Romania road trip: Brașov's main attractions

 A good start of the day

After we started the day right by having a cup of coffee or cappuccino and some good sweets in one of the best cake shop from Brașov, named Zoomserie - of which you can read in my previous article - we are getting back on the streets and begin to stroll around the city.

What is impressive about Brașov and what makes visitors wanting to just walk the streets is the specific architecture of the buildings which creates a very romantic and idyllic appearance that’s pleasurable to almost every eye.

Brașov is getting nicer and nicer and the people are very welcoming

Brașov is known as a colorful medieval city that is trying to keep the Middle Edges constructions alive. I’ve been in Brasov many times before, but lately I noticed that the city is getting nicer and nicer each time I go, it seems like the citizens are much more caring with their urban home. 

The different activities you can do in Brașov

There are of course many tourists both from Romania and from other countries too, Brasov being actually an important tourist destination that the country has due to a variety of activities people can do here such as visiting the historical and cultural building, going up on the Mount Tâmpa to see a wide beautiful panorama over the city, trekking the paths in the nearby mountains or practising winter sports in the Poiana Brașov resort on Postăvaru Massif, tasting your limits in Park Aventura and other more. 

The Council Square, a place start the exploration 

When it comes to our time in Brașov, because we only have a day and a half to spend here, we are trying to as many things as possible. The place we begin is the main square named "Piața Sfatului" or "The Council Square".

When we arrived in the city the other day, the square was beautifully lightened up by the Christmas markets decorations and kept awake by the many people coming here. Now in the day light, we can look better at the buildings and the surroundings: the landscape is with colorful houses with red roofs and a high peak where the Brașov sign stays proudly.

The visiting hours of the Black Church: ups, is Sunday!

The first monument we are heading towards is the Black Church, a very large construction that is impossible to not be notice or found because is just huge.

From the Council Square we have to walk just a minute or two and here we are standing at the bottom of the church. We are searching for the main entrance which is located on Curtea Honterus.

Unfortunately because is Sunday, a holy day when they are having the weekly Christian service in the morning, we cannot go inside the church until the Sunday service is not over at 12.00 PM. The visiting hours are starting with 10.00 AM and finishing with 16.00 PM from Tuesday to Saturday. On Monday the monument is closed for visitors.

The largest church in Romania 

So for now, we are only admiring it from the outside. The construction is again huge in comparison with us, the human beings. The church is not actually blackas you might think, but the walls are grey-brown and the roof is an orange-red, the name of it being given by a great fire which burned the entire city in the 17th century - but not the church -, the initial construction dating further back in the 14th century.

The architectural style of the church is gothic, all of the walls being dominated by the high windows with ogival arches.

Because we still have to wait sometime until we are allowed to go inside the Black Church, we decide to go to another interesting spot and then come back a little bit later to visit the interior of this great architectural monument.

The narrowest street in Romania and probably in Europe too 

The interesting spot I am mentioning about is “strada sforii” translated as “The Rope street” or “The String street”. The name comes from the fact that this street is the narrowest in Brasov and is also considered to be one of the narrowest streets in Europe, that’s why now the place has become a famous tourist attraction associated with the city’s name and being a part of the historical heritage of Brasov.

An information panel placed at the entrance of the street tells us about the history of it: here was initially an access passage for firefighters, mentioned for the first time in the 17thcentury. The street connects Poarta Schei with Cerbului street, and, of course, "strada sforii" can be accessed from both ways.

A cool project "The Rope of Brasov" 

I’ve been walking on the string street before, but now I found out about a very cool and much needed project that started here in 2018 through which the street was turned into a street art gallery. Thus, young artists from Brasov painted its walls and windows, plus, the visitors are welcomed to contribute to the drawings only in the white space dedicated to such things. As we are walking on the street and passing by this space, I am impressed to see that people are finally respecting the rules. Thanks, God!

An instagram approved place 

What people usually do when they meet something uncommon: take pictures. Yes, if you are a traveler or a tourist, “strada sforii” is a perfect place for taking photoswith an unusual background.

We are making our group photos here as well and it is very funny to arrange ourselves in the photograph so that we can all be seen in such a narrow space. We can't stand next to each other as in the other photos, but we have to stand behind each other.

At its narrowest point, the street has only 1.11 meters, so the experience of strolling on it is not like something you can do every day, thus, I recommend visitors to enjoy this activity in Brasov and to find out if they can fully open their arms out on “the rope street”.

Going back to the Black Church. How much we have to pay for the entrance

The time has passed and we are going back to enter the Black Church. A ticket for a student costs 6 lei, meaning 1,25 euro .If you are not a student, an entrance fee costs 10 lei meaning 2,09 euros. The bad news is that taking photo is strictly forbidden inside the monument, so I don’t have photos to share from the interior.

Anyway, what impresses me the most in the Black Church is the gigantic organ made out of 400 metal pipes and the high ceiling with its vaults, but I am not feeling a very welcoming atmosphere maybe because inside the church is colder than the weather outside and that’s also why we don’t spend a lot of time in here.

One of Brasov’s landmark, the Black Church should be for sure on the list of things you have to see in this city and as I already said it is impossible to miss it because is huge and you can noticed it from Mount Tâmpa too.

Shopping on Republicii street 

The next destination in our stroll around Brasov is The Art Museum. From The Council Square we start walking on Republicii street where we stop many times to take a look at the many little shopslocated here. Nobody is rushing us, the weather is good and we are kind of in time with the things we plan to do.

My friends and I are searching for Christmas presents again, thus if you want to do the same while you are in Brasov, keep in mind Republicii street and you will find interesting stores on it.

Brasov Art Museum. Free entrance for art students

Finally, we get to the Eroilor Boulevard and at the number 21 we find The Art Museum. The visiting hours start with 9.00 AM and finish with 17.00 PM from Tuesday to Sunday. On Monday the museum is closed.

We tell the ladies at the ticket office that we want to see the exhibitions and that we are art students too, so they are giving us free tickets due to that fact. What a good privilege to be an art student. My foreign friends, even if they are not Romanian students, they don’t have to pay either. As a very important matter of fact, you should know that in Romania most of the art museums are offering art students free entrance in such institutions which I think is a pretty good opportunity that should be used as long as it is available.  

Getting to know the romanian artists of the 19th and 20th century 

On the first floor of the museum we can see on display artworks belonging to Hans Mattis Teutsch, an artist with a german origin but born in Brasov. The works are covering a wide variety of techniques from paintings on canvas and watercolors to sculptures and linocuts, the artist creating in the 20thcentury and being representative for the artistic avant-garde in the space of central Europe.

On the other hand, on the second floor are put on display paintings created by the most known – in our country at least – Romanian painter, namely Nicolae Grigorescu who is established as the founder of modern painting in Romania. Alongside with him, we can see exhibited paintings belonging to another significant Romanian artists such as Ștefan Luchian, Theodor Pallady, Virgil Almășanu, Gheorghe Petrașcu.

The one who’s paintings I appreciate the most in here is Ștefan Luchian and that’s probably due he’s powerful, clear color range.

What I notice during my visit in The Art Museum Brasov is the fact that we are the only visitors and nobody else is there to admire its collections. Let’s put the blame this time on the Christmas market that attracted all of the tourists, but next time there should be people in the museum. So if you are going on a trip in Brasov, don’t hesitate to add this destination on your list of things to visit in the city.

Moving towards something very excited

Our day walking the streets of Brasov is about to end with the visit at the museum, but that doesn’t mean we are done with the city. There is still much to see here, but we have to change the perspective a bit, that’s why the following experience will lead us high on the Mount Tâmpa where the Brașov sign is placed and from where it opens up an amazing panorama over the city and its surroundings.

 Stay close for what is coming next.

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