Sneakers 35 :Peles kastely
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 1.45 mi
- Elevation gain
- 151 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Easy
- Elevation loss
- 151 ft
- Max elevation
- 3,067 ft
- TrailRank
- 44
- Min elevation
- 2,893 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Moving time
- 43 minutes
- Time
- 50 minutes
- Coordinates
- 405
- Uploaded
- March 4, 2023
- Recorded
- March 2023
near Coada Izvorului, Județul Prahova (România)
Viewed 37 times, downloaded 0 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
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Peleș Castle, in Romanian Castelul Peleș (pronounced [kasˈtelul ˈpeleʃ]) is a building built in the German Neo-Renaissance style near Sinaia, in the Prahova district, Romania.
It stands on a hill in the Carpathians and was built as a royal residence between 1873 and 1914 along an existing medieval route linking Transylvania to Wallachia. Its inauguration took place in 1883.
King Charles I of Romania (1839-1914), under whose reign the country gained its independence, visited the site where the castle now stands in 1866, and also fell in love with the magnificent mountain scenery. In 1872, the crown purchased 1,300 square kilometers (500 sq mi) of land near the Arsa Piatra River. The estate was named Royal Estate of Sinaia.
On the estate, the monarchy commissioned the construction of a royal hunting reserve and a summer residence, laying the first foundations for Peleș Castle on 22 August 1873. At the same time, several auxiliary buildings were built adjacent to the castle: the Guard Hall, the Economat Palace, the Foișorul Hunting Lodge, the royal stables, and a power plant. Peleș Castle became the first castle in the world to be fully powered by locally produced electricity.
The first three floors of the castle project were copies of other palaces already present in Western Europe: King Charles I rejected them all as lacking originality, and too expensive. The German architect Johannes Schultz (1876-1883) won the project, presenting a more original plan, something that appealed to the taste of the King: a large sumptuous villa in the Alpine style, capable of combining different characteristics of the classic European styles, for mostly following Italian elegance and Bavarian aesthetics along the lines of the Renaissance. The works were also carried out by the architect Carol Benesch. Between 1893 and 1914 further additions were made by the Czech architect Karel Liman, who designed the towers, including the central one, which is 66 meters high. The Villa Sipot, which served as the headquarters, was built later. Liman also had to build the building of the nearby Pelișor Castle (1889-1903), the future residence of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Queen Maria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
The cost of building the castle between 1875 and 1914 has been estimated at 16 million Romanian leu in gold (about $120 million today). Between three and four hundred men worked on its construction. Elisabeth of Wied, consort of King Charles I of Romania, wrote in her diary during the construction phase:
«The Italians were bricklayers, the Romanians built terraces, the gypsies were coolies. The Albanians and Greeks worked stone, the Germans and Hungarians worked wood. The Turks built bricks. The engineers were Polish, while the stonemasons were Czechoslovakian. The French were draftsmen, the English were the measures. Hundreds of national costumes could be observed and they spoke, argued and sang in fourteen languages in all dialects and endings, a joyful mix of men, horses, carts, oxen and tame buffaloes.
The construction of the castle slowed down slightly during the Romanian War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire which took place between 1877 and 1878. Peleș Castle celebrated its inauguration with an official royal ball on 7 October 1883. King Charles I of Romania and Queen Elisabeth of Wied, lived in the Foișor Villa under construction, as did King Ferdinand I of Romania and Queen Marie of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, during the construction of Pelișor Castle. Charles II of Romania was born in the castle in 1893, giving a sense to the castle as the "cradle of the dynasty", (cradle of the nation), a phrase that Charles I of Romania bestowed on the castle of Peleș. During the years of his reign, Charles II lived in the Villa di Foisor.
After the forced abdication of King Michael I of Romania in 1947, the communist regime seized all royal assets, including the Peleș estate. The castle was transformed, for a short time, into a tourist attraction. It was also a place of rest and recreation for Romanian cultural personalities. The castle in 1953 was transformed into a museum. Nicolae Ceaușescu, between 1975 and 1990 closed the entire estate, during the last years of the communist regime; the area was in fact declared a "ceremonial area of interest" and the only people allowed on the property were maintenance workers and military personnel.
Ceaușescu did not like the castle very much, in fact his visits were rare; in 1980, a part of the timber with which some windows were built was infested by lacrymans Serpula. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989 the castles of Peleș and Foișor were reconsidered as national heritage and opened to the public. During these years, Foișor Castle served as a presidential residence; the Economat building and the Chambers della Guardia building were instead transformed into hotels and restaurants. Some of the other buildings of the Peleș Estate have been transformed into tourist villas, while some of them are considered as "protocol state buildings"; in 2006, the Romanian government announced the return of the castle to former monarch Michael I; negotiations between the former king and the Romanian government soon began, but have not yet concluded. The castle is currently leased by the royal family to the Romanian state; Peleș Castle receives between a quarter and nearly half a million visitors each year.
Throughout its history, it has hosted some important personalities: royalty, politicians and artists. One of the most memorable visits was that of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on October 2, 1896, who later wrote in a letter:
«The Royal Castle is surrounded by a fantastic landscape, with terraced gardens, all surrounded by dense forests. The castle itself is impressive for the accumulated riches: new and old paintings and furniture, weapons, all sorts of curiosities, all arranged according to a refined taste. We went on a long hike in the mountains, a picnic on the grass listening to gypsy music. We took many photographs during our trip, and the atmosphere was always extremely pleasant.”
Artists such as George Enescu, Sarah Bernhardt, Jacques Thibaud and Vasile Alecsandri often visited it as guests of Queen Elisabeth of Romania (herself under the pseudonym of the writer Carmen Sylva). In more recent times, many foreign dignitaries, such as Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Muammar Gaddafi, and Yasser Arafat have been welcomed inside the castle.
The castle was featured in the 2008 film The Brothers Bloom. The castle's exterior is used to represent a sprawling New Jersey estate, the home of an eccentric billionaire played by Rachel Weisz.
Description
The courtyard of honour.
The frescoes in the courtyard.
Monument to Carol I of Romania
The architectural style of the castle is a romantically inspired blend of Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Gothic similar to Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. The Saxon influence is present in the inner courtyard facades, featuring an allegorical mural and hand-painted, ornate Fachwerk similar to the style of Alpine architecture. The interior decorations are of different styles, and are inspired by countless German and European places. Carved woods and refined fabrics dominate. Peleș Castle has an area of 3,200 square meters, has over 160 rooms[1], many decorated with exclusive themes from all the cultures of the planet. The themes vary according to function (offices, libraries, armories, art galleries) or style (Florentine, Turkish, Arab, French, Imperial). All rooms are extremely luxuriously furnished and decorated to the smallest detail. There are 30 bathrooms.
The structure houses one of the finest collections of Eastern and Central art: statues, paintings, furniture, weapons and armor, gold, silver, colored glass, ivory, porcelain, tapestries and carpets. The weapons and armor collection numbers over 4,000 pieces, divided between Eastern European and Western ceremonial or hunting warfare pieces and spans four centuries of history. Oriental rugs come from many different locations: Bukhara, Mosul, Isparta, Saruk, and Smirna. The porcelain comes from Sèvres and Meissen, the leather is from Córdoba. Perhaps the castle's most fascinating art is the hand-painted stained glass windows.
A towering statue of King Charles I, which overlooks the main entrance, is by Italian sculptor Raffaello Romanelli who also created the Neo-Renaissance garden's seven terraces, mostly of Carrara marble. The gardens also house fountains, urns, stairways, guarding lions, marble walkways, and other decorative elements.
Museum
The ceiling of the Hall of Honor.
The Hall of Honor.
The library.
The Turkish Salon.
The visits are carried out only with a guided tour. One of the tours is limited to the ground floor, another adds the first floor, and the full tour includes the second floor. The turnout is high. Visiting hours are 9am-5pm, Wednesday to Sunday, while Tuesdays are open between 11am and 5pm. The castle is closed on Mondays. These visiting hours are subject to change by the Ministry of Culture. The castle is closed in November each year for maintenance and cleaning.
The main rooms
The Holul de Onoare (the Hall of Honour) built in 1911 by Karel Liman inspired by Fredenhagen-Zimmer in the Merchants House in Lübeck and in the hall of the Bremen Town Hall[1]. It extends over three floors. The walls are covered in finely carved woodwork by the Viennese Bernard Ludwig, mostly in European walnut and exotic woods. Bas-reliefs, Aubusson tapestries, alabaster sculptures and retractable glass panels complete the furnishings. The glass-paneled ceiling is movable, driven by an electric motor.
The Apartamentul Imperiale (Imperial Suite) is believed to have been furnished in homage to the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, who visited the palace as a friend of the Romanian royal family. Then the decorator Auguste Bembe, preferred the sumptuous Austrian Baroque in the style of Maria Theresa of Austria.
The Sala Mare De Arme (the Great Armoury) where 1,600 of 4,000 pieces of weapons and armor are housed. On display are one of Europe's finest collections of hunting and war implements, dating from the 14th to the 19th century. The king added pieces used in his victory against the Ottoman Turks during the War of Independence. Also on display is a wide range of polearms (blades, halberds, spears, hunting spears), firearms (rifles, blunderbusses, pistols), axes, crossbows and swords (swords, sabres, broadswords, and many others).
In the Sala Mica De Arme (The Little Armory) both predominantly oriental weapons (mostly Indo-Persian, Ottoman and Arab) and pieces of armour, many of them in gold and silver, and inlaid with precious stones, are on display. Included are: helmets, scimitars, yataghans, daggers, fuses, spears, pistols, shields, axes and spears.
The Bibliotecă (Library), made in the German Renaissance style, is paneled entirely in walnut.
The Sala de Consilii (Council Hall), in the style of the Lucerne town hall, has 16th-17th century English stained glass from Toddington Castle.
The Sufrageria (Dining Room), done in the 17th century Breton style, is paneled in wood and displays precious pieces of silverware.
The Sala De Teatru (Teatrino), is decorated in Louis XVI style, has 60 seats and is also equipped with a royal box. The architectural decorations and wall paintings are signed by Gustav Klimt and Matsch Frantz.
The Sala Florentina (La Sala fiorentina) combines elements of the Tuscan Renaissance. More impressive are the solid bronze doors executed in Rome, in Luigi Magni's atelier, and the large marble fireplace executed by Paunazio with Michelangioleschi motifs. It welcomes antique Italian furniture.
The Salonul Maur (The Moorish Salon) was decorated under the guidance of Charles de Nouy Lecompte, and is designed to embody North African and Hispanic elements in a Moorish style. The living room, covered in Cordova leather, houses furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl, Ottoman carpets, while oriental weapons and armor are perhaps the most expressive objects. The hall has an internal marble fountain.
The Salonul Turcesc (The Turkish Salon) emulates an Ottoman environment and was set up by transporting the "Romanian Pavilion" made for the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1868 [1]. It is surrounded by Turkish carpets and copperware from Anatolia and Persia. It was used as a gentlemen's smoking room. The walls are covered with handmade silk brocade fabrics from the Siegert shops in Vienna.
It is notable that unlike other royal families, monarchs have shared a bedroom.
Source : wikipedia
It stands on a hill in the Carpathians and was built as a royal residence between 1873 and 1914 along an existing medieval route linking Transylvania to Wallachia. Its inauguration took place in 1883.
King Charles I of Romania (1839-1914), under whose reign the country gained its independence, visited the site where the castle now stands in 1866, and also fell in love with the magnificent mountain scenery. In 1872, the crown purchased 1,300 square kilometers (500 sq mi) of land near the Arsa Piatra River. The estate was named Royal Estate of Sinaia.
On the estate, the monarchy commissioned the construction of a royal hunting reserve and a summer residence, laying the first foundations for Peleș Castle on 22 August 1873. At the same time, several auxiliary buildings were built adjacent to the castle: the Guard Hall, the Economat Palace, the Foișorul Hunting Lodge, the royal stables, and a power plant. Peleș Castle became the first castle in the world to be fully powered by locally produced electricity.
The first three floors of the castle project were copies of other palaces already present in Western Europe: King Charles I rejected them all as lacking originality, and too expensive. The German architect Johannes Schultz (1876-1883) won the project, presenting a more original plan, something that appealed to the taste of the King: a large sumptuous villa in the Alpine style, capable of combining different characteristics of the classic European styles, for mostly following Italian elegance and Bavarian aesthetics along the lines of the Renaissance. The works were also carried out by the architect Carol Benesch. Between 1893 and 1914 further additions were made by the Czech architect Karel Liman, who designed the towers, including the central one, which is 66 meters high. The Villa Sipot, which served as the headquarters, was built later. Liman also had to build the building of the nearby Pelișor Castle (1889-1903), the future residence of King Ferdinand I of Romania and Queen Maria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
The cost of building the castle between 1875 and 1914 has been estimated at 16 million Romanian leu in gold (about $120 million today). Between three and four hundred men worked on its construction. Elisabeth of Wied, consort of King Charles I of Romania, wrote in her diary during the construction phase:
«The Italians were bricklayers, the Romanians built terraces, the gypsies were coolies. The Albanians and Greeks worked stone, the Germans and Hungarians worked wood. The Turks built bricks. The engineers were Polish, while the stonemasons were Czechoslovakian. The French were draftsmen, the English were the measures. Hundreds of national costumes could be observed and they spoke, argued and sang in fourteen languages in all dialects and endings, a joyful mix of men, horses, carts, oxen and tame buffaloes.
The construction of the castle slowed down slightly during the Romanian War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire which took place between 1877 and 1878. Peleș Castle celebrated its inauguration with an official royal ball on 7 October 1883. King Charles I of Romania and Queen Elisabeth of Wied, lived in the Foișor Villa under construction, as did King Ferdinand I of Romania and Queen Marie of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, during the construction of Pelișor Castle. Charles II of Romania was born in the castle in 1893, giving a sense to the castle as the "cradle of the dynasty", (cradle of the nation), a phrase that Charles I of Romania bestowed on the castle of Peleș. During the years of his reign, Charles II lived in the Villa di Foisor.
After the forced abdication of King Michael I of Romania in 1947, the communist regime seized all royal assets, including the Peleș estate. The castle was transformed, for a short time, into a tourist attraction. It was also a place of rest and recreation for Romanian cultural personalities. The castle in 1953 was transformed into a museum. Nicolae Ceaușescu, between 1975 and 1990 closed the entire estate, during the last years of the communist regime; the area was in fact declared a "ceremonial area of interest" and the only people allowed on the property were maintenance workers and military personnel.
Ceaușescu did not like the castle very much, in fact his visits were rare; in 1980, a part of the timber with which some windows were built was infested by lacrymans Serpula. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989 the castles of Peleș and Foișor were reconsidered as national heritage and opened to the public. During these years, Foișor Castle served as a presidential residence; the Economat building and the Chambers della Guardia building were instead transformed into hotels and restaurants. Some of the other buildings of the Peleș Estate have been transformed into tourist villas, while some of them are considered as "protocol state buildings"; in 2006, the Romanian government announced the return of the castle to former monarch Michael I; negotiations between the former king and the Romanian government soon began, but have not yet concluded. The castle is currently leased by the royal family to the Romanian state; Peleș Castle receives between a quarter and nearly half a million visitors each year.
Throughout its history, it has hosted some important personalities: royalty, politicians and artists. One of the most memorable visits was that of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on October 2, 1896, who later wrote in a letter:
«The Royal Castle is surrounded by a fantastic landscape, with terraced gardens, all surrounded by dense forests. The castle itself is impressive for the accumulated riches: new and old paintings and furniture, weapons, all sorts of curiosities, all arranged according to a refined taste. We went on a long hike in the mountains, a picnic on the grass listening to gypsy music. We took many photographs during our trip, and the atmosphere was always extremely pleasant.”
Artists such as George Enescu, Sarah Bernhardt, Jacques Thibaud and Vasile Alecsandri often visited it as guests of Queen Elisabeth of Romania (herself under the pseudonym of the writer Carmen Sylva). In more recent times, many foreign dignitaries, such as Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Muammar Gaddafi, and Yasser Arafat have been welcomed inside the castle.
The castle was featured in the 2008 film The Brothers Bloom. The castle's exterior is used to represent a sprawling New Jersey estate, the home of an eccentric billionaire played by Rachel Weisz.
Description
The courtyard of honour.
The frescoes in the courtyard.
Monument to Carol I of Romania
The architectural style of the castle is a romantically inspired blend of Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Gothic similar to Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. The Saxon influence is present in the inner courtyard facades, featuring an allegorical mural and hand-painted, ornate Fachwerk similar to the style of Alpine architecture. The interior decorations are of different styles, and are inspired by countless German and European places. Carved woods and refined fabrics dominate. Peleș Castle has an area of 3,200 square meters, has over 160 rooms[1], many decorated with exclusive themes from all the cultures of the planet. The themes vary according to function (offices, libraries, armories, art galleries) or style (Florentine, Turkish, Arab, French, Imperial). All rooms are extremely luxuriously furnished and decorated to the smallest detail. There are 30 bathrooms.
The structure houses one of the finest collections of Eastern and Central art: statues, paintings, furniture, weapons and armor, gold, silver, colored glass, ivory, porcelain, tapestries and carpets. The weapons and armor collection numbers over 4,000 pieces, divided between Eastern European and Western ceremonial or hunting warfare pieces and spans four centuries of history. Oriental rugs come from many different locations: Bukhara, Mosul, Isparta, Saruk, and Smirna. The porcelain comes from Sèvres and Meissen, the leather is from Córdoba. Perhaps the castle's most fascinating art is the hand-painted stained glass windows.
A towering statue of King Charles I, which overlooks the main entrance, is by Italian sculptor Raffaello Romanelli who also created the Neo-Renaissance garden's seven terraces, mostly of Carrara marble. The gardens also house fountains, urns, stairways, guarding lions, marble walkways, and other decorative elements.
Museum
The ceiling of the Hall of Honor.
The Hall of Honor.
The library.
The Turkish Salon.
The visits are carried out only with a guided tour. One of the tours is limited to the ground floor, another adds the first floor, and the full tour includes the second floor. The turnout is high. Visiting hours are 9am-5pm, Wednesday to Sunday, while Tuesdays are open between 11am and 5pm. The castle is closed on Mondays. These visiting hours are subject to change by the Ministry of Culture. The castle is closed in November each year for maintenance and cleaning.
The main rooms
The Holul de Onoare (the Hall of Honour) built in 1911 by Karel Liman inspired by Fredenhagen-Zimmer in the Merchants House in Lübeck and in the hall of the Bremen Town Hall[1]. It extends over three floors. The walls are covered in finely carved woodwork by the Viennese Bernard Ludwig, mostly in European walnut and exotic woods. Bas-reliefs, Aubusson tapestries, alabaster sculptures and retractable glass panels complete the furnishings. The glass-paneled ceiling is movable, driven by an electric motor.
The Apartamentul Imperiale (Imperial Suite) is believed to have been furnished in homage to the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, who visited the palace as a friend of the Romanian royal family. Then the decorator Auguste Bembe, preferred the sumptuous Austrian Baroque in the style of Maria Theresa of Austria.
The Sala Mare De Arme (the Great Armoury) where 1,600 of 4,000 pieces of weapons and armor are housed. On display are one of Europe's finest collections of hunting and war implements, dating from the 14th to the 19th century. The king added pieces used in his victory against the Ottoman Turks during the War of Independence. Also on display is a wide range of polearms (blades, halberds, spears, hunting spears), firearms (rifles, blunderbusses, pistols), axes, crossbows and swords (swords, sabres, broadswords, and many others).
In the Sala Mica De Arme (The Little Armory) both predominantly oriental weapons (mostly Indo-Persian, Ottoman and Arab) and pieces of armour, many of them in gold and silver, and inlaid with precious stones, are on display. Included are: helmets, scimitars, yataghans, daggers, fuses, spears, pistols, shields, axes and spears.
The Bibliotecă (Library), made in the German Renaissance style, is paneled entirely in walnut.
The Sala de Consilii (Council Hall), in the style of the Lucerne town hall, has 16th-17th century English stained glass from Toddington Castle.
The Sufrageria (Dining Room), done in the 17th century Breton style, is paneled in wood and displays precious pieces of silverware.
The Sala De Teatru (Teatrino), is decorated in Louis XVI style, has 60 seats and is also equipped with a royal box. The architectural decorations and wall paintings are signed by Gustav Klimt and Matsch Frantz.
The Sala Florentina (La Sala fiorentina) combines elements of the Tuscan Renaissance. More impressive are the solid bronze doors executed in Rome, in Luigi Magni's atelier, and the large marble fireplace executed by Paunazio with Michelangioleschi motifs. It welcomes antique Italian furniture.
The Salonul Maur (The Moorish Salon) was decorated under the guidance of Charles de Nouy Lecompte, and is designed to embody North African and Hispanic elements in a Moorish style. The living room, covered in Cordova leather, houses furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl, Ottoman carpets, while oriental weapons and armor are perhaps the most expressive objects. The hall has an internal marble fountain.
The Salonul Turcesc (The Turkish Salon) emulates an Ottoman environment and was set up by transporting the "Romanian Pavilion" made for the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1868 [1]. It is surrounded by Turkish carpets and copperware from Anatolia and Persia. It was used as a gentlemen's smoking room. The walls are covered with handmade silk brocade fabrics from the Siegert shops in Vienna.
It is notable that unlike other royal families, monarchs have shared a bedroom.
Source : wikipedia
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2,907 ft
Castle
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