Peleș Castle

Leaving Bucharest in our rented Dacia Duster SUV or "Romanian Hummer' as they called it at the rental company, we heading north into the Bucegi Mountains to visit Peleș Castle.  It's about a two hour drive on well-paved roads from the urban sprawl of the capital city and across the Ploiesti plains until we start seeing mountains topped with snow.  I had been here in August, several months earlier, with a friend Paul and his wife Roxie on our way to Bran Castle to see the Nat King Cole concert.

Since I first arrived in Romania, locals I've met and Americans who have been here for a while, have constantly told me Peleș Castle, in the town of Sinaia (which was named after Sinai, Egypt by the way) is far more impressive than Bran Castle.  As you may have read in my earlier post, the majority of visitors know about Bran Castle (due primarily to crafty marketing by the Romanian tourism board) believed to be the ex-home of Vlad the Impaler (aka Dracula) but which, in reality, has only very loose connections to the dearly beheaded Mr. Impaler.  But I digress...It's all about expectation management and I have hopefully prepared Teresa and Katie so they will appreciate both sites equally for what they are - wonderful destinations, the likes of which you will never find in the US.

Regardless, it is true when you get your first glimpse of Peleș Castle, you immediately realize why people would tell you this.  In some way, I was able to confirm my friends were correct. Peleș is spectacular.  With its neo-Renaissance and Gothic Revival architecture, crossed with timber and topped with turrets, it is reminiscent of a Grimm’s Fairy Tale.  It sits perfectly nestled in this outcropping of the majestic Carpathian Mountains. I could easily imagine Rapunzel or Cinderella or any of Disney's beautiful princesses, living their happily ever after lives within these walls (especially when I have my own 'Tangled' princess with me).

Walking up the hill from the parking lot, the castle is located at the end of a beautiful forest path, surrounded on all sides by tall pine trees, and set atop a hill amid the mountains.  This castle, which to me is more like a palace, was designed and built by Prince / King Carol I.   Peleş Castle has a 34,000 sq ft (3,200-square-meters) floor plan with over 170 rooms.  This Prince from the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty in the south of Germany was brought to Romania on November 3rd, 1869 to marry German Princes Elisabeta of Weid, and to become the founder of a hereditary dynasty in Romania through a matrimonial alliance.

Here's an aerial picture I found so you can grasp the majesty of the picturesque setting

King Carol I

This is a very popular tourist stop and unfortunately you can’t book tickets ahead of time.  When I was here during the summer, the queue at the ticket booth and then to enter the castle was incredibly long.  Lucky for us, it was the slow season so the line was short and the wait for our tour guide wasn't too awfully bad.  I forgot it’s cash only, but there is an ATM at the grounds entrance near Pelişor Castle, about a 5 minute walk (500 meters) from the main ticket office.

By American standards, I think this is a very affordable attraction to visit at just 70 lei ($16.50 USD) per person. We decided to pay the extra $7 USD for the 'Photo Pass' to take pictures of the interior. We nominated Katie to be our photographer since she would have her phone ready at all times anyway.  I've thrown in some pictures I took of the outside of the building also.  I've overheard some Romanians talk about how expensive it is for these tickets and I guess, if you look at it from their perspective (and checkbook), it would be comparable to about $65.75 each for us.  One look at the exterior though and you know right away this is not a normal castle.

First Floor Tour

The tour was provided by a guide who spoke English.  The group was small and the guides delivery was very fact-based. The beauty of the interior completely makes up for the monotone speech pattern of the guide.  Regardless, prepare for your jaw to literally drop as you arrive into the first floor of the Grand Hall/Hall of Honor. It’s three full  stories tall.  That's right, three levels of intricate woodwork and alabaster sculptures to be simply amazed at. I think most people's favorite parts of the main hall would the incredible retractable stained glass ceiling, the wood spiral staircase and surrounding wooden relief artwork showcasing other castles owned by the royal family, primarily in Germany. After finishing with the main hall, we moved through the rest of the first floor starting with the armory. Next were the elaborately decorated Moorish and Turkish rooms followed by the library (with its secret door).  The first floor tour was over too quickly - we were left wanting more!

The entire castle is breathtaking, these are some first floor rooms especially worth visiting (the Second Floor tour is definitely worth the paltry cost):

• The Grand Hall/Hall of Honor is great, with walnut paneling, outfitted with reliefs and statues.
• The Royal Library is especially attractive to those passionate about rare books.  There are over seven hundred with leather bound covers and gold embossed lettering on two levels. Even for those less familiar with the world of books, there are attractions for everyone like the secret door, a passageway behind a bookshelf the King could use to take refuge in various rooms of the castle.  In the 48 years of his reign, King Carol acquired over 30,000 books which he spread over his residences.
• The Weapon Rooms arranged during the years 1903 - 1906.  This room is home to nearly 4,000 European and Asian weapons from the 14th - 17th centuries. Considered the most precious are German armor from the 16th or 17th century and a full set of armor for the horse and knight, which we were told was unique in Romania. For me, the most interesting piece was the executioner's sword prominently displayed over a fire place.  It is said to contain the words:  "May God forgive the villain whose head this will sever". 
• Designed in 1883 and updated in 1906, the Old Music Room contains a harpsichord made in Antwerp in 1621, a Carl Bechstein upright piano, and a collection of Queen Elizabeths favorite music scores.
• King Carol's Private Cabinet was designed in 1883 in the German Renaissance style and where the King would meet with his ministers promptly at 10 am every morning  and take tea with his Queen every afternoon at 5 pm.  I want this same office in my next house!
• The Council Room, which resembles one of the halls of the City Hall in Lucerne, Switzerland, was the final addition to the palace before the King died in 1914.

My Favorite - The Executioner's Sword 

Optional Second Floor Tour

About 1/2 of our group only purchased the first floor tour, so a much smaller group of us headed up the stairs to the second floor. The pace slowed down, we had more time to peer into each room and the one fancy bathroom we were allowed to see. We had a chance also to catch up to the guide so we could hear her better. It was strange though as we moved from one room to another, there were these stealthy employees behind us all the while, slipping formlessly into the shadows so as not to be seen.  It was as if we were in some weird horror movie. Although the second floor isn’t as architecturally stunning as the first, we enjoyed the opportunity to share a few more moments together to enjoy the exquisite setting, and especially to see the Honor Hall from the hallways above.

• The Music Room is easily one of my favorite rooms. It had a couple of instruments lying around along with an 1800-pipe organ built in 1904 by the Rieger Company with two keyboards, which was restored 4 years ago and still works today.  Archive photos on display show Queen Elisabeth playing the organ. The queen had taken organ lessons when she was 12 from organ player, pianist, and composer Sigismund Neukomm.  Queen Elizabeth hosted several music evenings in this room in its heyday. The furniture was received as a gift from the Indian Maharajah of Kapurtala.  Queen Elizabeth used the room as a salon and it contains beautiful intricately carved examples of teak Middle Asian furniture.
• The Florentine Room, called the Great Salon, is very impressive with ceiling carved from linden wood, gilt, two large Venetian Murano chandeliers, and Italian neo-Renaissance style decorations.
• The Moorish Hall is architect’s Charles Lecompte du Nouy work, having Spanish-Moorish elements with a fountain made of Carrara marble.  It is a copy of a fountain found in Cairo.
• An incredibly ornate movie theater, decorated in the style of Louis XIV, whose walls and ceilings are decorated with frescoes by Austrian artists Gustav Klimt and Franz von Matsch.  The theater hall seats 60 and of course, the royal box for his Majesty and the Queen. The first movie projection in Romania is reported to have taken place in this room.  

Hey, I know those people!

Like most things, it all started with a vision. After viewing the region for the first time, with the touches of the autumn changes beginning, he was inspired and fell in love with its beauty.  I know I did also.

He alone was THE guy who decided to approve the plan for this wonderful castle which involved creating a massive chalet-type structure with nearly one-hundred and seventy rooms inside, everything from bedrooms to theaters, concert halls, weapons rooms, libraries, offices, card rooms, shish-a or now called hookah lounges, apartments for guests, bathrooms, rooms to hang out in after they took a bath, painting rooms, tea rooms, children’s play rooms, meeting rooms, breakfast rooms, and formal dining rooms.  Imagine designing the most elaborate house you can imagine and then being able to say "Do It!" with no concern for the cost.

The unique aspect of this palace is every single one of those rooms, as well as the hallways and foyers, were decorated in a completely different style or theme, each drawing from influences such as Turkish, Venetian, Florentine, French, and Moorish, among several others.  It's good to be King.

Whenever you walk; through a doorway, down a hallways, or around every corner, you have absolutely no idea what you’ll encounter. It’s an architecture and design fantasy-land with ornate wooden spiral staircases, interior balconies, massive strategically-placed decorated mirrors, odd statues, doors hidden inside of cupboards, a room shaped like an upside down boat, changing colors everywhere, a stain-glass roof which you can open up during the summer, and much, much more.

Hidden underground passages and stairs melting into the steep slopes of the mountain complete the majestic ensemble. As I said, it's just like a fairy tale, secret doors open up, not into wardrobes but into splendid suites. Exploring this magnificent castle is as much an adventure as an aesthetic experience.

Without a doubt, this is the most interesting castles (it’s actually a palace like Versaille and not really a castle) I’ve seen anywhere during my travels. It is well worth the 2-hours we spent inside and a wonderful start to our 10-day vacation exploring Romania.

Thus, it is no wonder that many of those who visited Peleș claim that it is one of the most beautiful castles in Europe.

There are a few facts I feel are important to mention:

• 1871, Carol I bought the land of Mosia Sinaia from the hospital conglomeration.
• 1873 - 1875 workers built the foundation of the building.
• 1876 construction started on the train rail tracks passing through Sinaia from Ploiesti to Predeal.

Peleș Castle History

When the future King of Romania first visited the small village of Sinaia in the foothills of the Bucegi mountains in the 1860s, he was captivated by its scenic location and commissioned the construction of the palace there. The resulting castle is easily one of the most stunning in all of Europe.

Prince Carol I initially gave the task of coming up with the project and then building it to Architect Wilhelm von Doderer, from the Technische Hochschule of Vienna. He presented three proposals to the Romanian prince. Each was inspired by the Renaissance french castles found in the Loire Valley and the style of the Vienna structures found on the Ringstrasse.  At the time, this was the most beautiful boulevard in the world.  It was home not only to many of Vienna's best-known sights but also the Imperial Palace. 

Unfortunately, Prince Carol I, did not like any of the proposals and wanted something different for his  Peleș Castle. He refused all of them and turned to the help of a German architect, Johannes Schultz.

The Swiss chalet look of the building, with a German style exterior decoration, was his vision. The Prince also agreed on it. Between 1879 and 1883, Schultz supervised the first part of building it.

The construction took 10 years, but by the end of it, the Romanian royals had a summer palace equipped with everything from a movie theater to a concert hall. After its inauguration in 1883, the King and his family began spending their summers in the fairytale castle, which also served as the venue for important meetings during the early months of World War I.

King Carol I and his wife Queen Elizabeth of Romania were evidently known to be very different in temperament and interests. The King was an accomplished soldier who greatly expanded and improved the Romanian military, while the Queen was more artistic, with a great fondness for music, art, and literature, and even published poetry under the pen name Carmen Sylva. Peleș too is a reflection of these two different personalities.

In 1877, Romania was proclaimed an independent and sovereign nation with the help of Carol I. Following the declaration in 1881, Carol I was proclaimed the first King of Romania.

Further on the architects involved in finishing the castles changed several times:

• French Architect Émile André Lecomte du Noüy built the Maura Hall in 1890
• Czech Architect Karel Liman designed and coordinated Queen Elizabeth's Chapel, the apartments of the Wied and Hohenzollern princesses, and the mezzanine
• Between 1903-1906, Liman designs the Concert Hall, The Marble Gallery, and the Queens Bathroom. 
• From 1908 to 1911 Ferdinand de Tiersch became the new architect in charge of the project.
• After all of this work, the focus was on the outside of the Peleș Castle. The architects started creating the terraces and the central tower.

Here are a few other aspects in the construction of the structure you should be aware of:

• An entire electrical system was introduced in the building in 1884. The castle needed its own electric generating unit.
• The real power plant for sustaining the whole building was only added in 1897.
• The theater Hall was converted into a cinema in 1906. The whole cinematic apparatus was modernized in 1939 by the Concordia Society from Bucharest.
• The construction of this Transylvanian destination was finished in 1914. Carol I, the person who was responsible for the specific aesthetics for the building, also died this same year.

You immediately observe the Saxon influence in the interior courtyard facades that have rich and ornate the face work similar to northern Europe alpine architecture and storybook hand-painted murals. King Carol I insisted Peleș Castle should be welcoming to anyone who wanted to admire it  and enjoy its royal atmosphere and lovely views of the mountains. He personally oversaw landscaping of the castle’s parks and terraces surrounding it, with flowerbeds and fountains, turrets, pavilions, galleries, and balconies concealed by ivy.

Peleș in the Communist Era

In 1948, the Communists confiscated the castle and established the office of administration of the state here. It is rumored Ceasusescu wanted to transform the castle into a residence for protocol. Fortunately, very smart curators who managed the museum in the castle told the Communist leaders  that inside the structure was a wood fungus which is very harmful to humans.  They did this because they knew the leader and his wife had the mania of making unwanted changes to many historic buildings (primarily demolition). Thus, they were able to save Peleș and it remained unchanged from the wishes of King Carol I.  After the 1989 revolution, the castle was reintegrated in the tourism circuit and reopened it to the public as a museum. Later, the Romanian government returned the property to former King Mihai I.  Only within the last two years has the Romanian government been able to negotiate to obtain  the property title. The castle is now once again a property of the state, as historical museum.

Under the Communist Party of Romania, the building became national property. In 1948 they inventoried all the objects found within the building. Most of the valuable pieces were then transferred to Bucharest to the National Arts Museum, including:

• Paintings
• Books
• Furniture
• Decorative Art
• China
• Textiles
• Musical instruments

Only in 1953 does the main building of the Peleș Residence become a National Museum.

The castle itself was opened to visitors while the other buildings on the lands became the residences of artists, writers, and composers the Communist party approved of.

King Carol’s successor, King Ferdinand, built a smaller version of the grand palace right next door to it and named it Pelișor. When Romania fell under Communist rule, Peleș, they seized it along with other royal properties, and closed the castle between 1975 and 1990.

The buildings used for this purpose were:

• Pelișor Castle
• The Hunting House of Carol I
• Foisor
• The residence house of Carol II and Mihai

Over the decades, until the early 1970s, the Communists kept the buildings open for visitation but they invested very little to no money in restoring and maintaining the structures. For this reason, in 1975 they closed the museum. The curators took the pieces of art still found in the building to a safe storage in Predeal about 20 km away.

My Romanian friends tell me the Communists closed Peleș Castle to the public after 1975, based primarily on Nicolae Ceausescu’s personal wish. They said he believed the memory of the monarchy period would make people lose trust in him, and we know in this type of Communist/Socialist society, its always all about the leader.

During this period though, they still used the building for heads of state meetings until the 1989 Revolution. Following this, the new government implemented rehabilitation projects and in 1990 they reopened the museum for visitation, followed by Pelișor in 1993.

If I lived closer to Peleş (not six hours), just making a quick stop in Sinaia and walking around the grounds for free would be on my calendar.  We enjoyed breathing in the forest air, exploring the small gardens and courtyard, grabbing a cappuccino at the restaurant in the Guards Quarters, and just soaking in the view of this beautiful castle and its grand backdrop.  It was breathtaking! When I was there in August, I witnessed a wedding party having pictures taken, what a memorable forum for these important moments.

The Guards Quarters

Pelișor Castle:  Much More Normal

Right down the cobblestone path (watch your step) and up a slight incline from Peleș Castle happens to be another castle, the Art Nouveau-style Pelișor, or Little Peleș), which, even though it is significantly smaller in size and much less extravagant than Peleș, still makes for an interesting stop.

While Pelișor is beautiful, it looks more appropriate for Hansel and Gretel than a Princess (if you want to stay in our fairy tale world referenced above). The castle was completed in 1902 as part of the Peleș Castle complex for King Carol I’s nephew and heir, King Ferdinand and his consort Queen Marie. In 1903, Pelișor Castle was inaugurated. This would be the new royal family’s residence. This same year the second son, Prince Nicolae is born.  I have another entry all about the royal family so I'll not explain more until then.

The residence is tastefully decorated in the Art Nouveau style, with much of the design personally decided by the Queen.

Unlike it’s giant and uniquely beautiful neighbor, entering into Pelișor you can actually imagine the past inhabitants (a young King Ferdinand and Queen Marie) living there, wandering the hallways, and eating their meals in the simply decorated dining rooms.  “This place feels more like a home” we all said, though not a home WE could ever afford.

Pelișor indeed makes for a unique contrast to Peleş Castle.

You can easily visit both palaces found on the grounds but I recommend everyone make this a one day tour to enjoy the full experience.  If you finish early with Peleș and Pelișor, walking around Sinaia will easily take up the rest of your day.  From here it’s actually a peaceful hour-long walk into town along winding, empty roads, with only the occasional “Beware of Bears!” signs posted along the route to snap you out of your care-free, happy state. Of course, Teresa kept wanting to meet a bear. Fortunately for us, they were all sleeping while we walked around.  So as long as you don’t encounter any bears (don't listen to those people who say "if you spot a bear, just play dead" - RUN!!!), your day will conclude with lungfuls of fresh mountain air spreading its therapeutic qualities throughout your body. Yes, it's THAT wonderful of a walk.

Stock photo but too pretty to pass up...

Here's some interesting tidbits about the Peleş and Pelișor Museum collections...

Ceramics Exhibition

The ceramics exhibition contains over 5,000 pieces of faience (I didn't know what this was so I had to look it up - ceramic objects found in Egypt as early as 4,000 BC), floor tiles, and porcelain gathered from the greatest European authors and ceramic centers of the 19th century.

It was established by Queen Marie between 1914 and 1927, with later pieces being purchased by the Peleş Museum through 1970, from both private owners as well as antique stores.

Among the pieces of art, there are Chinese vases from the 18th and 19th centuries, Japanese pottery from the great workshops of Atari (I thought they made video games) and Satsuma, Persian ceramics from the 17th and 18th centuries, and European art from throughout Paris, London, and Vienna.

Horology (the study and measurement of time) Exhibition

Throughout his life, King Carol I was widely appreciated for his punctuality.

The horology exhibition in Peleș displays over 50 clocks of various styles and typology, from the private royal collection. It includes grandfather clocks, pendulum table clocks, fireplace clocks, alarm clocks, pocket watches, and much more.  I guess I should have counted them as we moved through the castle...maybe next time!

Most of them belonged to King Carol I, but the collection also includes pieces belonging to Queen Marie, Carol II, and King Michael. Most of the clocks date back to the 19th century, but the collection also includes clocks from the 18th and 20th centuries.

As most everyone knows, I am a big Hallmark movie fan - NO JUDGING!!!  I knew I had seen Peleș somewhere before and I figured it out.  Not only has it appeared several times in Hallmark movies but it has been the location for many more.

1. A Princess for Christmas (2011 TV Movie)TV-G | 91 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
2. The Brothers Bloom (2008)PG-13 | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
3. Royal Matchmaker (2018 TV Movie)TV-G | 84 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
4. A Christmas Prince (2017)TV-PG | 92 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
5. A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding (2018)TV-PG | 92 min | Drama, Romance
6. A Prince for Christmas (2015 TV Movie)87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
7. Stephen the Great: Vaslui 1475 (1975)137 min | Biography, Drama, History
8. Roxanne (2013)97 min | Drama, Family
9. Wild Carpathia (2011– )47 min | Documentary
10. Carol I (2009)A.G. | 90 min | Biography, Drama, History
11. Wild Carpathia - From the Mountains to the Sea(2011– ) Episode: From the Mountains to the Sea (2013)47 min | Documentary

At the museum bookstore, I bought this book (actually three of them).  The pages of the book is where I learned a lot about Peleș and Pelișor.  It's a fantastic pictorial tour of these great castles (palaces) and the story of the Romanian monarchy.

Stock Photo