Product Description

Many people think Transylvania is a fictitious land, like Ruritania or Narnia. It is the birthplace of Dracula. It is the place where dragons live in Harry Potter and the country to which the Pied Piper spirited the children of Hamelin. Indeed, although Transylvania is a real place, truth here is often stranger than fiction. Streams run with silver, the mountains are full of gold, dinosaur nests are found in river beds and haystacks in trees. It is a country of striking cultural contrasts: of Orthodox monasteries, Gothic churches and Communist follies. While the 'King of the Gypsies' lives in a grandiose modern palace, the future King of England has bought a modest peasant's house in a remote village. Transylvania only recently awakened from the deep sleep of Communism and, though life is now changing fast, traditions remain here that elsewhere died out long ago. Transylvania captures this vanishing world in words and pictures.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #274290 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Review
This wonderful book is a testament to this haunting land. Riley is passionate about the region, and has spent much of the past 10 years living in remote mountain villages. In her elegant prose she explores this land recently unshackled from the chains of communism, and finds a place steeped in gypsy magic. Illustrated with Dinescu's hauntingly lovely photographs, this is a very special book. --Sunday Telegraph

Stunning photography illustrates a fascinating journey by Romania expert Riley around this little-known region. Its myths, characters and buildings give remarkable insight into a hidden world. --Tatler

Bronwen Riley's words and Dinescu's pictures should inspire more travellers to explore this repository of Romanticism while it lasts. --Daily Telegraph

About the Author
Bronwen Riley lived for a time in the remote mountains of Transylvania, studying village traditions and learning Romanian. An Oxford Classics graduate, she specialised in the post-Byzantine art of Romania at the Courtauld Institute, London. She is now managing editor of guidebooks at English Heritage and organises tours of small groups to share her great enthusiasm for and knowledge of Romania.

Bucharest-born Dan Dinescu is best known for his marvellous documentation of Maramures, a region in north-west Romania where life stayed unchanged for centuries. Over the course of 25 years, he has captured the people and places of this remote country in luminous, memorable images.

Customer Reviews

Transylvania
Transylvania is visually, culturally and historically the most extraordinary place - a fairy tale land lost in time, but right on the doorstep of 21st century Western Europe. To travel there and experience its breathtaking landscape and architecture, its traditions and people - from gypsy communities to Saxons, is a wonder. This book recreates that experience with sumptuous photography, at times almost unbelieveable images depicting this strange and unique place, all brought to life through Riley's beautifully written descriptions, travelogues and history. It is a perfect companion for those who have travelled there and epsecially those who are thinking about it or who may never have that opportunity.

Transylvania
This is a wonderful book - the photos are fantastic - which I would recommend to anybody with an interest in Romania and Transylvania in particular. It captures a world which is fast disappearing beautifully.