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The small town of Râșnov, about a half hour from Braşov, makes a popular day trip combined with Bran Castle. The main reason to visit is the dramatically set medieval citadel. Râșnov is known as Rosenau in German and Barcarozsnyó in Hungarian.
Citadel
Râșnov Citadel was built between 1211 and 1225 by Teutonic knights and was only conquered once in its history. I made the long climb up the top to find it closed earlier than it was supposed to, so unfortunately, I was unable to enter. The citadel is currently closed for restoration (as of September 2024), but the garden and lower part of the fortress are open to visitors free of charge. There’s also a funicular up to the top if you don’t want to walk. A round-trip ride is 30 lei for adults and 20 lei for children while riding up only is 20 lei for adults and 15 lei for children (as of September 2024). The citadel is open daily.
The citadel has a very interesting legend attached to it. According to the legend, two Ottoman soldiers were sentenced to dig a well and were promised freedom when it was finished. It took them 17 years and instead of being released, they were killed.
Not seeing the citadel wasn’t a total loss because the views were spectacular. It’s no wonder the site was chosen as the setting for the movie Cold Mountain.
Just underneath the citadel is a Hollywood-style sign spelling out the name of the town. You can see the entire town and countryside from the sign.
Around Town
The town itself isn’t very interesting but has some nice buildings, especially around Union Square (Piața Unirii) and the Evangelical Church.
Getting There
Buses from Brașov’s Autogară 2 leave often and take about a half hour to make the trip to Râșnov. On the way back, buses were full but I was able to hitch a ride back to Brașov for the same price as the bus.
