Peles Castle, Sinaia. Romania. July 22

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It is called a castle, to me it doesn't fit my vision of a castle

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Castles have turrets and ramparts and moats 'n shit.

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Ho hum, let's go with the flow, Peles, is thought by many to be one of the most visually stunning "castles" in Europe; built between 1873 and 83, for the Romanian royal family in something called the neo-renaissance German architecture. Add on bits and transformations continued until the outbreak of WW1. It continued to be used as a summer residence up until 1947, when it was seized by the communists.

I jotted down some interesting facts we were given

It was the first European castle to have electricity installed complete with its own power plant no less.Providing hot and cold running water and central
heating system.

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It is quite pretty to look at, as are the many statues dotted about the grounds

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Let us wander indoors and see what we can see.

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The foyer, stained glass roof has a mechanical function which allows it to be fully retracted.

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They had statues indoors too, some life size and others in miniature. My first thought when I saw these things was, "Fuck me think of all the dusting and polishing"

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The communist dictator Ceaușescu, closed the castle and grounds to all but estate personnel and military, this lasted between 1975-1990

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It had a bad case of woodworm in the 1980's but in the "areas one is allowed to visit" which isn't much given the size of the place the rooms are mostly unrestored and are original.

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After a lengthy court case the estate was given back o the Romanian royal family who lease it back to the govt. to allow circa 500,000 visitors a year there are about 170 rooms and over 30 bathrooms, but only a third " the museum" bit are open to the public.

An interesting hour, but personally out of choice not my cup of tea. Those who know me know why!!



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25 comments
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Bah! No fortifications? Not a blinkin' castle! Palace? Sure. Castle? HELL NO! Also, isn't that a little less vandalized and dilapidated than most of your usual haunts? !BEER

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Lol @jacobtothe , palace is a good word, oh and I guess I do touristic stuff now and again, just to re engage with normal people 😂

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It makes a nice change to the castles we have here, and particularly like the swirly staircase, that's nice!!

Did you not find a secret door somewhere that you could sneak in? It might have taken you down to a dungeon,I think that would be more of your cup of tea 🙂

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Ohh nice! You've been to Romania!

Reading your last line, you didnt like Peles Castle. What about the area?
Did you enjoy other cities/buildings here, in the country? 😊

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Hi @missdeli yes a few places visited, on a tour through the balkans, slowly getting round to uploading!
Yes I was expecting to see a castle as I know them, still a remarkable piece of architecture though.

I think my fav. Place was Sibiu, what a wonderful city that was

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Ohh definitely! I get it! Sibiu is a beautiful city! I live 3 hours away from it but I've been here many times. I love it too! And we have a favorite place to stay as well.

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(Edited)

Happy to see you visiting something from my home country! The Peles castles does look different from what everyone thinks when they hear the world castle, but that's because one of Romania's kings lived there for many years and it was also built with the main thought of serving as a holiday house for the royal family so that's a pretty good excuse for the architecture chosen.

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Cheers @gabrielatravels , thanks for stopping by, I hope I have done it justice, I saw some amazing sights in your country.

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@grindle Hello, your images are very interesting, in them you can appreciate the beauty of the stained glass windows, their sculptures and the enclosures that contain thousands of the history of the Castle. the table with its tablecloth seems that in a few moments the diners enter. Congratulation to you

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Cheers @lanoican , thanks for stopping by and your kind words of appreciation.

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Wow, what an awesome place, thanks for sharing, but I'm with you grindle... no, no, no, not a castle!

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