3298 ROMANIA (Alba) - Câlnic Citadel - part of Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania (UNESCO WHS)

The Câlnic Citadel began around 1270 as a residence for a Graf (Chyl de Kelling, whose family gave the village its German name), one of the last such to be built in Transylvania. The strong parallelepiped structure, with a ground floor and three floors for living space, came to be known as the Siegfried tower. Subsequent, frequent Ottoman attacks led the keep to be fortified with a defensive level and surrounded by a massive wall. The oval precinct around the keep was fitted with a guard tower to the south and a gate tower to the north. The structure was surrounded by a water-filled moat, with access only by drawbridge.

ROMANIA - Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania (UNESCO WHS)

In the 12th and 13th centuries, simultaneous with the advancement of the Kingdom of Hungary's border to the east and south-eastern Transylvania, until its stabilization along the Carpathians, Hungarian kings encouraged Germans and Székelys to colonize the areas newly conquered, in essence for economic and military reasons. The German colonists were named Transylvanian Saxons, despite the fact that most of them came from the western Holy Roman Empire. The political, economic and social influence exercised by them in the last eight centuries in Transylvania was a major and beneficial one. Unfortunately after the WWII, but especially after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, many members of this community emigrated to Germany.

2971 ROMANIA (Alba) - A man had a clop

2971 A shepherd in Sebeş, Alba county

For the Romanians, the pastoralism is one of the ancient traditional occupations, but also a way of life, both north and south of the Danube, based on which was developed a whole culture. The men involved in this occupation, be they ciobani (shepherds - those caring for sheep) or baci (who handles the processing and conservation of meat and milk) have specific clothing, with very small differences by region. Among the specific elements is the clop, a hat with very small brims, or even without brims. I don't know if the man in the postcard is shepherd, but he wears such a clop.

2585 ROMANIA (Alba) - The Alba Iulia Citadel

Since 1541, the town of Alba Iulia was the capital of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, and then of the Principality of Transylvania, until 1690, when became part of the Habsburg Monarchy and was renamed Karlsburg, in honor of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor between 1711 and 1740. During his reign, between 1716 and 1735, two Swiss fortification architects built the citadel Alba Carolina, with seven bastions in a stellar shape.

2567 ROMANIA (Alba) - Oaşa Monastery

Located on the territory of Şugag village, in a isolated area at the foot of Şureanu Montains, at 1400m altitude, Oaşa Monastery is an oasis of tranquility, surrounded by forests, valleys and lakes, a perfect place for an authentic spiritual life. It is placed on the shore of the Oaşa Lake, a reservoir on the Frumoasa Valley (how is named Sebeş River before the reservoir), at the border between Alba and Sibiu counties. The nearest human settlement is situated at 40 km.