There are a lot of castles in Romania. The sad part is, that most of them are in ruins and there is not much to see really on them. I have, however, been planning a visit to one castle in the country which is not in ruins… in fact it is in a quite good shape: the Corvinus Castle in Hunedoara. The castle belonged to the Corvinus family, which is very important in the history of both Romanian/Hungarian (Hunyadi János) and especially in Hungarian history (King Mátyás I). Apart from this great heritage the castle itself has a very imposing structure with excellent medieval aspect still admirable today.
The really big challenge of the whole trip was getting there: although 190kms should not be a problem by car nowadays (from Cluj to Hunedoara), here in our beloved country it can be a challenge. I was really thinking about organizing maybe a two day trip and sleep somewhere in the area for the night and maybe add another POI in the region to make the trip worthwhile. In the end I went for the single day trip and also added another POI (which I will describe in a separate post). I calculated 3 hours for the road (one way), but it is actually easily doable in about 2:45 hours following the E81 then E68 roads from Cluj. Basically we started off at 10:30AM and arrived to Hunedoara at 13:15PM.
To actually find the castle in Hunedoara is really easy: just follow the BIG signs (at last I saw an attraction in Romania which had big signs directing visitors to it). The castle can actually be observed from a distance, so there is no need to follow signs after a while… Just get there once you see it (mind the holes on the street-roads) and park the car anywhere on the street (which is free :D). Although parking on the street should be safe, we did not leave anything within the car at sight (take your phones with you, and your luggage in the trunk).
The entry fee into the castle is 10 RON (€2.40) for adults (5 RON for children) and there is also a photo fee of 5 RON if you wish to take photos (believe me, you wish 😉 ). There are also restrooms within the castle walls (I think this is useful info 😛 ) .
To get a classic full trip of the castle: just start with the sign which says “ENTRANCE”. I am only saying this, because we did not 🙂 and to be honest it might have been a better idea… From that point visit the castle history-room, then the “Mátyás wing” above. If you have the chance visit the chapel (sadly when we were there it was closed) then move on to the Dieta-hall (really cool 🙂 ) and then the towers. Be sure you visit some of the less renovated parts also in the Bethlen-wing. Include the knights’ hall in your visit, then visit the fountain and the bears pit. In any case, all main areas have information tables giving ample description about the items that the curious tourist is looking at, so simply make sure you get all of the hidden corners of the castle. It can be a great opportunity for photographers also: I am sure the castle presents various angles for making some wild photos, just go look for them 🙂 …
It is hard to describe the place accurately. It is better to just go and see, the trip is really-really worth it, even if it is the only place one visits in the area. The thing that it is a real plus to the whole story, is that the state of the castle is in constant development: even at the time of our visit, people were working non-stop on the full restoration of the castle, so I guess in a few years it will get to be a truly majestic place to visit attracting lots and lots of visitors from all over the world 🙂
I have uploaded some of the photos I have taken to my Picasa account.
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