A Weekend Around Transylvania Beginning With Rasnov Fortress
Our first weekend off and the group headed out early Saturday morning in two vehicles driven by Andre and Peter. Peter and Corrine were the host family to Julie and Erin and Peter spoke very little English. Corrine instructed Julie, ..."Julie, if you see something you want to photograph, tell Peter - Peter, stop...stop...stop...and he will understand you." Who knows how many times Corrine drilled those few English words into Peter's head. A lot of places to see in two days: Rasnov Fortress, Sighisoara, and Peles Castle. The countryside is really beautiful and soon we arrived at Rasnov Fortress. Don't bother going to Epcot or Disney World...Romania has the real thing...one medieval site after another, each just waiting for Mel Brook's to film Young Frankenstein, or Dracula lurking down one of the cobblestoned passageways. Completely intriguing.
This gigantic Rasnov defensive fortress was built in the 13th century and had ramparts, towers and bulwarks. A perfect place to take refuge during a siege. We visited the museum with interesting old artifacts including a skeleton buried beneath a glass floor, secret passages, very old weaponry, and gruesome ancient etchings showing the various ways of impaling people, etc.
The courtyard was the most fun. There were old stocks, wagons, and one place that prisoners were manacled (or cuffed) to hang in the center of the square. Ah...the good old days...
Another fun tidbit of information revolved around a very deep well, also in the couryard. During one long siege, two captured Turkish soldiers were used to dig this well that would give the villagers fresh drinking water. Supposedly, it took them 32 years to finish and even though they were assured they'd be given their freedom...(yeah, right)...they were killed. No one knows if their bodies were left in the bottom of the well or not, but the lucky villagers now had fresh water to outlast any siege and Rasnov gained fame as unconquerable.
Time to move on to Sighisoara...
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