Romania’s Hunyad Castle, in top ten must-see European castles

According to Tourism Review, the edifice is a perfect example of unique tourist attraction.

Every castle has its own personal charm. Universal literature found valuable sources of inspiration in world’s castles. Romania’s collection of castles and fortresses perhaps best illustrates the rich medieval heritage of the country. According to tourism-review.com, a important news portal with multi-site locations publishing news articles about and for the tourism industry, Romania’s Hunyad Castle is one of the ten European residences and fortifications which are perfect examples of unique, must-see castles. In the article, the Romanian tourist attraction is presented like a castle which showed the potential for artistic inspiration within castles, at arguably the highest level, but many of Europe’s historic fortresses find themselves being used as inspiration in a number of literary classics too. “The reconstructed Hunyad Castle may not be precisely true to the original building that held Vlad the Impaler prisoner anymore, the man that inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but, despite these creative and necessary restorations, enough of the Gothic-Renaissance style remains to send shivers up a visitor’s spine”.

Among the other top ten unique European castles to visit are Eilean Donan Castle – Scotland, Carreg Cennen – Wales, Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenzollern Castle
– Germany, Hohenwerfen – Austria, Predjama Castle – Slovenia, Bouzov Castle – Czech Republic, Castillo de la Mota – Spain, Castelo de Guimaraes – Portugal.

Also known as the Corvins’ Castle, this is one of the most impressive and well-conserved Gothic castles in Europe.

The name of Hunyad Castle is closely tied to that of the Corvin (Corvinus) family, whose coat-of-arms represents a raven holding a ring in its beak. The Corvin family greatly influenced the European history in the 15th century; the first great personality of the family was Iancu of Hunedoara (John Hunyadi), who managed to stop the Turks from conquering Belgrade and from advancing towards Western Europe.

Construction work began in 1440, the castle being designed as a defence fortress and as prison – the towers often held captive war prisoners as well as ordinary criminals. Today, the Armoury receives hundreds of tourists every day, many of them unaware of the fact that they are treading in the footsteps of some of the most prominent rulers of mediaeval Europe.

The legend of the Castle

On the coat of arm of the Corvin family is carved a raven with a golden ring in its beak. This family symbol has a legend. It is said that Ioan of Hunedoara was the illegitimate son of king Sigismund of Luxemburg of Hungary and his mother was Elisabeta, a very beautiful woman from the Hateg region. In order not to dishonor her, the king married Elisabeta to one of his knights, Voicu. Sigismund also gave her a ring, as a gift for the unborn child, which will help him to be recognized when he will go to the royal court. During a trip of the family, when they halted for lunch, the ring was forgotten on a side of the towel were the food was placed. A raven, attracted by the shining of the ring stole it. Ioan of Hunedoara takes a bow, strokes the raven down and gets his ring back. When Ioan grew up and got to the royal court tells this story and the king, impressed by it, decides that the family’s symbol shall be the raven with a golden ring in its beak. Moreover, the Corvins’ Family name comes from the Latin word “Corvus” which means “Raven”.

Visiting hours:

High season: from 01.04.2014 to 30.09.2014
Open every day
09:00 – 20:00
*last entry is 40 minutes before closing time.
Low season: from 1th of october to 30 march 2015
Open every day
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m

Ticket Prices:

Adults – 25 RON
Students – 5 RON

College Students – 5 RON
Pensioners – 10 RON

Filming/Photography:
Photo Tax – 5 RON
Video Tax – 15 RON
Guide Tax – 30 RON
Audio Guide Tax ( for Android and iOS phones ) -6 RON

Source: http://www.castelulcorvinilor.ro/en/2011/program-si-tarife/