Description:

MOGOSOAIA PALACE AND SNAGOV MONASTERY
Duration: 1 day.
Cities: Bucharest, Mogosoaia, Snagov, Bucharest.

Mogosoaia Palace

Departure to Mogoşoaia, to visit Constantin Brancoveanu’s Palace, built between 1698 and 1702 during his rule. It has a Brancovenian architectural style, a combination between Arabic and Italian architecture. The Palace was named after the widow of Mogos boyar; he was the owner of the land where the palace is built. The palace was restored in 1920 by Marta Bibescu, using the money earned from selling books written by her. Later, the palace was transformed into a meeting place for politicians and personalities in the higher class.

At the moment, this palace houses the Museum of Brancovenian art and it is a major tourist hot spot. Next, we head to the beautiful lake Snagov, to visit the monastery with the same name, built by Prince Neagoe Basarab between 1517 and 1521. The painting of the Church is from 1563 and it was made by Dobromir the Young. It had an important cultural role, as inside there was a typography. Here, Antim Ivireanu printed the first books in Romanian, using the Latin alphabet.

Mogosoaia Palace

Snagov Monastery

Regarding the death of the famous Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Ţepeş) known as Dracula, there are several versions. Some say that in the tomb of the monastery there is only the head, others say there is only the body, but the current pries, Varahiil, says “You are telling me that you have heard several versions about the tomb of Vlad the Impaler. I would like to make it clear and to tell you that in front of the iconostasis of the church, under the lodge with a candle there is the tomb of Vlad the Impaler – Dracula, not only the head or the body, but both”.

Return to Bucharest, lunch and free afternoon.

Snagov Monastery