl of Moldavia”.

Valentin Gheorghiu

Valentin Gheorghiu (born March 21st, 1928) is a great Romanian classical pianist and composer.


Gheorghiu was born in Galaţi, Romania in 1928, where he started studying piano when he was very young. He studied first at the Royal Musical Academy in Bucharest, as a disciple of Mihai Jora (theory-solfeggio, harmony, counterpoint, fugue, composition), Constanţa Erbiceanu (piano), Mihail Andricu (chamber music) and Constantin Băloiu (history of music), then, between 1937-1939, the talented and successful young man was encouraged and supported to go to the High National Music Conservatory in Paris, where he studied under the following teachers: Lazare Levy (piano), Marcelle Mayer (theory and solfeggio) and Noël Gallon (harmony).


His career began brilliantly at the age of 15, under the baton of George Georgescu and gradually evolved towards complete fame. In 1950 Gheorghiu became soloist of the George Enescu Philharmonic. He made successful tours in all European music capitals, in the Middle East, USA and Canada, being recognized worldwide as a prestigious musician and recital performer. Valentin Gheoghiu is a perfect partner in several chamber groups, among which one of the most famous was the Bucharest Trio, where performed along with his brother, the violinist Ştefan Gheorghiu and the cellist, Radu Aldulescu). Gheorghiu has cooperated with maestros as Antal Dorati, Kurt Masur, Sergiu Commissiona, George Prêtre, Kiril Kondraschin and joined orchestras as the Dresdner Staatskapelle, the Suisse Romande Orchestra, the Bayerisches Rundfunk, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore, Leningrad, Montreal, Tokyo, and Moscow etc. As a solo player he took part to important festivals such as those of Salzburg, Prague, Dubrovnik, Bucharest and he played a recital for the UN members in New York. Gheorghiu has done many records for His Master’s Voice, Deutsche Grammophon, Pathé Marconi, RCA, Supraphon, Electrecord and Eterna. He was a member of the jury in all the most famous international piano competitions among which we can mention the Leeds, the Van Cliburn, the Tchaikovsky, the Margherite Long, the Santander, the Chopin in Warsaw, the Beethoven in Vienna, the Busoni.


As an exemplary pianist, won important prizes, including the First Enescu Mention in 1946 for the Piano Sonata; as a composer, won the “George Enescu” prize of the Romanian Academy for his Piano Concerto. Recently, Gheorghiu has been awarded the honorary degree by the National Academy of Music of Bucharest.

Modest, much too modest, Valentin Gheorghiu is a man of perfect moral conduct: "he remains in his place", he does not enjoy being in the light spot, he rather leaves this to his younger colleagues, as he is too shy to assert himself. Knowing his value, let us proclaim him as a first class and authentic musician: for over half a century, the complex musician, pianist and composer, Valentin Gheorghiu, has honestly and impressively represented the Romanian spirit.

Dan Grigore

Dan Grigore (born August 6th, 1943) is a great Romanian classical pianist and composer.

Dan Grigore was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1943. He was first a pupil of Mihail Jora and then of Florica Musicescu, who had both been teachers to Dinu Lipatti. He also studied in Saint Petersburg with Tatiana Kravcenko and in Vienna with Richard Hauser. He made his debut playing Enescu's Burlesque, Choral and Carillon Nocturne in first world audition and ever since the artist has been constantly including Enescu's music in his programs, all over the world.


Grigore is winner of the George Enescu National Music Competition (1960), laureate of George Enescu International Music Competition (1961, 1967) and Montreal International Piano Contest (1968). After 1966 his reputation is spread due to enthusiastic articles written by Cella Delavrancea. Together with Valentin Gheorghiu, Dan Grigore is one of the leading Romanian pianists of the second half of the twentieth century.

Dan Grigore was professor at the Music University in Bucharest between 1967-1979 and 1990-2001 - this time at the student's request. His activity for promoting young musicians is well-known and many of his former students have now successful international careers. He has given master-classes and held conferences in Great Britain, Japan, Italy, he is a member of international juries and frequently invited to prestigious international festivals. His career in Romania and abroad was severely restricted because of his steady opposition to the Ceauşescu regime. However, his reputation continued growing and he had many prestigious invitations being enthusiastically received by the audience. He has a growing discography and also a rich, steady publishing activity - essays, chronicles, interviews in cultural journals as well as Radio and TV talk- shows. He has an extremely wide repertoire, covering the whole range of styles and two constants in his entire artistic life are well-known: the high exigence towards himself and the careful choosing of the invitations to perform that he accepts. Surrounded by a mysterious aura, abandoning himself completely when he plays, he has been praised as belonging to the highest elite of pianists.


In February 1999 he was decorated by the French Government with the Order "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres" and in 2000, by the Romanian State, with The Great Cross of the Order "Devoted Service". Since July 2000, the Romanian Government has appointed him as a member of the National Council of the Audiovisual.

The Mausoleum of Mărăşeşti

Mărăşeşti is a small town in Vrancea County, Romania, situated 20 km north of Focşani. The Battle of Mărăşeşti, (August 6 to September 8, 1917) was a battle fought during World War I between Germany and Romania. The German army, trying to cross the Romanian-Russian front and to occupy the Romanian territories between Siret and Prut rivers, begun a huge offensive in the Mărăşeşti sector. Before launching the attack, the battle was thought to be taken at Nămoloasa, both sides were counting at that moment about 1 million soldiers. Field Marshall August von Mackensen launched an attack on August 6. The fighting lasted until September 8, when both sides ran out of fresh units. The German attempt to crush the last Romanian army led by General Eremia Grigorescu had failed, but the Romanians had not expanded their territory either. The motto of the Romanian Army during the battle was "Pe aici nu se trece" (English: "They shall not pass").



The Mausoleum of Mărăşeşti is a memorial site containing remains of 5,073 Romanian soldiers and officers (identified or not, in crypts or common tombs) killed in the First World War and dedicated to the commemoration of the Battle of Mărăşeşti and Romanian Army members who were killed during the World War I.


The memorial took architects George Cristinel and Constantin Pomponiu 15 years to build and was unveiled on 18 September 1938 by King Carol II. The great basorelief on the exterior of the mausoleum cupola, sculpted by Cornel Medrea and Ion Jalea, are inspired from some episodes from fights from Mărăşeşti.


In the museum from inside the mausoleum, there are exposed flags, arms, guns, projectiles and many other trophies from these fights. In the yard of the Mausoleum there is the section of the Military Museum where there are important documents about these fights.

Here you can find some panoramas inside the Mausoleum.

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Pomme d'Or

Founded in Paris in 1954 by the National Associations of France and Belgium, FIJET (French: Federation Internationale de Journalistes et Ecrivans de Tourisme, English: The International Association of Professional Travel Writers and Journalists) is the oldest association of professional travel writers and journalists in the world. With a membership that currently exceeds 600 members in over 35 countries on five continents, it is also one of the world's largest professional organization of travel journalists. Each year, at its annual World Congress, FIJET promotes a particular aspect of world tourism. The Congress, which is held in a different country each year, highlights an area of significant international interest in travel and tourism.


"La Pomme d'Or" or "The Golden Apple" (Romanian: Mărul de Aur) is the FIJET equivalent of the Oscar. This award for excellence is presented each year to an organization, country, city, or person in recognition of superior efforts in promoting and raising the level of tourism. The Golden Apple has gained significant recognition over the years and always has a list of prestigious candidates vying for it. Since it was established in 1970, The FIJET Golden Apple Award has been presented to 41 recipients.


For the first time, this year were awarded three Golden Apples, and is the first time the prize is assigned, the same year, for three tourism destinations / personalities of the same country. The Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, Mărginimea Sibiului (the surroundings of Sibiu), considered by Forbes Magazine "the most romantic area of eco-tourism in the world" and Blue Air (the airline company with the most dynamic growth in Eastern Europe) won for Romania the three prestigious trophies. With Moldoviţa in 1975, Romania is in the exclusive club of countries that hold four prizes, as Belgium and Spain.

Alba Carolina fortress

Alba Iulia is situated in the heart of Romania and is the spiritual capital of the country. Alba Iulia is the site of the ancient Apulum, founded by the Romans in the 2nd century A.D., and destroyed by Tatars in 1241. From 1599 to 1601, Alba Iulia was the capital of the united principalities of Walachia, Transylvania and Moldavia. It was the site of the proclamation of Transylvania's unification with Romania (1 December 1918) and of the coronation of King Ferdinand in 1922.


The Alba Carolina fortress was built between 1714 and 1738 and it is considered to be the most representative baroque, Vauban-type star fortress in Romania and one of the largest of this kind in Eastern Europe.


The fortress was designed by the Italian architect Giovanni Morando Visconti, who worked under the supervision of the general Stefan de Steinville and was later completed under General Weiss. The work at the fortification of Alba Iulia has began on the 4th of November 1715, when the foundation of Carol bulwark, dedicated to the emperor Carol VI and situated on the Northern side was made. 20.000 serves built the walls. Between the 18th and 19th centuries the fortress served as the military headquarters of Transylvania and also as a general armament repository. It was once one of the most powerful citadels in southeastern Europe, and served in the line of defense meant to keep out Turkish invaders from Central Europe. The leaders of the peasants’ revolution of 1784-85 were jailed, tried and executed here. Later, in 1848, the citadel was attacked by Hungarian revolutionary forces led by general Bem, but did not fall into their hands. Naturally, at the dawn of the 20th century, the citadel became obsolete, as modern warfare made its appearance on the European scene.


The perimeter of the outside walls is about 12 km. The fortification has seven bastions or bulwarks (Eugene of Savoia, St. Stefan, The Trinity, St. Michael, St. Carol, St. Capistrano and St. Elisabeth) that make it into a star-shaped, Vauban-style fortress. The largest bulwark is the Trinity (116m on 132m). On the whole, the fortress stands out between the most important Baroque architectural ensemble in Romania and Europe.


The walls were made of bricks, quarry stones, or out of the Roman ruins, measuring 3 m at the base and 1.20 m at the top and being sustained by abutments. The fortress is outstanding both for its decorative elements and for the beauty of its gates, unique in European military architecture. The fortress has six gates, three towards the town and the other three towards the western training fields. The gates are richly adorned, decorated with statues and reliefs by sculptors like Johann König, Johann Vischer and Giuseppe Tencalla, and have been a model for the 18th century Transylvanian architecture. The gates are looked upon as extremely valuable samples of early and plastic figurative Baroque. Today, only three gates preserve the original look.