Vlad the Impaler death is one of the controvert subjects about him. What we certainly know is he died at the end of 1476, in a battle against the Turks, somewhere around Bucharest, but the cause of his death it remains unknown. The location of the battle is still an open debate. Some people say it was North…
Christmas in Romania is unique. Ancient times customs are piously kept at the countryside. There are more then 2000 year-old customs from our Dacian ancestors mixed or overlapped with Christian’s traditions. And it isn’t only the Christmas Day. It’s a long row of holidays about. Each one with its own meaning, customs, stories and superstitions….
The bear dance can be seen on New Year’s Eve only in Moldavia. Its origin are older than 2000 yers and it’s very similar to the Goat dance. It is said that it drives away the evil spirits and this way the new year what comes will be cleaned up. So, you can watch the…
While there is just one true Mamaliga, made only from boiled salt water and cornmeal (always yellow, period!), there are several other Romanian dishes based it, or that include it in some way. Historically, Romanians ate this golden bread (made from cornmeal) as a replacement to bread made from wheaten flour. It was inexpensive, easy…
Is Poienari a castle or a fortress? Glancing an eye from the road it looks like a castle. But a castle is supposed to be a place for living. And nobody can find such place inside. So, it’s a fortress. But it’s strange. Going up you’ll see it’s so small that 500 people hardly can find…
To assure himself that Vlad the Impaler doesn’t cross the Danube River again, the Sultan Mehmed II sent ahead an army of 18,000 men under the command of Mahmud Pasha the Greek. But Mahmud invaded Wallachia, plundered and enslaved. Vlad The Impaler gathered 4000 men (his mercenary and servant army) and waited for him near…
We have little information about the life of the young Dracula. Historians suppose he was born either at the end of 1430, in Nuremberg or at the beginning of 1431, in Sighisoara. It is known for sure that his father, Vlad II, starting with January 1431, lived in Sighisoara. Like his father, in the early…
The Transfagarasan road starts (from south to north) in Curtea de Arges and goes up crossing the tallest Romanians mountains, called the Fagaras Mountains in our books or the Transylvanian Alps in foreigner’s references. After a spectacular section where the Transfagarasan road fights with the mountain slopes like a huge snake searching for its prey,…
As a matter of fact pasca is a kind of pie. The term “matzoth” that I found in my dictionary for this pie is totally wrong. So I can call it rather Easter cake or Easter pie cause is cooked for Easter (only in few places at countryside it’s also cooked for Saint George’s day…
The Army of Vlad the Impaler counted about 4ooo paid soldiers. The boyars had about 100-200 paid soldiers each one (meaning a total of about 4000). The total of 8000 permanent soldiers (even 10000) couldn’t face the professional Ottoman army. Moreover, the “greater army” summoned only in case of invasion (25000-30000) was mostly formed by…