Bucharest
The Village Museum (Muzeul Satului in Romanian) is an open-air ethnographic museum located in the Herăstrău Park (Bucharest, Romania), showcasing traditional Romanian village life. The museum extends to over 100,000 m2, and contains 272 authentic peasant farms and houses from all over Romania.
It was created in 1936 by Dimitrie Gusti, Victor Ion Popa, and Henri H. Stahl.
There are other “village museums” throughout Romania, including ASTRA National Museum Complex in Sibiu, and those of Cluj-Napoca, Râmnicu-Vâlcea, Timișoara, a.s.o.
The National Museum “George Enescu” was opened in the Cantacuzino Palace, one of the most beautiful buildings in Bucharest, a historical monument and one of the European Heritage Label buildings.The sumptuous entrance, in Art Nouveau style, announces the luxury and the refinement of the époque, reunited in one of the most imposing palaces in Bucharest.
The permanent exhibition of the museum includes three rooms of the palace, displaying photographs, manuscripts, various documents, diplomas, medals, drawings, sculptures, musical instruments, costumes, furniture, decorative art, personal objects, a casting of the artist’s hands and his mortuary mask.
The originary atmosphere has been recreated in the intimacy of the austere memorial house, which is also opened for visitors.
Transfagarasan Highway connects Muntenia with Transylvania, crossing the Fagaras Mountains, the highest mountains in Romania, which are part of the Southern Carpathians. The Transfagarasan was built between 1970 and 1974 at the personal orders of Nicolae Ceausescu and had, in reality, a strategic purpose, preparing for a possible invasion by the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), which fortunately, had never taken place. Following the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet troops, in 1968, Romania was a target of the Red Army. Until its construction, the Fagaras Mountains could not be crossed, in that area, not even on horse.
Hundreds of people, civilians and military have worked and died in the process of digging in the mountains and creating the existing road today. They worked continuously for 4 years, regardless of season and time of day or night. After the work was done, the paving of the road started, and the route today as we know it was completed only in 1980. In memory of those who gave their lives for the construction of Transfagarasan and those who participated in construction of the route were built two monuments: the Gate of the Genists and the Meeting Gate.
The first part of the Transfagarasan passes through the Vidraru hydroelectric plant located underground in the Cetatea Valley massif, and from here, near the Poenari Fortress, the road climbs up to coils and viaducts, passing through 3 shorter tunnels and reaching the Vidraru Dam. When it was finished, measured at height, the dam ranked 8th in Europe and 20th in the world. Thousands of people drilled 42 km long underground galleries, excavated one million cubic meters of underground rock, poured nearly one million cubic meters of concrete, and human sacrifices cost over 80 lives.
The road is open only between July 1st and October 31st, every year. The recommended speed to drive by car on Transfagarasan is 40 km per hour, this speed is imposed due to the numerous coils.
In winter, the road is officially open on the southern slope up to the Piscul Negru complex, km 104 - Arges county, and on the northern slope to the Balea-Cascada chalet, km 131, Sibiu county. Very important to know is that during the winter many stone falls occur in the area of the Meeting Gate, right before entering the Balea Glacier. The gates of the Balea-Capra tunnel are closed in winter. During the summer, restrictions on the dark period are imposed (22:00 - 6:00).
Vidraru Dam is one of the most famous tourist attractions on the Transfagarasan, built in 1965, with a height of over 160 meters. Vidraru Dam is one of the most imposing man-made structures, with impressive sightseeings that cannot be missed.
Also known as Iezer Waterfall, Capra Waterfall is located on the southern slope of Fagaras, at an altitude of 1960 meters. The waterfall is supplied from the glacier lake and it has over 40 meters.
The most popular tourist destination on the Transfagarasan, Balea Lac is a glacier lake, and the surrounding area has been declared a nature reserve for scientific research. During winter, near the lake, the Ice Hotel is set up with a bar area and a church, all built from huge blocks of ice removed from the lake.
A new concept in Romania, Tiriac Collection represents the exhibition of cars and motorcycles of Mr. Ion Tiriac. Reopened to the public in May 2015, the collection includes over 150 historical vehicles manufactured since 1899, but also performant cars, with a current design. Visitors will find the only collection in the world with the 6 Rolls Royce Phantom produced until 1972, as well as exhibits that previously belonged to great names such as Sir Elton John, Sammy Davis Jr. or Bernie Ecclestone.