It is called a castle, to me it doesn't fit my vision of a castle
Castles have turrets and ramparts and moats 'n shit.
Ho hum, let's go with the flow, Peles, is thought by many to be one of the most visually stunning "castles" in Europe; built between 1873 and 83, for the Romanian royal family in something called the neo-renaissance German architecture. Add on bits and transformations continued until the outbreak of WW1. It continued to be used as a summer residence up until 1947, when it was seized by the communists.
I jotted down some interesting facts we were given
It was the first European castle to have electricity installed complete with its own power plant no less.Providing hot and cold running water and central
heating system.
It is quite pretty to look at, as are the many statues dotted about the grounds
Let us wander indoors and see what we can see.
The foyer, stained glass roof has a mechanical function which allows it to be fully retracted.
They had statues indoors too, some life size and others in miniature. My first thought when I saw these things was, "Fuck me think of all the dusting and polishing"
The communist dictator Ceaușescu, closed the castle and grounds to all but estate personnel and military, this lasted between 1975-1990
It had a bad case of woodworm in the 1980's but in the "areas one is allowed to visit" which isn't much given the size of the place the rooms are mostly unrestored and are original.
After a lengthy court case the estate was given back o the Romanian royal family who lease it back to the govt. to allow circa 500,000 visitors a year there are about 170 rooms and over 30 bathrooms, but only a third " the museum" bit are open to the public.
An interesting hour, but personally out of choice not my cup of tea. Those who know me know why!!
