Peleș Castle and Sighisoara

 September 10, 2025  Peleș Castle and Sighisoara

 Today we left Brasov and drove to Peleș Castle, one of the most remarkable buildings I’ve ever seen.  Peleș Castle (pronounced Pelej with a shju sound for the j) really is a palace.  Bulit from 1873 to 1914, it was the palace of King Carol I of Romania, and has its own Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pele%C8%99_Castle  

The castle has 34,000 square feet of space and comprises over 170 rooms.  Here’s the courtyard with a beautiful mural: 



 The upper part of the entrance hall: 


The room of armor: 


I had to show this execution mask—placed on the head of the condemned before beheading so that the executioner wouldn’t have to look at his face: 


There are stained glass windows throughout: 

The doors from room to room are intricately carved: 

The King received gifts from various communities which are on display; here’s a menorah from the Jewish community: 

Here’s the reception room: 

There is much extraordinary marquetry in the palace; here is the upper portion of a pair of doors: 

The dining room:


 I have more than 100 photos of the most remarkable building and contents.  We spent about three hours visiting and could easily have spent days.  It’s just amazing. 

After the visit to the castle, we drove to the city of Sighisoara, where the entire old town is a World Heritage site.  We’ll tour the town tomorrow; we had dinner outdoors at the restaurant to the right in this photo.  That’s the original city hall with a clock tower in the background.


 Our hotel was at the top of a cobblestone street and was built in 1606.  Many things were original, and it was lovely: 

Tomorrow, a tour of Sighisoara, and then on to Sibiu.  More then

Comments

  1. MarciaSeptember 11, 2025 at 12:18 PM

    The castle is amazing!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ralph P. LockeSeptember 12, 2025 at 11:36 AM

    Astonishing castle, and the treasures within it. The metal head-covered mask for a person condemned to be executed reminds me of photos I've seen of metal visors made to protect the face of a combatant on horseback (in a tournament, rather than on the battlefield). Often they have mustaches, like this one! But, with or without mustache, they have many more perforations than this one, so the wearer can see his opponent.... (https://www.pinterest.com/macs_shop/perforated-visors/)

    ReplyDelete

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