We woke to a gorgeous, sunny day and a crystal clear view of the snow capped mountains surrounding Azuga. After breakfast in the guest house restaurant, we walked down the street to a small shop that had caught our attention last night with its beautiful blouses displayed in the window. The merchant had a nice selection of contemporary versions of traditional Romanian blouses with flowing bodices and sleeves made of soft chiffon. Two blouses cost me 110 leu or approximately $26. We went back to the hotel to check out and pay the bill – a comfortable double room, with breakfast for two at this historic winery was $58. It’s easy to understand why companies are moving business to this very affordable country.
Our first stop was a visit to the fortress at Rasnov, a 15 mile drive from Azuga. The Mini Countryman our colleague loaned us was fun to drive and once we figured out how to reprogram the GPS from Romanian to English, we were set. We parked in a large parking lot for the fortress and dinosaur park, bought a ticket for the tractor ride to the top and joined a preschool group who rode halfway up the hill to the dino park. We continued to the top and immediately saw the medieval fortress perched atop a large grassy hill.
The fortress was built by the Saxons initially as a wood and earth fort during the Crusades in the early 13th century but was eventually rebuilt as a stone fortification. It sheltered local inhabitants against invasions of the Tartars in the 14th century and the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century. Today, its remaining structures are representative of how the fort appeared in the 15th century. We entered the outer wall of the fortress through the Bathory Tower, the first line of defense that had housed archers protecting the outer walls.
We continued through the lower fortress and entered the actual stone fortification through the Great Barbican. Built in the 16th century once light artillery was invented, the barbican served as additional protection for the Armoury Tower, the most vulnerable point of the upper fortress.
Within the fortress walls were the remains of about 80 houses, with ground floors used for workshops and storage and upstairs for living space. These residences clustered around what once was a well fortified marketplace. Today, many of these structures and the walls house shops and stalls of vendors selling an assortment of souvenirs.
Much of the green space within the fortress was being actively cultivated with assortment of flowers and plants.
We climbed to the top of the old gothic tower for an amazing view of the surrounding lowlands. Not only could we see the town of Rasnov but the surrounding fields. The large patches of yellow, flowering rapeseed or canola, added vibrant color to the landscape.
We had a clear view of the snow capped Carpathians from the top as well. Once again I marveled at the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape made even more enjoyable by the perfect weather!
The fortress became crowed with school children on spring field trips. After exploring the various towers, we exited the fort and walked down the hill vs. waiting for the tractor. Our next stop is the medieval town of Brasov, about a 10 mile drive north.