Day 1 October 20, 2023:
N.Moudania, Halkidiki-Craiova, Romania - 645 km.
On
our trip from North Greece to Romania we pass through Bulgaria. In Bulgaria cars have to pay a vignette instead of a
toll, but for motorcycles the crossing is free. Gasoline is cheap and
of good quality, and the road is a highway.
We
enter Romania from the New Europe Bridge, a cable bridge, which connects Vidin
of Bulgaria with Calafat of Romania by road and rail, over the
Danube, the natural border of the two countries. In Romania there are
no tolls and no vignette is needed.
Craiova - Romania's medieval, hidden gem
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| Constantin Mihail Palace, the Craiova Art Museum |
Craiova
is our first stop to Romania. It is the largest and most important city in southwestern Romania,
on the banks of the Jiu River and in the center of the province of
Oltenia, 227 km away from the country's capital, Bucharest, 68
km away from the Danube.
The first impression is that it is a very artistic and cultural city with beautiful buildings, open squares, monuments and statues, it has a university and it's the commercial center of the region. Let's walk together to the historic center of Craiova!
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| Dolj County Hall |
The first stop of a visitor should be in the heart of the historic city center
where there are two squares, literally stuck together, Mihai Viteazul Square and
Prefecturii Square. They host the statue of Mihai Viteazul (Michael
the Brave), one of Romania's most influential leaders, along with a
musical fountain and the town hall, Dolj County Hall respectively.
These squares are also famous for the Christmas market, it's considered one of the
best in Europe. Festivals and fairs are also organized here.
Statue of Mihai Viteazul (Michael the Brave), one of the most important leaders in Romanian history, and the musical fountain
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Statue of Mihai Viteazul (Michael the Brave), one of the most important leaders in Romanian history, and the musical fountain |
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| Graffiti on a wall of a house | |
During our stroll around the historic center we find that Craiova is a city with a
strong artistic flair and there are many
examples of street art on its streets. Graffiti on the walls and
bronze statues in the streets of the city you will find a lot.
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| Bronze woman's statue |
 | |
| Bronze man's statue |
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| Bronze man's statue, the man is feeding pigeons |
We visit and take photos of The
Craiova Art Museum,
an art museum that was the palace of Constantin Mihail, one of the
richest Romanians of his time, built from 1898 to 1907 by the French
architect Paul Gottereau.
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| Constantin Mihail Palace, the Craiova Art Museum |
In its courtyard is the "Constantin
Brâncusi Center",
a project dedicated to Constantin Brâncusi, a Romanian sculptor,
painter and photographer who
made his career in France,
the patriarch of modern
sculpture.
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Constantin Brancusi Pavilion |
The next morning we visit to beautiful churches, the metropolis of Oltenia which is
the Cathedral of Agios Demetrius, an orthodox church, originally
built in 1490 and Agios Elias, built in 1720. The
church was painted by George Tattarescu.
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| Metropolitan Cathedral St. Demetrius |
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| Saint Elias |
While returning to our hotel we think that there
are many beauties of Craiova we didn't manage to visit
in our short time and leave with the hope that we will come back to learn more about this beautiful city.
Continue the reading, our next route is at Transalpina.
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