This trip will be to an old citadel in a mountain area. I hope you will enjoy it :).

First, we will have to hike a bit to get to the citadel, called Rașnov citadel. The place is up on a hill; that’s why I said we would hike. The fortress has a long history that goes back to Dacian times before they were conquered by Romans.

Before I start to tell you a bit about the citadel’s history, I will show you some pictures so you can visualize the place first.

Now, getting back to the history of the citadel. Teutonic knights were brought in the XIII century in the old city. They built another fortress on the old one. The fort is supposed to be made between 1211-1225. But the first time the citadel is mentioned in an official document was in 1335, when the Tartar invasion happened, all the region was destroyed.

In 1421 the fortress was under Ottoman siege for the first time. But the Ottomans fail to conquer it.

Rașnov Citadel is again under siege between 1436 and 1441, but the Ottomans fail to conquer it.

The only time that the citadel was conquered was in 1612 by the army of Gabriel Bathory, but not because the walls didn’t resist it because the army of Bathory blocked access to a secret spring outside the fortress.

The people from Rașnov got back their fortress a year later after they paid a ransom to Gabriel Bathory.

In the fortress, there were no springs or fountains. So after the fort was conquered, the Rașnov people decided to make a fountain inside the fortress. In 1623 they started to dig the fountain used till in 1850. Here is a picture of how it is looking now.

The fortress also suffered from natural events, like the earthquake from 1802 that destroyed some of its towers.

Even if the fortress wasn’t in the best condition, some people sought refuge during the revolution from 1848-1849 when Rașnov was crossed by the Hungarian army.

In 1940 another earthquake damaged the citadel. Between 1955-1956 the fortress was renovated.

In 2003 in the citadel was found a small treasure under a tower that was destroyed many years ago, were found 3 tin cups, weapons, iron tools, stone cannonballs, ceramics, a golden hairpin, and 416 silver coins.

In the fortress many movies were filmed, Romanian movies but not only. Movies like “Nemuritorii”,” Dacii”,”Mihai Viteazul”,” Columna” ,”Could Mountain”.

Now the fortress can be visited and also you can buy some souvenirs and see some old weapons plus a great view panoramic view from the fort. I hope you will enjoy the pictures.