Only in Romania

Dracula

     A fictional character in the Dracula novel, was inspired by one of the best-known figure of the Romanian history — Vlad Dracula, nicknamed Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler) — who was a ruler of Wallachia (1456-1462).

The Painted Monasteries of Bucovina

     There are 48 monasteries in total, some with fortified walls to protect against invaders. These unique monasteries and Byzantine churches with their exceptional exterior frescoes are one of the most fascinating sights in Romania. Seven of the painted monasteries have been included on the Unesco World Heritage List.

Wooden Churches of Maramures

     The Maramures wooden churches in Northern Transylvania are a selection of eight examples of different architectural solutions from different periods and areas. They are Orthodox churches. They are high timber constructions with characteristic tall, slim bell towers at the western end of the building. They are a particular vernacular expression of the cultural landscape of this mountainous area of northern Romania.

Fortified Churches of Transilvania

     The Fortified Churches are a unique and interesting phenomenon. There were more than 300 Fortified Saxon Churches in Transylvania. Some of them are extinct, some of them are on the verge of extinction but most of them are still proudly standing, even in abandoned and forgotten villages. Some of them (7 to be more precise) had a better fate and they were declared heritage sites and are now on the UNESCO list (Biertan, Viscri, Saschiz, Prejmer, Valea Viilor, Calnic and Darjiu)

Danube Delta

     It is the second largest delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and the best preserved on the continent. The approximate surface is 4152 km˛, of which 3446 km˛ are in Romania. If the lagoons of Razim-Sinoe (1015 km˛ of which 863km˛ water surface; situated in the south, but attached to the Danube Delta from geological and ecological perspectives, as well as being the combined territory of the World Heritage Site) are to be added, the considered area of the Danube Delta grows to 5165 km.

Cucuteni Culture - ceramics

     The Cucuteni-Trypillia culture has been called the first urban culture in Europe. The Cucuteni-Trypillia settlements were usually located on a plateau, fortified with earthworks and ditches. The earliest villages consisted of ten to fifteen households. In their heyday, settlements expanded to include several hundred large adobe huts, sometimes with two stories. These houses were typically warmed by an oven and had round windows. The huts had furnaces used to create pottery, which the Cucuteni-Trypillians are most known for.

The Brancovenesc Style

     It originated in Wallachia, as a synthesis of Renaissance and Byzantine architecture. Such cultural ventures relied on increased taxation, which was also determined by the mounting fiscal pressure of the Ottomans (adding in turn to Brâncoveanu's determination to strip Wallachia of Turkish rule).

Praid Salt Mine

     This salt settlement is one of the biggest from Europe. Its reserve could provide the salt need for Europe for hundreds of years in the future. The salt from Transylvania Basin, as the salt from Praid is very old (Badenian inferior age - the middle Miocen age), something about 20 - 22 million years ago.

Biserica Neagra

     The largest Gothic church between Vienna and Istanbul,its towers over Piata Sfatului and the old town. Originally dedicated to Virgin Marry the church was Roman-Catholic for more than a century and a half and later with the reformation sweeping across Europe it became a Lutheran one. Service is still held today for the small German community from Brasov on Sundays.

The merry cemetery

     The merry cemetery of Sapanta has been, for more than fifty years, the creation of sculptor Stan Patras, the successor of several generations of wood artists that bequeathed their trade from father to son. In the beginning he sculpted about ten crosses a year. The method of work has been preserved unaltered to this day.

Marginea - ceramics

     The ceramics from Marginea is already a well-known trade mark. The beginnings of pottery in Marginea have been established by the historians around the year 1500.

     The world-wide known black pottery of Marginea is obtained by using a prehistoric burning technique, and by polishing it with a river stone. This technique used by the pottery hand-craft workers in Marginea is unique in the entire world. Nowadays, the pottery is made in the work-shops of the Magopat family, and they are being visited by an overwhelming number of tourists from all over the world. Some important leaders, such as the Emperor of Japan, The King of Romania, The Queen of Holland, The Shah of Iran or the Governor of Canada have also visited Marginea.

The Mocanita in Vaser Valley, Maramures

     A narrow gauge steam train, the only means of transportation in the valley. The railway runs along the Vaser River and is one of the last remaining steam rails still in active use in Europe, and the only one in Romania still used for hauling logs down from the mountains. Built after the First World War for the express task of transporting wood, it is still – surprisingly – used for the original purpose.

The Palace of the Parliament

     The Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest is a multi-purpose building containing both chambers of the Romanian Parliament. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Palace is the world's largest civilian administrative building (The Pentagon is the largest overall), most expensive administrative building, and heaviest building.

The Village Museum

     The Village Museum, lying in a specific Romanian setting, on the Herăstrău lake shore in Bucharest, is one of the biggest and the oldest outdoors museum in Europe. Its exhibits – genuine monuments including houses, pens, churches, water and wind mills, cloth mills, of great historic and artistic value - acquaint the visitors in two hours with the specific of the Romanian village. The objects inside the households - carpets, pottery, rugs, icons, furniture - point to the originality of the folk creation, the sensibility and care for the beauty of the rural people.

Ana Aslan - Gerovital

     Ana Aslan (1897-1988) was a Romanian biologist and physician. She is considered to be a founding figure of gerontology and geriatrics in Romania. In 1952, under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Ana Aslan, the Geriatric Institute in Bucharest was founded. This Institute was the first of its kind in Romania and was recognized by the World Health Organization.

Constantin Brancusi

     Constantin Brâncusi, (February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957), was an internationally renowned Romanian sculptor whose sculptures, which blend simplicity and sophistication, led the way for modernist sculptors.

Trovants Museum Natural Reserve

     Located at 8 km from Horezu, in the village Costesti, declared UNESCO monument, it spreads on valleys and hills strange hoodoos, also named „the stones that are growing”, having sizes starting with several millimetres to 6-8 meters.

The Cathedral of Curtea de Arges

     The Cathedral of Curtea de Arges (early 16th century) is one of the most famous buildings in Romania, and stands on the grounds of a monastery. It is dedicated to Saint Nicholas. It resembles a very large and elaborate mausoleum, built in Byzantine style, with Moorish arabesques. In shape it is oblong, with a many-sided annex at the back. In the centre rises a dome, fronted by two smaller cupolas, while a secondary dome, broader and loftier than the central one, springs from the annex. Each summit is crowned by an inverted pear-shaped stone, bearing a triple cross, emblematic of the Trinity.

Horezu - ceramics

     It is a town located in Vâlcea County, Romania. The town is well known for its people who make pottery and present it at an annual fair. There are special traditions which have been well preserved. Horezu is the site of Horezu Monastery, a World Heritage Site.

Corund (Korund)

     The name of Corund is inseparable from the folk ceramics and pot industry. Being one of the Transylvanian centre of folk pottery, Corund means the survival of the folk art by continuing of traditions and it also means the welfare of the locals at the same time. The viable community deals with many things: traditional pottery, wood processing, tinder-making and trade.

Densus

     It was built in the 7th century with additions made in the 13th century on the site of a 2nd century Roman temple, with some materials from the Dacian Sarmizegetusa fortress. It has a stone tower above the naos. Inside the church there are 15th century mural paintings that show Jesus wearing Romanian traditional clothes.

The Submerged Village Of Bezid

     Bezid village was flooded in 88-89 by the communist regime in Romania (at that time). Only the church (built on a hill) remained partly above the water.

Histria

     Ancient Histria or Istros, was a Greek colony or polis on the Black Sea coast, established by Milesian settlers to trade with the native Getae. It became the first Greek town on the present day Romanian territory. Scymnus of Chios (ca 110 BC), the Greek geographer and poet, dated it to 630 BC. Eusebius of Caesarea, some centuries later, dated its founding to 657 – 656 BC, at the time of the 33rd Olympic Games. The earliest documented currency on Romanian territory was an 8-gram silver drachma, issued in Histria in the year 480 BC.

Adamclisi

     In ancient times a Roman castrum named Civitas Tropaeensium was settled here and in 109 AD a monument named Tropaeum Traiani was built to commemorate the Roman Empire's victories over the Dacians. Colonized with Roman veterans of the Dacian Wars, the city was the largest Roman city of Scythia Minor and became a municipium around the year 200.