This is my second post on the magnificent Peles Castle in Sinaia. The beautiful blue sky made the perfect backdrop for this outstanding site and so I link this post to SkyWatch Friday.
The statue in the first image is King Carol I, under whose reign the country gained its independence. He commissioned the building of this summer palace. He was Romania's longest serving monarch, and he died and was buried there in 1914.
Sinaia, Romania, 2011
[click on images to see wonderful details of construction]
The wife of King Carol, Queen Elisabeth, was quite a personality herself. She wrote this in her journal while the castle was being built:
I'll be sharing more photos of the interior tomorrow.
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.And we have the impression globalization is a recent phenomena? Migration is as old as these hills and will never stop.
I'll be sharing more photos of the interior tomorrow.
20 comments:
beautiful skyscaoe to complement the magnificent architecture.
Antiquity against such gorgeous blue skies and creative clouds! Loved the diary note about each nationality's role.
Nicely done. Happy Skywatch Friday!
Quite a fairytale feel to this place. I loved the diary extract.
Beautiful collection of photos. Happy sky watching!
Liz @ A Simple Life
Terrific post for the day, Francisca! Gorgeous photos and I do love those vivid blue, blue skies! Perfect backdrop! Really enjoyed reading the extract from Queen Elisabeths diary! Great history! Hope your week has gone well and that you have a wonderful weekend!
Sylvia
Fabulous, Francisca. Queen Elisabeth sounds like a woman after my own heart, interested in construction! And I love the statue in the fourth photo, the one of the young man lounging. He almost looks alive. (Which makes me think of Browning's poem "My Last Duchess"!)
— K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
a most interesting post Francisca. the Queen's diary is a treasure! and your blue skies are lovely. happy SWF!
Interesting post, Francisca. Yes indeedy! Humans have migrated from place to place for eons. How cool that King Carol's Queen Elizabeth wrote it down in her diary!
How wonderful that she thought it was a "joyful mix".
And what a fascinating looking castle.
The murals in the third picture are interesting; the man painted on almost looks real!
Beautiful sky shots!
My Sky shots, have a great weekend ahead!
Love this post Francisca! And you are right migration happened long time ago ^_^
SWF
Very truly magnificent castle and sculptures. Last shot is awesome.
What wonderful shots. Amazingly lovely architecture.
Making me sigh again in the morning...
A delightful post altogether. Beautiful castle, skies and mountains and some interesting history thrown in.
Beautiful sky, beautiful castle and beautiful photos!
Have a nice weekend:)
I like this blog post! Beautiful architecture, sexy statue with very nice legs, and blue skies! And the bit of history about the diverse people who built this was really interesting :D
A terrific series of pictures. I especially like the way you composed the first one with the statue taking center stage...
That's a castle I'd like to watch being built!
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