A European Castles Fair

The Corvins Castle in central Romania is hosting an unusual type of event every year

Ana-Maria Cononovici, 08.06.2021, 14:00

The first thing that comes to mind when we are speaking of castles is a
fairy tale atmosphere with beautiful ladies, armored knights and sumptuous
buildings where life is good and happy. However, nowadays castles the world
over have a life of their own and even a fair where they are being represented.
Such is the European Castles Fair traditionally hosted by the Corvins Castle in
Hunedoara, central Romania. This year, the castle hosted the 6th
edition of the aforementioned fair, which this time brought together only 20
exhibitors. Here is Sorin Tincu, director of the Corvins Castle in Hunedoara
with more on this year’s edition of the event.

Sorin Tincu: Outdoor stands
have been set up for the first time since we started staging this event on a
plateau in front of the castle in the so called Court of Hussars. We decided
this year that we have only 20 stands, 20 invitees in total. We’ve had with us
a nucleus of collaborators, so to say, those are very close to this fair. Most
of them have been present in almost all the editions that we have staged so far.
We’ve had representatives of the Bran Castle, the Brukenthal Palace, the
Medieval Fortress of Rasnov, the fortress of Feldioara and Rupea, the Fortress
of Sarmisegetuza, the Citadel of Deva, the Fortress of Malaiesti, the Fortified
City in Targu Mures, the Alba Iulia Citadel, the Fortress of Arad and of
Oradea. Of course we’ve had our own stand this year as well.

But how have the citadels and fortresses from all over Romania introduced
themselves at the fair. Here is Sorin Ţincu again at the microphone:

Sorin Tincu: Every entity
attending our fair has introduced itself as well as they possibly could. We’ve
had fortresses and citadels whose volunteers and personnel have donned medieval
costumes and they mounted various demonstrative events on this plateau. All the
participants had promotional materials with them like leaflets, brochures and
publications.

And because during this fair the medieval castle atmosphere has always
been brought back to life again, the Corvins Castle has again become venue for
a series of enacting events aimed at presenting to visitors what life was like
back in the Middle Ages. Here is again at the microphone the Corvins Castle director
Sorin Ţincu

Sorin Tincu: During these
three days, besides the events staged by the exhibitors we, as organisers,
mounted a series of shows involving the order of the Hunedoara Castle Knights
and the Carpathian Castle Association. Concurrently visitors were able to see a
series of demonstrative falconry events. We tried to preserve this medieval
atmosphere and keep it pure, free of contamination with modern life. In the
previous years we used to have better conditions and enjoyed a larger attendance.
We were even able to stage concerts on this plateau. However, this year we
opted for a smaller formula, as we didn’t want to expose either the
participants or the visitors to any risk.

Ladies in medieval attire, knights in shining armours, tournaments, falconry,
and various workshops have completed the fairytale atmosphere of the castle.

Soring Tincu has also told us what a normal day at the castle looks like

Sorin Tincu: Visitors are
usually welcomed in the courtyard where they have the opportunity of visiting a
series of exhibitions with artefacts dating back to the Paleolithic period or the
Roman civilization. We also have a special room entitled the Guilds Room,
hosting an exhibition devoted to the guilds of Hunedoara and inside the castle
we have exhibitions with medieval and ethnographic themes. Here one can also
admire the Golden room, which was used as the royal bedroom and has been
refurbished to reenact the atmosphere of that time. We also have two
lapidariums, one Gothic and the other illustrating the period of Renaissance
and there are many stories, you know, legends and observations related to
various elements of architecture in the castle.

The Corvins Castle is representative for medieval architecture being one
of its kind in Romania and also one of Europe’s most attractive sites through
its various construction styles present here as well as through its innovative
military and civil engineering.

(bill)