Rășnov Citadel

Rășnov

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Rasnov Citadel (Rosenau in German), is located on a rocky hilltop in the Carpathian mountains, 200m above the town of Rasnov in Romania. It is 15 km southwest of Brasov and also about 15 km from Bran Castle. The fortress is on the Bran Pass, a trade route connecting Wallachia with Transylvania. The view from the top of the castle hill is spectacular.

The first written record for the fortress is from 1331, and when the Tartars invaded in 1335, Rasnov Citadel was already strong enough to offer resistance. The castle has an upper and lower section, with polygonal perimeter walls reaching an average height of 5m. The east side is the most heavily fortified, and the walls on both that side as well as the northwest side are doubled. The defenses include 9 towers, 2 bastions, and a drawbridge. As Turkey and Austria battled over Transylvania, arms were stockpiled in the defense corridors at the walls.

The last siege of Rasnov Citadel took place in 1690 during the last Turkish invasion of Transylvania. It was damaged by fire in 1718 and rebuilt the following year. The next major damage occurred as the result of an earthquake in 1802. The fortress was last used as a place of refuge during the revolution of 1848, and was abandoned after that. Reconstruction is currently being undertaken at the fortress.

Rășnov

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Culture & History, Tourism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

 

2 Responses to “Rășnov Citadel”

  1. Elcoj Says:

    Hello,
    Thank you! I would now go on this blog every day!
    Elcoj

  2. Daniel Says:

    Hi Elcoj,

    Would you mind me asking how you find out about the site and where you’re from?

    Thanks for your comment.

    Daniel

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