Rasnov Citadel, Transylvania, Romania

3Metehan 5:00 PM Aug 11, 2022

Good citadel but not the best, there's why:
I think it was my third visit, the last one was in 2013, there was no inclined lift yet. I told the story of how we arrived near the entrance where we saw a bazaar, a building where a tourist information centre operates and two Rishnors who let you ride their horse or pony for a fee of course. From the bazaar you can take a walk around the outside of the first enclosure because like any well made fortress in Ardeal Râșnov had 2 enclosure walls. Not this time (in 2013 we went) we quickly walked to the ticket office and entered under the gate tower into the outer courtyard or the fortress garden as they say. It's a wide spot only good for playing a bit of football or photographing the whole fortress. This is where the cattle used to be housed and frankly even now they had something to eat, the place is not really landscaped there are just some paths going up to the inner enclosure. But that's the way it used to be and I don't dispute that. Immediately after entering I noticed the foundation of a former Catholic chapel. We started to climb until we reached the other entrance. It's a barbican without a roof but with many shooting holes. You can see that it was well preserved, plastered having a light color. Then through a tunnel we entered the inner courtyard where the citizens' houses used to be. The road inside the fortress is next to the southern enclosure wall and on the right side we saw the first ruins, the citizens' houses. Climbing higher up we saw the first whole and covered small house with a small cannon to the right of it. From this point on all the houses are renovated and have shields and burlons and most are set up as souvenir shops. Thus we find here toy or imitation weapons and armour, folk harbours, magnets, mugs, handicrafts made of glass with or without many grades, ceramic objects, wood, hats, vases, vedars, and much more. Not missing the fortress cats next to a renovated building that seems to have been a stable in medieval times were dozens. They were quite hostile, showing all the armament they had, i.e. teeth and claws, or so they learned from their ancestors, the cats who fought the Turks. We eventually reached a market I remember, in the middle of which we found a green corner landscaped with roses and sunflowers. Here too we find a few shops, a terrace but the centre of interest is still the small museum of feudal art. The entrance is on the west side of the square. Here you will find many objects used in the medieval period. We can see weapons, armour, furniture, household objects, tools, etc. Observing them I could imagine how they were used.

3T-SGlobetrotters 5:00 PM Oct 23, 2022

Okay for a quick stop but costs to park are high
As other reviewers have commented, the citadel is closed to 2023. Judging by the lack of any form of activity, I would say that is optimistic at best. It is 12 lei to park all day but can’t see a compelling reason why you would want to park for longer than a couple of hours. There is an extra charge to take the train up to the top but it really isn’t needed. The walk of about 10 minutes is a fairly gentle incline and manageable for most and the steepest park is after the train drops you off anyway. There isn’t a great deal to do at the top. Whilst the size and scale of the citadel is impressive you can only walk part way around the outside of the walls to admire views. The best vista is probably at the opposite end to where you approach the structure although we saw much better elsewhere on our tour of Romania. The best bit was the restaurant at the bottom.