Castle of Peleş

Built between 1873 and 1883, the Castle of Peleş (in Rumanian Castelul Peleş /kas ' te.lul 'pe.leʃ/ ) is located at Sinaia, Romania.

History

The construction of the Castle of Peleş, ordered by the Prince Charles de Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (which will become Charles Ier of Romania in 1881), begins in 1873 close to Sinaïa, in the valley of the Peleş, with the foot of the Monts Bucegi. A powerplant is also built on banks of the Peleş river, thus making Castle of Peleş the first castle of Europe having electricity.

The castle is designed according to the plans of the German architect Wilhelm Doderer then work are entrusted starting from 1876, with Johannes Schultz. They are then stopped during the war of independence of Romania of 1877 - 1878. The official unveiling takes place on October 7th, 1883.

Between 1893 and 1914, installations are carried out by the Czech architect Karel Liman which completes work in a style German Néorenaissance characterized by the presence of vertical pointed profiles, of many turrets, a fragmented composition of the frontages and elements out of wooden and decorative cut. On the same site, it also builds the castles of Foisor and Pelişor.

Initially, the castle is used as residence of summer for the royal family. It accommodates thereafter the funeral of Charles Ier of Romania when it dies in 1914. It is also the last residence of Michel Ier of Romania before its abdication.

After the abdication of Michel Ier of Romania in 1947, the whole of the site of Peleş, except for the castle itself which is intended for tourism, becomes, for one short period, a place of creation and relaxation for the Rumanian cultural personalities.

During the last years of the Communism, Nicolae Ceauşescu makes close the whole of the site. The only accepted people limit themselves then to the personnel of maintenance, severely controlled, and that of safety. The site is thus declared sector of interest for the protocol of state.

After the Rumanian Revolution of 1989, the castles of Peleş and Pelişor are reinstated in the tourist tours. The castle of Foisor remains - as in the past - a presidential residence. The other buildings are arranged to become tourist hotels, restaurants, villas or buildings of the protocol of state.

Museum

The Castle of Peleş shelters one of the most important collections of paintings in Europe gathering nearly 2000 tables.

Among the 160 parts which the castle has, most important are the following ones:

the hall of honor , whose ceiling is decorated stained glasses with the allegorical or heraldic reasons.
the room of the ices
rooms of weapons , sheltering a rich person collection of weapons and armours of which a sword of torturer of the 16th century used to decapitate the noble ones and an Eastern sword used by the samurais to be made sekkupu .
the living room Florentin , sheltering candelabra of Murano.
the living room of music , with furniture out of teak wooden and whose subjects of the stained glasses are inspired by the Rumanian tales.
the Moorish living room having a marble fountain.
the French living room
the Turkish living room
the room of the theater , where the first cinematographic projection in Romania in 1906 took place.
the imperial continuation

Localization

Western north of Sinaïa, 60km of Braşov and 135km of Bucharest.

External bonds

Official site of the Castle of Peleş
Museum of the Castle of Peleş
Galleries of photographs

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