Romania tours : Middle Age Castles and Fortified Churches 4 days tour

Middle Age Castles and Fortified Churches
4 days tour

The villages with fortified churches from Transylvania provide a vivid picture of the cultural, historical and architectural landscape of the southern of this region. The villages from the area keep from the Middle Ages the specific land-use system, the settlement pattern and the organization of the family farmstead units. Their fortified churches illustrate building periods from the 13th to the 16th c.
Due to their specific architecture and variety of styles used to their construction, the following 6 fortresses: Prejmer, Viscri, Darjiu, Saschiz, Biertan and Valea Viilor, visited in this tour were include in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Day 1
Departure from Bucharest.
Arrival in Brasov city
Tour of Brasov citadel, visiting the Orthodox Cathedral, the Old City Hall Square, the Black Church and the Orthodox-Greek Church

Biserica Neagra (Black Church) is the largest construction in Gothic style in Romania, built between 1384-1477, with 89 m length and 38 m width. Its name comes from the great fire in 1689 that caused serious damages and turned its walls black. The church is remarkable for its Renaissance and Baroque elements, a great number of statues and one of the oldest organ (with 4000 tubes on 75 registers) in our country. A fantastic and very valuable collection of old oriental rugs / carpets (16th - 17th Century) is displayed inside the church
Optional, lunch
Visit Bran castle - was originally a wooden fortress raised by the Knights of the Teutonic Order on the top of a cliff. The castle was built afterwards in 1378 on the same place and served as a custom check-point between Wallachia and Transilvanya and also had a strategic role in protecting the pass. Nowadays, the castle is a museum and it is included in most 'Dracula' tours, as its legend was linked with the image of the ruler prince Vlad The Empaler, the inspiring figure for the Bram Stocker's Victorian novel character. In fact the castle's own towering strength, its narrow stone stairways, the relative smallness of its Lord's rooms and the cleverly authentic way it is furnished give an absorbing picture of how a noble family ruled this district in the 15th and 16th centuries
Visit Rasnov fortress - built on a calcareous rock. It is an old peasant refuge fortress unique for its style and position. Its first record dates back from the year 1355, but not even the historians are not very sure about the date it was built. The fortress is very impressive due to its position among several mountains. Inside the fortress there is a well 143 m deep.
Optional, dinner at Coliba Haiducilor (Outlaws’Hut) Restaurant in Poiana Brasov
Overnight stay at Casa Viorel Hotel **** in Poiana Brasov resort

Day 2
Breakfast
Visit Prejmer fortification - the biggest fortified church in the south-eastern Europe was built in the 15th century in Cistercian style. The fortress has double walls (3-5 m thick and 14 m high) and dungeons and its inner wall looks like a honeycomb because of the 271 small rooms where the families were sheltered in case the village was attacked. In peaceful times these rooms were used as pantry. Inside its walls there is a Catholic church with a magnificent altar. It is included in UNESCO List.
Visit Harman fortification - first it was built in the 13th century by the Saxons - Harman Church, which was surrounded by walls and bulwarks and had on its sides massive towers. In time, the autochthonous population added new parts to the original church in order to make it more useful to their needs.
Visit Rupea fortification - was built on a basalt rock. It is said that on that particular rock once existed a Roman camp, during the time Dacia was conquered by Romans. Later on, the Saxons and Hungarians who settled on these lands rebuilt the camp
Visit Viscri fortification in Bunesti village - most of the historians believe the citadel was built by the Teutonic knights, who lived inhere for fourteen years while they were residing in Tara Barsei. The style used at the building entitles them to maintain this idea as the citadel is built in square form being surrounded by protective towers. From the inside, looking down you can actually see the foundation of the chapel built in Roman style and the ruins of a crypt probably used after the 13th century as a cellar for the prisoners. During the invasions of the Tartars the villagers used the citadel as hiding place.
Because of the beauty of this village where the tradition remained unspoiled, Prince Charles of the United Kingdom of Great Britain chose to buy a house here.
Visit Saschiz fortification – included in the UNESCO list also
Accommodation at Sighisoara Hotel *** in Sighisoara citadel

Day 3
Breakfast
City tour of Sighisoara citadel - this medieval citadel, still inhabited, was built in several steps between 14th - 17th centuries. It appears as a nucleus of massive houses painted in different colors and placed on small streets, surrounded by the defense wall, 7 km length and 14 towers.
This medieval citadel, still inhabited, was built in several steps between 14th - 17th centuries. It appears as a nucleus of massive houses painted in different colors and placed on small streets, surrounded by the defense wall, 7 km length and 14 towers
Visit The Clock Tower, The Museum of Medieval Weapons, The
Covered Stairs in Sighisoara
Optional, lunch at Casa cu cerb (House with Stag) Restaurant
Visit Biertan fortification – the Saxon castle and the Fortified Evangelic Church form a historic and architectural monument representative for the whole Transylvanian area of Saxon colonization. The ecclesiasitic and defense complex was built in the XVth – XVI th centuries, in the late Gothic style, with elements specific to the Renaissance. It is included in UNESCO List.
Visit Valea Viilor fortress – UNESCO included.
Passing through the old city of Medias – first recorded in the documents in 1267
Accommodation at Imparatul Romanilor (Romans' Emperor) Hotel *** in Sibiu

Day 4
Breakfast at the hotel
City tour of Sibiu, visiting Bruckenthal Museum - founded in 1870, it is the oldest museum in our country; its name comes from its creator, one of the former governors of Transylvania: Samuel Brukenthal - one of the most famous collectors of antiques - and the Evangelical Church - built in several stages between 14th-15th centuries in Gothic style. It contains a commanding tower, where you can view the entire city
Optional, lunch
Visit Cozia Monastery - built between 1387-1388 during Mircea the Old's time, it is the largest and the most important architectural and medieval complex in Wallachia.
Arrival in Bucharest