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Romania's numerous castles perhaps best illustrate the country's medieval heritage. Many castles and fortresses in Romania feature unique architectural elements and styles that reflect local traditions, customs and purpose. While castles built from the 14th to the 18th Centuries are strong and austere fortresses built mainly for defense against invaders, those erected beginning in the late 1800s are imposing and luxurious.

Universal literature found valuable sources of inspiration in some of Romania's castles, with the most famous novels written about them being "The Castle from the Carpathians" by Jules Verne and "Dracula" by Bram Stoker.

Romania's best known castles are:

Peles Castle

Considered by many one of the most beautiful castles in all Europe, Peles Castle is a masterpiece of German new-Renaissance architecture. Commissioned by King Carol I in 1873 and completed in 1883, Peles' interiors are an opulent display of elegant design and historical artifact. Its 160 rooms are adorned with the finest examples of European art, Murano crystal chandeliers, German stained-glass windows, walls covered with Cordoba leather, Meissen and Sevres porcelains, ebony and ivory sculptures.

The town of Sinaia (elevation: 2,500 ft.), home to the Peles and Pelisor castles, is nestled at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains, in the Prahova Valley.

Almost adjacent to Peles Castle is Pelisor ("Little Peles"). King Ferdinand, who succeeded Carol I, intended to use Peles Castle as a summer residence. Supposedly he found Peles too big and overwhelming, so he commissioned the smaller, art-nouveau style, Pelisor Castle. Pelisor's 70 rooms feature a unique collection of turn-of-the century Viennese furniture and Tiffany and Lalique glassware. Peles and Pelisor are located 3 miles northeast of the centre of Sinaia.

Bran Castle

This fortified medieval castle, often referred to as Dracula's Castle, was built in 1377 to protect nearby Brasov from invaders. It also served as a customs station.

The castle's rooms and towers surround an inner courtyard. Some rooms are connected through underground passages to the inner court. In 1920, the people of Brasov who owned the castle offered it as a gift to Queen Maria of Romania, and the castle soon became her favorite residence.

Bran is home to a rich collection of Romanian and foreign furniture and art items from the 14th-19th Centuries. The castle sits high atop a 200 ft. tall rock overlooking the picturesque village of Bran. On the grounds below there is an open-air ethnographic museum of old village buildings with exhibits of furniture, household objects and costumes.

Village Museum

The village museum from Bran, organized over more than four decades ago in the park next to the castle, portraits the evolution of the traditional folk architecture in the villages from the Bran area, reported to the main occupations: cattle breeding, and work in the woods, combined with agriculture, domestic wool processing industry and wood processing trades.

Conceived as an open air museum, The Village Museum from Bran presents the main types of farmsteads and households, homestead annexes, economical buildings and folk technique hydraulically driven machineries for processing wood and wools.

Moeciu: Cheile Gradistei

Located at less than 13 Km from the famous Bran Castle, Moeciu de Sus will please you with its specific beauty. The breathtaking landscape invites anyone to walks. The name of Moeciu comes from the mountain river that flows through the village, and so Moeciu de Sus means Upper Moeciu.

Pine forests on the Mountains that surrounds the village, creates a large ozone concentration in the air. Subalpine climate with cool summers, the average temperature is 16 C.

In any direction you may want to roam from Moeciu de Sus, there is no chance to get bored. Ski enthusiasts can reach in 20 minutes by car the new ski slope in Bran, or 40 minutes to the Poiana Brasov ski resort.

Moeciu is famous for its home made smoked cheese, and the cheese in tree bark. Every meal here tastes better, because everything is home made and pure biological food.

Also here you have the possibility to experience ancient Romanian traditions like the "Sumetru Fire" - a local tradition that looses its origins in antic age. The Romanian Christmas traditions in Moeciu are still kept in their original way.

The holiday complex Cheile Gradistei is situated in Moeciu, at 7 km from Bran Castle (Dracula's Castle) and at 30 km from Brasov city in a quiet and very pleasant area, surrounded by mountains and hills offering a great view. The complex includes two hotels and seven rustic villas, providing all the convenience and peace you've been searching for.
The major point of attraction is the restaurant, which became famous worldwide after featuring a Discovery Channel show. Through the middle of the restaurant flows a mountain river. Its flowing water is the engine of a miniature wooden mill.