One can’t leave Romania without seeing its famous castles. We’d skipped seeing Peles and Bran Castles during our independent travel because we knew that Iulia from the Traveling Tulip had arranged a tour for our group. So we were up early and on the bus by 7:30am navigating the Bucharest rush hour, eventually reaching the nearly deserted highway and heading north over the Carpathian Mountains to Sinaia. We arrived at Peles about two hours later.
Leaving the bus, we passed stall after stall of vendors selling blouses, table clothes, linens and other beautiful embroidered goods. Unfortunately, we were on a schedule for a tour and could not stop. Peles Castle is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Romania and must be visited via guided tour; it was especially crowded today because of limited hours for a state dignitaries’ function.
We waited at the visitor’s center, browsing the shops while Iulia picked up our tickets. The visitor center itself looked like a castle; that is until we had our first look at Peles.
Our first view of Peles Castle or more accurately, Peles Palace, was from the patio of the restaurant in the visitors center. Off in the distance, shrouded by trees against the backdrop of the Carpathian Mountains rose a tall, narrow turret sporting the Romanian flag. Although initially shielded in foliage, we quickly realized the size and scale of this 160+ room palace.
Built between 1873-1914 for King Carol I, Peles was never a military fortification but rather the summer residence of Romanian royalty; thus it’s more accurately described as a palace. However, the elegance and grandeur of the neo-Renaissance architecture is reminiscent of the fairy tale castles in Germany; since becoming a public museum in 1953-75 and then reopening in 1990, it has been called a castle.
We queued in the inner courtyard, waiting for our tour guide. The walls were painted with images of people hunting, eating, drinking, playing musical instruments surrounded by flowers and filigree, very fitting for the summer residence of royalty.
The exterior woodwork of the palace complemented the murals; the carved detail was exquisite!
Like other important historical sites (Taj Mahal comes to mind!), we donned mesh booties before entering the palace interior; this made sense given the volume of visitors – rather than dirtying the marble floors, we were actually dusting and polishing them!
The interior of Peles is even more spectacular than the exterior. Various rooms of the castle represent different styles – German, French, Italian, Moorish to name a few and are beautifully appointed with most of the original furniture, art and decor. The castle also had several innovative features for its time – central heating, plumbing, an elevator, an electric skylight and 30 bathrooms!
King Carol I was a voracious arms collector and the Armory Room contains over 1400 weapons from Europe, Asia and Africa from multiple centuries. Many of these pieces were aesthetically arranged on the walls as art.
The music room is wood paneled with large stained glass windows. Its furnishings are carved from teak, said to be a gift from an Indian raj. Paintings by some of Europe’s finest artists adorn the walls; there is one other notable canvas in the room of a young woman surrounded by greenery, painted by Queen Elisabeth, that has a heartbreaking story associated with it. Elisabeth was a princess from a small German municipality with a passion for literature, music and art. She married Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1869; at the time he was the ruling Prince of Romania. Sadly, their only child, Maria, died of scarlet fever at the age of 3. Elisabeth devoted herself to her art, literature and music to ease her pain – the canvas on the wall and the time she spent in this room with her music helped her cope. She was also a prolific writer – publishing multiple novels, poems and short stories under the pen name, Carmen Sylva. When Romania became an independent country at the end of the Russio-Turkish War, Karl was crowned King Carol I in 1881 and Elisabeth became the first Queen of Romania.
The decor of the Throne room is reminiscent of an Italian palazzo with its gilded trim, decorative paneling, parquet furniture and light colors. Named because of its ornate throne like chair, this room was not really used for subject’s to petition the king seated on his pedestal.
The artistry and craftsmanship in each room was exquisite. I had to keep reminding myself to look 360 degrees. Some of the most beautiful artwork and trim graced the ceilings.
The Turkish salon was used as a gentlemen’s smoking room. It’s walls and ceiling were adorned with handmade silk embroidered panels, its floor with Turkish Izmir rugs and copper objects d’ art augmented the decor. Sad to think of these lovely fabrics absorbing the second hand smoke.
The wood paneling and staircases in the palace are works of art themselves. Our guide told us that families of artisans carved various pieces of the staircase and palace furniture over the course of generations.
The Imperial Suite was believed to be decorated for the use of the Austrian Emperor, Franz Joseph I, who visited as a guest of the Romanian royal family. This room was designed in Austrian baroque style with its complicated gold detailing.
Our tour enabled us to view the bedrooms and personal suites on the palace’s second floor. The King’s bedroom was truly a room fit for a king with its ornate woodwork, carved ceiling and of course, the postered bed mounted on a pedestal.
The most remarkable room in Peles and my personal favorite was the multi-storied Royal Library. Filled with shelf upon shelf of leather bound books, this beautiful room has detailed carved woodwork, a spiral staircase, electric retractable stained glass skylight and even a secret passageway that leads to the king’s parlor.
Due to time constraints, we did not have time to explore the exterior grounds of the castle. There are multiple gardens and terraces with Italian sculptures, ornamental vases and fabulous views of the mountains. Unfortunately, Pellisor Castle, the mini castle on the grounds built for Ferdinand, Karl’s nephew and heir and his wife, Maria was closed to the public due to a state function.
Peles is definitely one of the most impressive castles I’ve visited. Although seized from the royal family by Nicolae Ceausescu and appropriated by the state between 1975 – 1990, it was fortunately not demolished by the Communists as many other historical structures were. Per our guide, President Gerald Ford visited Peles for a meeting with Ceausescu in 1975 and was so impressed by the castle that he encouraged him to preserve this Romanian state treasure. Maybe Ceausescu actually heeded this advice; with independence, Peles was reopened to the public in 1990 and has been a gift to the millions of visitors fortunate enough to wander its premises.
Time was flying and we had another famous castle to visit. We hustled back to the bus. Next stop was lunch and then on to Bran Castle but not before stopping to sample some sweet Romanian cherries!
