Beautiful, Historical Romania

This week we took a few days of vacation in celebration of Mike's birthday. We decided to see more of our country and took a trip to Brașov and Buchurești.

Bran Castle

Near Brașov is Bran Castle, one of many castles that claim to be the inspiration for Bram's Stocker's famous novel Dracula.  We, however, were not so much interested in a fictional character as in the history of the castle.  It was built in the 1300's at the direction of the Hungarian king for protection of an important mountain pass at the border of the Hungarian Empire.  It also became important as a collection point for taxes on goods being brought into the area from out of the country.  The castle was in continual use until the mid-1800's.

Mike in the courtyard of Bran Castle

In 1918, Transylvania became a part of Romania and Queen Marie of Romania fell in love with the castle.  She renovated it into a royal residence and after her death it became the property of her daughter Ileana.  The communists, however, forced the Romanian king to abdicate in 1947 and the royal family had to flee the country leaving behind all they had including Bran Castle.  After communism fell, the property was returned once again to the heirs of Princess Ileana who have turned it into a popular tourist attraction.

Nancy just had to buy a few things at the Nansy convenience store.

We took an afternoon and walked through the old town of Brașov.  There we heard about the Black Church, so named because it had been burned twice, leaving it black.  The sad part was that Hungarian soldiers were the ones who burned it the first time along with the rest of the city.

Palace of Parliament in Buchurești

We spent one day in Buchurești, walked around the old town there and then toured the Palace of Parliament.  The building is the second-largest in the world, cost three billion dollars to build, was constructed almost entirely of Romanian materials, and houses the Romanian Parliament, Supreme Court, and many other government offices.  The Romanian Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu began work on the building in 1983 intending to use it as a residence for himself and his family as well as for government offices.  It was meant to be a showcase for his leadership but was only 60 percent finished when he and his wife were kicked out of power and executed.  The Romanians decided to complete the building since it would have cost more to tear it down than to finish it.  The building now stands as a monument to democracy and freedom.

The room intended to be used by the Communist Party is now used for various meetings.

The staircase down which Nicolae Ceaușescu was to make his grand entrances.

A glimpse of the Carpathian Mountains

During our trip we drove through the beautiful Carpathian Mountains that fill a large part of Romania.  What a joy to see God's amazing handiwork. What He has made is much better than any building and brings glory to the One who is greater than any person or history.