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| 1480 - Peleş Castle seen from helicopter |
In 1866, just months after he ascended the throne of Romanian Principalities (formed by only 7 years, by the unification of Wallachia and Moldavia, then still under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire), Carol I visited Sinaia, at that time a small village called Podul Neagului (Neagu's Bridge), and fell in love with the magnificent mountain scenery. Prince decides building a castle in a secluded and picturesque place: Piatra Arsă (The Burnt Stone). In 1872, the Crown purchased 10km2 of land and commissioned the construction of a royal hunting preserve and summer residence. The first three design plans were copies of other palaces in Western Europe, and Carol I rejected them. The german architect Johannes Schultz won the project with a plan representing a grand palatial alpine villa, combining different features of classic European styles, mostly following Italian elegance and German aesthetics.
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| 1481 - Peleş Castle - detail |
In 1875 was laid the foundation stone of the Peleş Castle, in which are buried dozens of gold coins of 20 lei, the first Romanian coins with the image of Carol I. Works were also lead by architect Carol Benesch. Queen Elisabeth of Romania, during the construction phase, wrote in her journal: "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."
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| 1482 - Peleş Castle - Sala Mare De Arme (The Grand Armory) |
Construction saw a slight slowdown during the Romanian War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire in 1877-1878, but in 1883 held the official opening of the castle. Meanwhile, in 1881 the Romanian Principalities became the Kingdom of Romania, and Carol I was crowned as King. Later additions to Peleş Castel were made between 1893 and 1914 (the year of the death of King Carol I) by the Czech architect Karel Liman, who designed the towers, including the main central tower, which is 66m in height. By form and function, Peleş is a palace, but it is consistently called a castle. Its architectural style is a romantically inspired blend Neo-Renaissance and Gothic Revival similar to Schloss Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. A Saxon influence can be observed in the interior courtyard facades. Interior decoration is mostly Baroque influenced, with heavy carved woods and exquisite fabrics.
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