peles castle. romania

Transylvania is the most famous part of Romania, conjuring up images of haunted forests and werewolves, medieval towns, vampires, dramatic mountains and turreted cliff-top castles.

i have always been enchanted with castles and have dreamed of living in one since as long as i can remember. if i had a mega-stash of cake i would  indeed travel the world, touring each castle, the more haunted the better. there are a lot of things i would do if i had loads of cash, castles just top the list.

Historic towns are scattered throughout the region, with their stone medieval streets, defense towers and fortified churches. The charming town of Sighisoara is the most striking introduction to Transylvania, the birthplace of 'Dracula' (a medieval prince, Vlad Tepes, who led the Romanian resistance against the Turks), along with the impressive castles and churches of Brasov and Sinaia, and the dramatic castle at Bran, also known as Dracula's Castle, that looks every bit a vampire's lair with its soaring turrets and dramatic setting. Transylvania has for sure a medieval charm with it´s lively food markets, quaint cobbled streets, and hilly pastures nestled among the Carpathian Mountains.

The magnificent Peles Castles, with it's fairytale turrets and towers rising above acres of green meadows sprinkled with haystacks, was built as a summer residence by Romania's longest serving monarch, King Carol I, who died and was buried here in 1914, just months after the castle’s completion. Peles Castle has a 3,200-square-metre (34,000 sq ft) floor plan with over 170 rooms and 30 bathrooms.

The establishment hosts one of the finest collections of art in Eastern and Central Europe, consisting of statues, paintings, furniture, arms and armor, gold, silver, stained glass, ivory, fine china, tapestries, and rugs. The collection of arms and armor has over 4,000 pieces spreading over four centuries of history.