Tourist Attractions

Passing through the city of Rasnov, you cannot miss the Rasnov Fortress, located on a rocky hilltop in the ancient Carpathian Mountains, 200m above the town. It is 15 km southwest Brasov and also about 15 km from Bran Castle, commonly known by foreigners as Count Dracula’s Castle. The fortress is on the Bran Pass, a trade route connecting legendary Wallachia with mythical Transylvania. The view from the top of the castle hill makes you travel through time into medieval times; the wind still carries the dust raised by the Teutonic Knights while defending the people. For the armies invading Transylvania through the Bran pass, the first important settlement was the city of Rasnov.

The prosperous fair city, near the town of Brasov, was destroyed in the Middle Ages by the numerous invasions. The sole chance of survival for the inhabitants under the mounting Postavarul was to take refuge in the castle erected on the hill dominating the road to the city of Bran. This castle was meant to be a place of refuge for the commoners from sieges over extended periods of time. As such it had at least 30 houses, a school, a chapel, and other buildings more commonly associated with a village. The first written record for the fortress dates from 1331. In 1335, when the Tartars invaded, Rasnov Fortress was already strong enough to offer resistance.
The castle has an upper and lower section, with polygonal perimeter walls reaching an average height of 5m. The most heavily fortified part is the east side and the walls on both that side as well as the northwest side are doubled. The defenses include 9 towers, 2 bastions, and a drawbridge. As Transylvania has always been disputed, arms were stockpiled in the defense corridors at the walls.

The legend says that, during a particularly long siege of the fortress, the citizens of Rasnov were concerned about the lack of available drinking water. Two Turkish soldiers, having been captured earlier, were put to the task of digging a well in the centre of the fortress. These two men were assured that they would be given their freedom once the well was completed. According to local legend, it took them 32 years to finish the well, but they were still killed afterwards. This famous well still sits in the centre of Rasnov Fortress, and is 143 meters deep.
After a long time, the fortress rises proud again. She waits to be rediscovered and appreciated. Hidden behind the ancient walls, the museums waits silently for its visitors. “La piece de resistance”is a skeleton buried under a glass floor. Most surely, you  can find a lot of other interesting artifacts . The inner rooms are looking more like a maze, with several wood ladders linking them and a few secret passages. The landscape is breathtaking, the feeling is unique. The height gives you the feeling you are the lord of the world, the master of puppets.

For accommodation, you can find plenty of rooms down in the city, and at the bottom of the fortress. The city provides you hotels, motels, restaurants, clubs and bar, anything you need to have a great time.
sourse unseenromania.com & wikipedia.org

In the Hussars’ yard, at the bridgehead, the visitors can see a niche with the statue of Saint John of Nepomuk, the saint protector of bridges and of passages across waters. A wood bridge sustained by four stone piers that were built in the Zlasti riverbed makes the access to the castle

The first important sight of the tour is the New Gate Tower. This is one of the rectangular, very massive towers built by Ioan of Hunedoara. The entrance area is actually a vaulted space were it used to be the guard’s place, with a fireplace and a chimney. Today here is the booking office. From here one can arrive at the dungeon of the castle, where one can see a wooden door that is allegedly preserved since the 15th century.

The Matia loggia is beyond the New Gate Tower, to the left. This loggia is considered to be the first manifestation of Renaissance in the architecture of Transylvania. At the second level of the loggia there is still visible the only laic fresco in the 15th century Transylvania.

The Chapel is on eastern side of the castle; the entrance is from the inner staircase of the Matia loggia and to the second level of the chapel, where the owners of the castle used to attend mass.

The Princesses’ Living room is at the first level of the New Gate Tower, above the entrance into the castle. Initially this was only a defense level, but in the 17th century it was transformed into a living room for the ladies that lived in the castle. In this room there is some furniture dating back from the 19th century, carved in the eclectic style: a table, a sideboard and a cupboard.
From here, across the spiral staircase, one reaches the Council Hall. It is placed on the second level of the Main Palace. The Council Hall is built in a late gothic style, but Gabriel Bethlen radically altered its architecture in the 17th century. He dismantled all the gothic arches and transformed it in a two-leveled space, with three rooms on each level. On the walls of this hall there are still some traces of a 17th century fresco that represents noblemen and the image of Transylvania at that time.


When exiting the Council Hall the visitor finds a staircase that leads to the Capistrano Tower, the room of John of Capistrano.
The exit from the Capistrano Tower is on the same staircase and than, to the right there is another staircase that leads to the second level of the Southern Palace, to the rooms that were used in the 18th century as offices for the iron mines Administration. Presently the museum holds here an ethnography exhibition ethnography exhibition.

From the ethnography exhibition one crosses to the room known as the Platform of the Old Gate Tower, that was built in the 17th century as an ammunition dump. Today this room holds the archaeology exhibition

From here the visitor passes again trough the ethnography exhibition and descends on a wooden staircase to the first level of the Southern Palace, where in the 18th century were the workshops.

The next sight, back in the inner yard, is the, reachable trough a vaulted corridor. This tower is rectangular one and it is built on two defense levels. The Old Gate Tower was painted in fresco during king Matia’s time. Traces of this fresco are still visible on the northern side of this tower. Gabriel Bethlen also altered this part of the castle. He eliminated the old entrance and he built in front of the tower a bulwark named the.
Facing the neogothic gallery the visitor can see a three living rooms that are at the first level of the Eastern Palace. These rooms still preserve some architectural elements belonging to late Renaissance. That a monumental staircase will lead to the dining room of this palace, space that nowadays holds the temporary exhibition named “Cultural Assets From the Collections of the Corvins’ Castle Museum” the Bethlen dining room.

The visit continues with the well and the presentation of the Turkish inscription.
Than follows the artillery terrace, slightly modified in the 19th century. From the terrace the visitor can see the bear pit, the northern palace, the chapel, the well and the contemporary town of Hunedoara.

The last sight is the Knights’ Hall, one of the most interesting laic spaces in the 15th century Transylvania . This hall now holds the Weapons Exhibition, with objects that range between the 15th and the 19th centuries . On the second column in this Hall one can see yet another inscription that states the moment of this hall’s construction.

sourse: castelulcorvinilor.ro & wikipedia.org