The Rasnov Medieval Fortress

Last weekend, Ica, Victor and I took a little trip down the road (about 10 miles) to the town of Rasnov. Perched high above Rasnov is a 14th century Saxon fortress. Rasnov was originally called "Rosenauer" by its ethnic German settlers and inhabitants. The fortress was left to decay for many years until an Italian business man came along recently and bought it. It is undergoing renovation, the most recent of which are lights that illuminate the fortress. At night, one can see it from the road when driving from Codlea to Brasov.

The fortress is developing into a unique tourist destination and, in my humble opinion, is much more interesting than Bran Castle. A little town, or "burg", used to exist inside the wall of the fortress and its Saxon residents defended the area against Turkish, and sometimes Wallachian invaders. Invading armies had to get past Rasnov in order to get to Brasov when they came through the southern pass from the Wallachian plain. From what I know, they didn't have much success. This thing is one hell of a fortification. It would have been very difficult to lay siege to it.

Anyway, let's take a look shall we?

The view from the parking lot. It was a long, icy approach to the front door. I wonder how many Turks and Vlachs died trying to get inside?

Victor and Ica looking very Russian. It was chilly that day.

The path to get in. You can see the town down below in the background, backed by the plain. We live in an area called "Tara Barsei" or Barsa Land, which is a high plateau surrounded by various mountain ranges.

A view of Rasnov down below from the "front door". From the town, one can climb up a steep path of switchbacks to get to the fortress. However, we drove up the backside to get there.

A little info in English. The "feudal noblemen" were Vlachs from the south or, simply put, Romanians. Remember, this area was not officially part of Romania until after World War I.

Victor checking out some swords and battle axes. There's a museum inside the inner defense walls.

A suit of armor from the medieval era of battle. This one's a replica though.

Some 16th Century pistols. How about the one with the axe handle on it? Some insurance in case you couldn't load the gunpowder fast enough...

An old Romanian Orthodox Slavonic bible. Old Slavonic was (and I think still may be) the official language of the Orthodox church.

A view of the town and plain below from inside the inner defense wall. There are plenty of openings from which the defenders shot arrows, crossbows, harquebuses (big ass medieval guns), cannons, dropped hot tar, etc. Again, who in their right mind would try a frontal attack this thing?

Ica and Victor under the gate of one of the corner towers. I think that this tower was for observation and storage of arms.

Walking under the corner tower and out of the inner fortress into a large courtyard area that I think used to have a church in it, but I'm not sure. This area is exposed, but still located within the outer defense walls.

A view of the ruins inside the inner fortress. Up high is an observation point that gives a 360 degree panoramic view of the fortress and surrounding area.

A view looking south towards the foothills of the Bucegi Mountains from the high point of the inner fortress.

Another view from the panoramic high point, this time looking northeast down on the town and out towards the Barsa Plain.

Again from the panoramic high point. Here you can see the outer wall, buttressed by a gate and defense towers.


Click here for a video clip of the 360 view at the top:



An intimate look into medieval life in Southwestern Transylvania. Woe be the Turk who was captured. Ouch. Looks like the torture business was alive and well back in those days.









The guy down below dining amongst the field of impalees is none other than our hero Vlad "Dracul" Tepes. He liked to have company at dinner, preferably Turkish prisoners on stakes.

























I hope you enjoyed the tour. Visit the Rasnov fortress if you ever find yourself in the Brasov area. I highly recommend it.