Stepping back in time while reconnecting with nature during your journey, is one of the best things you can do. It's like Yin & Yang: your mood is being changed almost radically while seeing the scars left by the passage of time, but at the same time you are being embraced by the beauty of nature which makes sure you'll be fine.

Along with Bran Castle that most of the people heard about when they think about Transylvania, another popular place for the tourists from foreign countries is the mystery created by the Brukenthal lands, because there is a museum, a castle, a palace, a garden, and many more which are having the name of Brukenthal, all of them located here and there around Transylvania.
If you've been following my posts for a while, you'll know that I'm that kind of person who leaves behind the sightseeing attractions that most of the people already know about, with the wish to promote more the less known gems offered by Romania.
But as funny as it sounds, even though it's a very popular place for the tourists, I've never visited this place until one year ago when I thought it would be a shame to live just a few tens of km away from it and not discover it like everybody else.

Though, Brukenthal Palace is the one that enjoys most of the visits made by the tourists because it's located in Sibiu while the castle is situated in Avrig, just 25 km away from the city.
However, even if I almost cross daily in front of the museum, I still haven't visited that one either, but we started with a less populated place by the tourists, driving away to Avrig until we've reached the big gates that were announcing the beginning of a new journey.

The first thing we noticed was a map which clearly shows what we can visit on the new lands, as well as the story behind the name of Brukenthal, which came pretty handy considering the 20 hectares of surface covered by these gems.

Just like some genuine nature lovers, we began the journey exploring the park which represents a perfect location for a walk or for simply reconnecting with nature.
But the thing that makes the park really unique, is its baroque style that was created at the foothills of the Carpathians which is also called “Transylvanian Eden” because of the orangery contained by this one, where almonds, dates, figs, pineapple and nutmeg were cultivated.
The garden and park represent the single historical monument from Transylvania that managed to maintain its original style since 1762 when the construction has begun, even though it was officially finished two years later, in 1764.
The park has also a special area with terraces going on down the Olt valley, where the ambience of Brukenthal mistery feels different depending on where you are looking towards or where you are being situated.
Thus, the French, Dutch, or English style, are not missing offering a charm on their own being characterized by specific shapes, statues, flowers, artesian wells, winding trails and old trees.

The process of building the castle was initially started by the general and governor of Transylvania, Adolf Nicolaus von Bucow, but the project was finished by Samuel von Brukenthal who also offered his name to the building which represents a masterpiece created by the architect Johann Eberhard Blauman.

The inspiration for building the castle was based on two European Palaces, the Luxembourg Palace from Paris and the Schoenbrunn Palace from Vienna. The shape of the castle is in form of "U" which consists of the main construction where can be discovered old pieces of art or simple objects that were used back in the 18th century, and which is completed by two wings of buildings that currently are not used or able to be visited by the tourists.

The main building was home for 212 paintings exhibitions and 129 engravings that were part of the collection of the baron, which nowadays can be visited only at the central museum from Sibiu.

Unfortunately, over the time the building and park were degraded substantially while the property had a bunch of owners who didn't really invest too much money in maintaining it.
Furthermore, during the WW2, the castle turned into a military hospital that after the war served for treating various lung diseases until 2005 when it was retroceded to the Samuel von Brukenthal Foundation.
Though, the desire for maintaining the castle and making it last as much as possible so more tourists will come and see it in person, was not totally missing because there were animals, vegetables and fruit trees that were integrated within the castle garden structure with the main purpose of reselling and ensuring the castle food supplies.
The white oxen that were living into the meadows of the Avrig, were also very popular and sold even in Naples.
However, a castle that a while ago was representing a luxurious and impressive location for everybody, during the time, the main attraction became the park and the garden which remained the most well-maintained ones. While you can barely notice the baroque details of the castle anymore, your attention will be caught by the dried fountains, broken benches and old stairwells, which can still create a speechless landscape if you look back into the 18th century which was the beginning of a long story that was yet to be written on the Brukenthal magnificence.

Therefore, the plans for the future of Brukenthal Castle seem pretty bright due to the orangery that was set up and which was turned into a tiny hotel with 10 rooms for the tourists, as well as 2 ballrooms with 180 seats dedicated to exhibitions, conferences and workshops, together with the courtyard that can host weddings, private parties and different events.

The small garden which was populated with fruit trees represents also a future project that will be released in a few years when the trees are growing up enough.

The most elegant building that has caught our attention was the place which is also the most populated one with tourists because there are a few terraces here and there which are surrounded by lots of colourful flowers and where you can sit for a while and enjoy a drink or some food, forgetting for a moment about the deteriorated landscape of the castle that offers you a different mood making you look back into the past.

There is no surprise anymore that Brukenthal Castle has a different structure than what we are used seeing when we think about castles, but that's because when it was built up, the main purpose was to have a summer residence for the Governor Brukenthal who wanted to spend his summers away from people and daily worries.

Anyway, the place that at first might seem as it doesn't have too much to offer to the tourists, can become a true oasis of silence where you can hide and relax for a while, especially that the access to visiting it is completely free, except the castle which takes a small amount of money if you want to enter it and get a proper feeling about the older times and how people used to live back then.

The full address of the location is St. 39 Gheorghe Lazar, Avrig, 555200, Sibiu County, Romania and it can be visited anytime from Tuesday to Sunday between 10 AM and 6 PM, except on Monday and the first Tuesday of each month when it's closed during the summer.
During the winter, the schedule of visiting is from Wednesday to Sunday between 10 AM to 6 PM, while on Monday and Tuesday the castle is closed.

The tax for exploring the Gallery of European Arts is 20 RON (4.10 EUR) and the one for Gallery of Romanian Arts is 12 RON (2.46 EUR) for each visitor and you can see the whole list of monuments you can explore within the Brukenthal Complex by accessing the following link https://www.brukenthalmuseum.ro/.

SEE YOU IN THE NEXT TRIP! 🗾

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