When taking the national road from Brașov to Sighișoara, you can’t help notice two monuments that remind you of the rich medieval history of Transylvania. The first is the peasant fortress of Rupea, and the other is the clock tower of Saschiz. The latter is a replica of the clock tower in Sighișoara, present in […]

The Hunyad or Corvin dynasty is as disputed among Romanians and Hungarians as Transylvania itself. This North-Western province of Romania was for many centuries either part of Hungary or subject to the Hungarian crown, but is demographically vastly Romanian. As was the case with Britain under the Normans, Transylvania had a Romanian population and a […]

In a city that is like a labyrinth of canals and bridges, with old and interesting houses at every corner, there is still a place where everybody is rushing to. Ant that is Piazza San Marco, the place where it all happens. Perfectly enclosed by the public buildings of Procuratie, the square directs the attention […]

In the poetic scenery of Venice, where every building seems to be dressed up for the carnival, the bell tower in Piazza San Marco is the only skyscraper. Piercing the sky with its austere and simplistic look, is in dissonance with the rest of the setting. Compared with the bells and whistles of Saint Mark’s […]

St Mark’s cathedral is the most precious building in Venice, in front of which lays the famous plaza, where all tourists meet. It is connected with the other representative construction on the lagoon, Doge’s Palace, for which it once functioned as a private chapel. The golden interior of this cathedral is simply breathtaking. The 8.000 […]

You would not be able to tell it has a Gothic structure on the inside, from the unsuspecting, modest Baroque facade. That is a later addition and its flat low height wall only makes the church blend in with the rest of the buildings on the street. On the inside, the height of the church […]

Religious architecture is not only indicative of a community’s spiritual fervor, but also of its economical and technological status. For a thousand years, after the decay of Rome, Constantinople was the religious and economical capital of the world. And Hagia Sophia remained the largest religious building on the face of the Earth. Than even the […]

Though the place was assigned to Italians, the name Minoritenkirche does not signify the church of minorities, but is reminiscent of a Latin expression with which Francis of Assisi called his followers. “Fratres minores” meant “the little brothers”, or even the modest brothers, as the order emphasized poverty, humility and social involvement. The French Gothic […]

Unfortunately, as the church was under restoration process, I only have some modest pictures from the outside of this Gothic wonder. Though built in the middle of the XIX century, the Votive Church integrates very well in a city that takes great pride in its medieval heritage. The architect Heinrich von Ferstel, who was only […]

Though it seems that Vlad The Impaler never used it as his usual home, the myth of the vampire-king made Bran the tourist attraction with most foreigners in Romania. And since we are not sure for how long this construction shall maintain its public destination as a museum, the castle should definitely not be missed […]

The elegant Lutheran cathedral in Salzburg is a testimony of endurance after a turbulent time. It was built in 1867, by the local protestant community after the shock of the religious cleansing a century before. In 1731, the followers of Martin Luther’s Reform movement were forced to leave the city and their possessions by the […]