3328 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Postcrossing Meetup, Cornu, 15 September 2018

3328 The nineth postcard of the series
"100 years since the Great Union of Romania" (9/12)
- Cornu landscape.

The previous postcard of the series "100 years since the Great Union of Romania" (8/12)

In september, on 15, the meeting of the Romanian postcrossers in the year of the Centenary of the Great Union took place in Cornu, a commune located in the northwest of Prahova County, on the middle course of the Prahova river, 90 km north of Bucharest. It was founded in 1583, by refugees fleeing from other localities in the path of wars. On its territory is the church Ascension of the Lord of the former hermitage Drăghici Spătarul (18th century, rebuilt in 1811).

2278, 3320 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Caraiman Monastery in Buşteni

3320 Caraiman Monastery (2)

Posted on 08.02.2016, 01.01.2020

Situated in town Buşteni, at the foot of the massif Caraiman, in a glade which has in its center a fir tree with a unique shape, the Caraiman Monastery is an orthodox monastery, founded in 1998 at the initiative of Father Gherontie Puiu. The Heroes' Cross erected on Caraiman Peak seems to guard the path which leads the steps of the pilgrims towards the monastery. In 2010 the monastic settlement was raised from the rank of skete, to the rank of the monastery.

2278 Caraiman Monastery (1)

The monastery has two church: a wooden one, inspired by the architecture of the churches of Maramureş, built between 1998 and 2001, and dedicated to the Assumption, and a larger one, from brick, with three steeples, built between 2002 to 2007 and dedicated to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The last has a porch with columns, from where can be seen in the opposite side of the court the bell tower, bordered by cells.

3138 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Poiana Izvoarelor Chalet

3138 Poiana Izvoarelor Chalet in 1980's

Located in the Bucegi Mountains, on the southeastern slope of the Diham Mountains, in the glade of the same name (Poiana Izvoarelor means Springs' Glade), at the edge of a beautiful fir forest, Poiana Izvoarelor Chalet (rom) (1455m) is the main starting point for many excursions to the northeast's steep of the Bucegi Mountains and to the peaks and forests of Diham. The scenery offered is worth the effort to get there. All around, the Baiu Mountains, Colţii Morarului (Miller's Fangs), and Caraiman Peak can be admired in a complete silence.

3121 ROMANIA (Prahova / Braşov / Dâmboviţa) - Bucegi Mountains

3121 Panoramic view of Bucegi Mountains
in the village of Poiana Mărului, Braşov County

The Bucegi Mountains are located at the eastern extremity of the Southern Carpathians, extending between the Prahova Valley to the east and the Rucăr-Bran Corridor and the Ialomiţa Valley to the west, and are delimited to the North by the Bârsa Depression and to the South by the Sub Carpathians of Curvature. Being of a great structural and morphological complexity, the massif appears as a natural fortress, with an enclosure suspended from 1600-2500 m, supported by strong abrupts. The highest point of the massif is the Omu Peak (2514m).

2818 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Ghighiu Monastery

Ghighiu Monastery (located at 5km from Ploieşti), is one of the few dedicated to the Life-giving Spring. The oldest testimonies about it dates from the late 16th century, when was mentioned in these places a skete of Logothete Coresi and his wife. In 1817, Măriuţa Râfoveanu and her mother Ana donate a plot of land and a part of their wealth to raise a hermitage (a wooden church and a few cells). The present church was built between 1858 and 1866.

2723 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Cota 1400 Hotel

Cota 1400 Hotel seen from Vârful Piscul Câinelui (The Dog's Peak) in 1980's

Located on the very steep slope of Bucegi Mountains toward the Prahova Valley, at the terminal of the cable car from Sinaia, on the way toward the Cota 2000, a road toward Bucegi Natural Park, at an altitude of 1400m, as the name suggests, Cota 1400 Hotel (1400 Elevation Hotel) offer, by its positioning above the resort Sinaia, a great view of the town and the Prahova Valley.

2674 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Welcome into my Brain

2674 Salvador Dali - The Three-Cornered Hat, etching #3

Under this heading were exhibited between July 22 and October 4, 2015, at Cantacuzino Castle in Buşteni, more than 200 works by Salvador Dalí (1904-1989), coming from private collections. Among them were xylography, lithographs and etchings on metal created to illustrate masterpieces of world literature (Divine Comedy, The Old Man and the Sea, Dreams of Pantagruel, The Three-Cornered Hat) and 78 engravings designed a set of Tarot cards.

2621, 2622 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Pelişor Castle in Sinaia

Part of the same complex as the larger castle of Peleş in Sinaia, Pelişor Castle was built between 1899 and 1902 by order of King Carol I, as the residence for his nephew and heir, the future King Ferdinand and his consort Queen Marie. Actually, in Romanian Pelişor is a diminutive for Peleş, in the sense of "Little Peleş". Here grown children of Ferdinand and Mary: Carol (the future King Carol II), Marioara (the future Queen of Yugoslavia), Elizabeth (future Queen of Greece) and Nicholas.

The castle (which has only 99 rooms, towards the 160 rooms of Peleş), was designed by the Czech architect Karel Liman in the Art Nouveau style. There are several chambers, working cabinets, a chapel, and "the golden room". The furniture and the interior decorations were designed mostly by the Viennese Bernhard Ludwig, but Queen Marie herself, an accomplished artist, made many of the artistic decisions about the design of the palace, and participated in its decoration, including as a painter.

2613 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Slănic Prahova

Located in the forested hills of the Sub-Carpathians, between the valley of Prahova and that of Teleajen, Slănic Prahova is known as a salt extraction center, as well as a spa town, with salt lakes. As its name (salt in Slavonic) suggests, Slănic's history are directly related to the presence of large quantities of salt underground, and even in open air. While salt is still being extracted from the New Salt Mine, the Old Mine is open to the public now, being used as a spa, amusement center and museum of the salt mining industry.

2558 ROMANIA (Prahova / Braşov) - Prahova Valley

2558 Prahova Valley: 1. The Alpine Lodge; 2. Clăbucet;
3. The Sphinx; 4. Babele; 5; Szeklers' Clearing

Prahova Valley is the valley where the Prahova river makes its way between the Bucegi and the Baiu Mountains, in the Carpathian Mountains. Geographically, the Prahova river separates the Eastern Carpathians chain from the Southern Carpathians. Historically, the corridor was the most important passageway between the principalities of Wallachia and Transylvania. The present DN1 road, linking  Bucharest, the capital of Romania, with the city of Braşov, in Transylvania, is along the Prahova Valley.

2454, 2455 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Ion Luca Caragiale (1852-1912)

2454 Portrait of Ion Luca Caragiale

Ion Luca Caragiale was short story writer, poet, theater manager, political commentator and journalist but before all this, and primarily, playwright, the greatest in Romanian language and literature. Doesn't exist in Romania theater plays more often staged than those of Caragiale, and doesn't exist Romanian who may not be able to recognize some catchphrases from his plays, entered in folklore, because even today, after more than a century, they are equally alive and relevant as when they were first presented. His characters live among us, true archetypes socio-professional, and their shortcomings are perennial and recognizable.

2455 "Ion Luca Caragiale" Museum in Ploieşti

Born on February 13 1852 into a family of Greek descent in the village of Haimanale, Prahova County (the present-day I. L. Caragiale commune, Dâmboviţa County), Caragiale was educated in Ploieşti, which he considered his hometown. In 1870 he moved to Bucharest, where, among other, he worked as prompt at the National Theater, whose manager will become later, and which today bears his name. Ion Luca made his literary debut in 1873, at the age of 21, but he writed its first play in 1878, O noapte furtunoasă, which was staged in early January 1879 by the National Theater.

2422 ROMANIA (Prahova) - The "Nicolae Grigorescu" Memorial Museum in Câmpina

2422 - 1. The "Nicolae Grigorescu" Memorial Museum in Câmpina;
2. "Peasant woman inside"; 3. "At the well"; 4. "Shepherdess sitting down".

Nicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907) is the first of the founders of modern Romanian painting, followed by Ion Andreescu and Ştefan Luchian, having become a symbol for the young generations of artists who, during the first decades of the 20th century, were striving to identify and bring to light the values of Romanian spirituality. A strong and complex temperament, lyrical through his nature, he remains also the first Romanian painter of European circulation.

2351 ROMANIA (Prahova) - St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Ploieşti

First church dedicated to St. John the Baptist was built on the site (at that time located on the town's outskirts, now in city's center) in the years 1810-1811. Being small and apparently of wood, after 30 years in the years 1840-1841 was erected in its place a brick building, slightly larger. In the early interwar period the authorities decided to erect a monument in memory of the heroes of the WWI, but also a cathedral appropriate for a city found in economic and cultural flowering as it was Ploieşti.

2202, 2203 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Buşteni

Located in the Prahova Valley (which separates the Eastern Carpathians chain from the Southern Carpathians, and was the most important passageway between the principalities of Wallachia and Transylvania), at the bottom of the Bucegi Mountains, at an average altitude of 850m, Buşteni (which means Tree-logs) is a small mountain town (8,553 inhabitants), known as one of the most popular mountain resorts, offering spectacular views, with lots of year-round tourism opportunities, ranging from skiing to mountain climbing.

Before 1782 in the area was only an inn, the first houses being built only in 1793. In 1846 began the construction of the road Câmpina-Predeal, and after 30 years was installed the railroad, which transformed the narrow place in a vital center of transport. Royal house built in the village a church (1889), and in 1887 a building for school, which functioned since 1865. In 1882, was opened here a paper mill. Also at that time began to practice skiing - thanks to which was possible the construction of the buildings of a unique beauty, that still preserved today.

1978 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Cheia

1978 Cheia: 1. Cheia Motel; 2. The town;
3. The Red Mountain; 4. Cheia Monastery

Located at 60km north of Ploieşti, in the Teleajen Valley, Cheia is a mountain resort, surrounded by Ciucaş Mountains and Zăganu Mountain. At the end of the 19th century it was a small settlement named Teleajenul, with 82 inhabitants, situated near Bratocea customs, between Romania and Austria-Hungary. Subsequently, the village took the name from the nearby monastery.

1480-1482, 1810 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Peleş Castle in Sinaia

1480 Sinaia - Peleş Castle seen from helicopter

Posted on 08.03.2015, 12.08.2015
In 1866, just months after he ascended the throne of Romanian Principalities (formed by only 7 years, by the unification of Wallachia and Moldavia, then still under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire), Carol I visited Sinaia, at that time a small village called Podul Neagului (Neagu's Bridge), and fell in love with the magnificent mountain scenery. Prince decides building a castle in a secluded and picturesque place: Piatra Arsă (The Burnt Stone). In 1872, the Crown purchased 10km2 of land and commissioned the construction of a royal hunting preserve and summer residence. The first three design plans were copies of other palaces in Western Europe, and Carol I rejected them. The german architect Johannes Schultz won the project with a plan representing a grand palatial alpine villa, combining different features of classic European styles, mostly following Italian elegance and German aesthetics.

1481 Sinaia - Peleş Castle - detail

In 1875 was laid the foundation stone of the Peleş Castle, in which are buried dozens of gold coins of 20 lei, the first Romanian coins with the image of Carol I. Works were also lead by architect Carol Benesch. Queen Elisabeth of Romania, during the construction phase, wrote in her journal: "Italians were masons, Romanians were building terraces, the Gypsies were coolies. Albanians and Greeks worked in stone, Germans and Hungarians were carpenters. Turks were burning brick. Engineers were Polish and the stone carvers were Czech. The Frenchmen were drawing, the Englishmen were measuring, and so was then when you could see hundreds of national costumes and fourteen languages in which they spoke, sang, cursed and quarreled in all dialects and tones, a joyful mix of men, horses, cart oxen and domestic buffaloes."

1810 Sinaia - Peleş Castle in winter

Construction saw a slight slowdown during the Romanian War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire in 1877-1878, but in 1883 held the official opening of the castle. Meanwhile, in 1881 the Romanian Principalities became the Kingdom of Romania, and Carol I was crowned as King. Later additions to Peleş Castel were made between 1893 and 1914 (the year of the death of King Carol I) by the Czech architect Karel Liman, who designed the towers, including the main central tower, which is 66m in height. By form and function, Peleş is a palace, but it is consistently called a castle. Its architectural style is a romantically inspired blend Neo-Renaissance and Gothic Revival similar to Schloss Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. A Saxon influence can be observed in the interior courtyard facades. Interior decoration is mostly Baroque influenced, with heavy carved woods and exquisite fabrics.

1482 Sinaia - Peleş Castle - Sala Mare De Arme (The Grand Armory)

The location of the castle wasn't random. Not far away, in Predeal, was at that time the border between Romania and Austria Hungary. Later, after the unification of Transylvania with the Kingdom, the castle came to be located right in the heart of the country. It has hosted many personalities of the time, writers, musicians, and kings and queens, and also important political meetings, such as some Crown Councils. Here was born, in 1893, the future King Carol II, the first king of the dynasty born on Romanian soil and baptized in the Orthodox religion. In 1921, in the Foişor Huntin was born his son, King Mihai I. The castle remained a royal residence until 1948, when it was confiscated by the communist regime. In 2007, the Romanian government returned the castle to Mihai I, which has decided to retain the museum quality of the castle, leaving it in the tourist circuit.

1798-1799, 1803 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Cantacuzino Castle in Buşteni

1798 Cantacuzino Castle from Buşteni (1)

Posted on 01.08.2015, 10.08.2015
Located in  Buşteni, a small mountain town in the Prahova Valley, at the bottom of the Bucegi mountains (in the Southern Carpathians), Cantacuzino Castle is a remarkable example of Neo-Romanian style, completed in 1911. The building made of bricks and stone was built at the wish of Prince Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino (known as "the Nabob" because of its fabulous wealth - prime minister of Romania between 1899-1900 and 1904-1907), after the plans of the architect Gregory Cerchez, former Chief Engineer of Bucharest (the capital of Romania) between 1876 and 1879.

1799 Cantacuzino Castle from Buşteni (2)

The castle holds an unique collection representing the coat of arms of the boyar families related to the Cantacuzino family members of the Wallachian side. The Cantacuzino family, a princely family of  Wallachia, Moldavia and Russia, claims descent from a branch of the Greek Kantakouzenos family, descended from the Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (reigned 1347-1354). The castle belonged to this family until the forced nationalization of 1948, when it became a sanatorium for the Ministry of Internal Affair. After 1989, it was returned to Cantacuzino descendants, who sold it to private investors in 2004. The castle underwent restoration work and today it is open to the public.

1803 Cantacuzino Castle from Buşteni, few years after the construction.

 

The decorations give the interior a strong romantic ambiance .The stained glasses, the stucco marble, the cantilevers, the exposed painted ceilings, the wooden, stone or forged iron handrails, the iron work cast in brass and richly decorated are exquisitely crafted. The fireplaces made of white stone and bearing polychrome mosaics complete the atmosphere of a manorial residence, increasing the value of the building. The castle is surrounded by a park who’s alleys take you to the grotto, cascades and fountains.