Râșnov citadel & Valley cave

  1. View from my Brașov apartment. The building on the right is just like mine.
  2. BRP Bank chose the branch with taste.
  3. This is me in about forty years.
  4. The Town Hall consisted of one tower six centuries ago, and began to grow with other premises a hundred years later.
  5. Bicycle cafe.
  6. The Șchei Gate in the classical style was built in the 19th century due to the insufficient capacity of the Catherine’s Gate.
  7. Catherine’s Gate of the 16th century. The only (and paid) entrance to the city for the disenfranchised Șchei Romanians during Saxon rule.
  8. Students of the National College of Andrei Șaguna (baron, bishop and educator) are going fishing.
  9. College teachers’ house.
  10. The Black Tower from a respectful distance.
  11. Its contemporary and neighbour, the White Tower, differs more in geometry than colour. The cross-section is semicircular (not evident from here).
  12. Here’s the best city view. Town Hall on the left, Black Church on the right, TV tower and funicular in the middle.
  13. Nice little house on the way to the station. Cockadoodledoo.
  14. Train station beauty. Town Hall, Șchei Gate and “Dracula’s Castle” (which has nothing to do with Vlad the Impaler).
  15. That’s why I’m not going to Bran, but to Râșnov. It’s more authentic here.
  16. Flower market and the city name on the hill (it’s the same in Brașov, if anyone noticed).
  17. Romanesque-Gothic Evangelical Church of the 13th century. In 1543, the Lutherans covered up the medieval paintings, now partially restored.
  18. Balkan utopia by cartoonist Sergiu Vasile.
  19. Râșnov Citadel built in the 1220s by the Teutonic Knights at the request of the king Andrew II, who expelled them immediately after that.
  20. But the German peasants and artisans remained, turning the fortress into a fortified village, for times were turbulent.
  21. The last time locals took refuge here was during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Then the citadel was abandoned and slowly collapsed.
  22. Now the fortress is inaccessible to visitors, but nothing stops you climbing the walls.
  23. One can get to it by a funicular, similar to an industrial elevator.
  24. From its top deck, the whole city is at your fingertips.
  25. There’s a very atmospheric Peștera Valea Cetății (Fortress Valley Сave) over two or three kilometres from the citadel.
  26. It was discovered in 1949 (when underground waters burst out), and for a long time one had to crawl inside through a narrow gap.
  27. In 2011, they expanded the entrance, installed electricity and created a gallery. It turned out pretty nice, and the scale can be assessed, too.
  28. My little Stonehenge.
  29. I don’t see why a noble don shouldn’t dig a well at the station.
  30. The ancient train from Brașov to Râșnov is more atmospheric than comfortable. But it fits perfectly with the platform.