Sinaia Sights

You simply cant visit Sinaia without seeing Castle Peles. Perched upon a
rolling hill and set against the stark beauty of the Carpathian mountains, this
magnificent castle appears to be extracted directly from a Grimm Brothers fairy tale.
The first king of Romania, Carol I, visited Sinaia in 1866 to stay at the monastery, and
fell in love with the place. Seven years later he bought the grounds and had Wilhelm
Doderer, a German architect, build the palace in 1873 as a retreat from the summer heat
in Bucharest. After the work was done in 1883, Carol immediately ordered an
expansion to be built, finished in 1914. Visitors can view a large collection of European
arms from the past five centuries and explore exotic rooms, decorated by artists from all
over Europe. Some rooms are meant to be replicas of Turkish and Moorish castle halls,
others are simply decorated in German Neo-Renaissance style. Tour guides are quick
to point out that Peles was the first castle in Europe to have both electricity and central
heating.
Just up the road is Pelisor Castle (Little Peles), built between 1899 1902
and inhabited by Ferdinand, King Carols cousin, and his wife Marie. Marie had her
own idea about how to decorate castles, and set to design Pelisors interior in a simple
Art Deco style. Especially impressive is the Golden Room, where gold leaves cover the
walls and ceiling. Both Peles and Pelisor are open Wednesday 11:00-17:00, and
Thursday-Sunday 09:00-17:00. Two tours of Peles are available, one costing 50 lei for
adults, 12.50 lei for children, and a longer tour costing 70 lei for adults, 17.50 lei for
children. To visit Pelisor costs an extra 20 lei for adults, 5 lei for children. Note that the
last tour of Peles begins at 15:00. After that you will only be admitted to the ground
floor.
The main attraction of Sinaias raison detre, the 17th century monastery
(named after the biblical Mount Sinai) is the old church inside the monastery walls,
built between 1690 1695. The frescoes in the portal depicting Judgement Day are
stunning. On the left, happy believers wait in line to enter paradise, while to the right
little devils drag sinners into a river of fire leading to the mouth of a dragon. In the far
corner of the monastery, you can enter the Paraclis, a chapel once used by monks for
daily services. The frescoes here are more than 300 years old, and the sign on the
iconostasis kindly requests visitors not to scratch their names into the valuable walls
as you will see, some people just couldnt resist the temptation. Next to the old part of
the monastery is the bigger new church, built by monks under the supervision of Abbot
Iosaf from 1842-1846. It is a perfect example of Romanian religious architecture
which blends certain stylistic elements from Moldavia and Wallachia. This amazing
house of worship displays ornately carved oak objects and beautiful Neo-Byzantine
gold leaf murals.
A small museum and a shop which sells religious icons and literature are also
open to the public, although during winter they keep irregular hours. Best to come
between 10:00-15:00 and hope for the best.