Pearl of the Carpathians — Romania's royal mountain resort and a neo-Renaissance castle
Sinaia is a compact mountain resort town wedged between the Bucegi and Baiului massifs in the southern Carpathians, most famous for Peleș Castle — one of the most ornate royal residences in Europe. Built between 1873 and 1914 as the summer retreat of Romania's first king, Carol I, the castle mixes neo-Renaissance, Gothic Revival, and Moorish styles in a riot of carved wood, stained glass, and armour-lined halls across 160 rooms. A second, smaller castle (Pelișor) sits just uphill. The town itself is a hillside resort with Belle Époque villas, a functioning monastery dating to 1695, and a gond…
The area takes its name from the Sinai Monastery, founded in 1695 by Prince Mihai Cantacuzino on his return from a pilgrimage to Mount Sinai. The monastery became a significant religious centre, but it was the decision of King Carol I to build Peleș Castle here in 1873 that transformed the village into Romania's most fashionable mountain resort. The royal family summered here for decades; the interwar period saw villas built by Bucharest's aristocracy and intelligentsia. After the communist takeover in 1947, Peleș was nationalised and used as a museum, later becoming a state guest house befor…