This post is based on articles posted on www.RomaniaTourism.net and www.travelmakertours.com.
I have launched a violin and piano recital programme dedicated to Romanian music, named 'Romania With Love', and I think there are a few interesting facts that offer a better picture about my beautiful mother country.
What is Romania about?
Romania is a fascinating country, well known for its beauty.
Carpathian mountains cross the country from its North side to its Centre and East side, in a ring-like shape. Some of the country's forests and the Danube Delta have been preserved, in order to protect the natural wildlife and vegetation. The Danube river is a natural border with Serbia and Bulgaria, and it empties itself into the Black Sea, through the Delta.
In terms of society, Romania is one of the countries that still holds on to its traditional values and countryside life style.
Nature and countryside villages have always been an inspiration for the natives and for the visitors, and so it has been for me as a musician who has lived there.
A Flourishing Monarchy
Romania was a constitutional monarchy from 1881 to 1947, when the country was declared a socialist republic. During its monarchy time in 1918, the old Romanian counties united under the name of Great Romania.
Between 1920- 1930 Romania was one of the most developed agricultural countries in Europe with a quick expansion in its oil industry.
Since the falling of the Communism in 1989, the Royal Family has become more and more active in representing Romania in international affairs. As a close friend of the European monarchies, the Royal Family under King Michael I have contributed to Romania's NATO and European Union membership.
After King Michael's death on December 5th 2017 at age of 96, the Romanian Crown's custody has been offered to His daughter, Her Majesty Margareta of Romania.
Over time, Romanians have felt closer to the Royal Family by sharing the same values, respect towards the elders and responsibility towards the future generations. King Michael emphasised this in His Majesty's Parliament speech on His 90th anniversary:
'I see today’s Romania not as an inheritance from our parents, but as a country we have received on loan from our children.
So help us God!'
Romania And the British Royal Family
King Charles III is quoted saying “Maybe people do not see it, but Romania is a wonderful country. Remarkable people live here who will not give up. They have gone through terrible experience that affected them greatly: the two world wars and all the sufferings endured from World War II until now.”
He continued “These people have been through a lot, they have seen much suffering, destruction, and their lives have been destroyed. We owe it to find a path for a better future that they should preserve their culture, traditions and values.”
On his first visit to Transylvania in 1998, the King was immediately struck by the precious legacy of this area and said he was "totally overwhelmed by its unique beauty and its extraordinarily rich heritage." Ever since his first visit, the King Charles III has invested a lot of time and effort into promoting the entire Transylvanian area with all its key aspects.
In 2015, The Prince of Wales Foundation Romania was officially launched. Its aim is to preserve the architecture of the old buildings, and enable the natives to sustain themselves financially by building and repairing their own houses, as well as making and selling their traditional manufacture products.
Few interesting facts
Bigăr Cascade Falls in Caraș-Severin county, (South-East Romania) has been voted as number one by The World Geography.
Photo credit Eugen Marculescu
The Danube river's flow spreads around 1,788 miles long, from Germany’s Black Forest mountains to the Black Sea. Just before reaching the sea, the river forms the second largest and best preservedEurope’s deltas: 2,200 square miles of rivers, canals, marshes, tree-fringed lakes and reed islands.
Photo credit www.eco-romania.ro
The Carpathian mountains are home to one of the largest virgin forests in Europe. 400 unique species of mammals, including the Carpathian chamois, call the Carpathian Mountains home. 60% of European brown bear population lives in the Carpathian Mountains.
The tallest wooden church in the world, and the second tallest wooden structure in Europe, can be found in Sapanța Peri, Maramureș of north-western Romania. It has a 23 foot tall cross that weighs 1,000 lbs, on top of the 257 foot tall church.
Photo credit www.pure-romania.com
The Voronet monastery in Moldavia, unique for its blue colour, is dubbed as the Romanian counterpart of the Sistine Chapel.
Photo credit www.wikipedia.org
The Romanian “Merry Cemetery” of Sapanta, a tiny village in the Valley of Maramures is unlike any other cemetery in the world. This graveyard presents a very unusual and different way to look at death. Each of its gravestones is carved in cheerful colours and darkly-humorous poems that offer a glimpse into the lives of the dead.
Photo credit www.c1.staticflickr.com
Romania’s Astra Museum in Sibiu is the second-largest outdoor museum in the world. It features more than 300 buildings as well as watermills and windmills, gigantic presses for wine, fruit and oil, hydraulic forges and more.
Source www.muzeulastra.ro
Peleș Castle, Royal residency till 1947, was the first European castle entirely lit by electrical current. The electricity was produced by the castle’s own plant. The castle’s central heating system, built in 1888, is still functional and in use today.
Source www.peles.ro
The city of Brașov is home to the largest Gothic church between Vienna, Austria and Istanbul, Turkey.
Photo Source: Dreamstime.com
The name “Romania” comes from the Latin word “Romanus” which means “citizen of the Roman Empire.”
Romania is Europe’s richest country in gold resources.
Romania is the ninth largest wine producer in the world.
The Romanian language is 1,700 years old.
The earliest Homo sapiens fossils, up to now, were discovered in 2002 in south-western Romania, in the Cave of Bones. The fossil’s age is estimated at 37,800 to 42,000 years old.
Romania was a source of inspiration for two very famous novels: “The Castle in the Carpathians” by Jules Verne, and “Dracula” by Bram Stoker.
The archetypal vampire Count Dracula, created by Bram Stoker, was inspired by the Romanian prince Vlad Tepeș, also known as Vlad the Impaler because he was fond of impaling his enemies and standing them along the roads.
The movie Cold Mountain was filmed on location in Romania.
The fountain pen was invented by Craiova-born Petrache Poenaru in 1799-1875, and was patented in May 1827.
Soprano Alma Gluck – the first lyrical artist to sell one million records – was born in Bucharest, Romania on May 11, 1884.
Timișoara became the first city of Europe to have electric street lighting in 1889.
Romanian inventor Traian Vuia was the first European to build and fly a fully self-propelled, fixed-wing ‘automobile airplane in March 18, 1906.
The modern jet engine was invented by the Bucharest-born inventor Henri Coandă in 1910.
The scientist who discovered insulin was Nicolae Paulescu, a Romanian, who originally called it pancreine. Although two Canadian scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1923 for their study of insulin, Paulescu’s pioneering work in the field of diabetic medicine was duly accredited.
The actor who first played the role of Tarzan was Romanian born Johnny Weissmuller, who starred in Tarzan the Ape Man in 1932.
In 1938 Romanian Stefan Odobleja was the one who actually set the basic themes of cybernetics in “Psychology consonantiste“, published in Paris.
His work appeared ten years before Norbert Wiener’s ideas were printed. Stefan Odobleja is now considered to be the “Father of Cybernetics”.
The first ever first perfect 10 in the Olympic Games was given to Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci. She bagged the score after her performance in Montreal, Canada in 1976.