An escape from the corporate world. A land of 8000 sqm, bought in Porumbacu de Sus, Sibiu County, Romania. An idea that came from the world of fairytales. And, the result: The Clay Castle from the Valley of Fairies, a unique place in Romania, and a perfect trip from Sibiu, made it possible by the tenacity of a guy called Răzvan Vasile. The ambitious project is not ready yet, but it’s already a tale to tell.
The Clay Castle in the Valley of the Fairies, a place of fairy tale
On the way to/from Sibiu, on the E68 European road, you must divert for 9 km towards Porumbacu de Sus village. From the dusty parking, you take a few steps on a path where (in summer) the forest fruit sellers greet you. You pay 5 lei to enter the property premises – a “maintenance fee”, for some bizarre, for others, more acceptable as long as the funds for completing the work seem to be running out.
The “castle” has a wooden structure; the outer plaster is made of lime and sand and the two towers made of river stone. The owners intend to transform the castle into a four stars hotel, and soon open the possibility of accommodation in the ten rooms (four of them are apartments, with interior staircase) of the two-level structure: ground floor and attic.
Next to the castle, a restaurant will be commissioned soon, excellently integrated into the general landscape. At a short distance, the Porumbacu stream flows, near which the owners have arranged a relaxation place, with stumps, small balls, and small tables, the idea leading, at first glance, to a hippy area, extremely cute. When I visited, there was a bar that was selling souvenirs. All in all, the place is delightful. When you look in detail, there’s still a lot to do, and the general feeling is that there’s some stagnation, for financial reasons, in pursuit of self-financing. It is unknown how much it will take before the final job is done, but we’d be happy to see it come as soon as possible.
Until then, the Clay Castle is definitely worth visiting (and encouraged), even because such an initiative is quite rare in the Romanian tourist landscape.
You may also like: 13 places to visit in Bucovina, the beautiful region in the northeast of Romania
