巴爾幹半島 Balkans (+希臘 Greece precedent posts) 2018

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下面中文選擇翻譯自英文，名詞可能不容易了解, 詳情請讀英文。
巴爾幹半島（Balkans）名字來自巴爾幹山脈，從塞爾維亞-保加利亞邊境延伸至黑海, 右下圖上面的藍線使用多瑙河(Danube-Sava-Soča)邊界。 這地區是新石器時代（公元前7000年）中東農業向歐洲蔓延的路線。 在古代，這個地區有希臘人，伊利里亞人，培奧尼亞人，色雷斯和達契亞人等等。波斯帝國在公元前6世紀至5世紀入侵巴爾幹半島。公元2世紀，羅馬帝國征服了該地區，並帶來了羅馬文化和拉丁語。在6世紀，保加爾人和斯拉夫人抵達並組建了保加利亞帝國。在中世紀，拜占庭羅馬（395-1453）和保加利亞帝國之間發生了一系列戰爭。到了16世紀末，奧斯曼帝國從安納托利亞擴展到該地區成為控制力量。 在冷戰期間，巴爾幹地區的大多數國家都是由共產黨政府統治的。冷戰後, 南斯拉夫解散成為斯洛文尼亞，克羅地亞，波斯尼亞和黑塞哥維那，馬其頓，黑山和塞爾維亞。希臘不同意馬其頓共和國（FYRM）的名稱, 事實上希臘國名為Hellas(希臘,粵語發音), 非Greece。
The Balkans takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch from the Serbian-Bulgarian border to the Black Sea.
(Right map) the upper blue line is using the Danube–Sava–Soča river border.
The Balkans have been inhabited since the Paleolithic and are the route by which farming from the Middle East spread to Europe during the Neolithic (7000 BC).
In pre-classical and classical antiquity, this region was home to Greeks, Illyrians, Paeonians, Thracians, Dacians, and other ancient groups.
Persian Empire invaded the Balkans during 6th to 5th century BC.
In 2nd century, Roman Empire conquered most of the region and brought in Roman culture and Latin language.
In 6th century, Bulgars and Slavs arrived and formed the Bulgarian Empire.
During Middle Ages, a series of wars occured between Byzantine Roman (395–1453) and Bulgarian Empires.
By the end of the 16th-century, the Ottoman Empire had become the controlling force in the region after expanding from Anatolia through Thrace to the Balkans.
During the Cold War, most of the countries on the Balkans were governed by communist governments.
Dissolution of Yugoslavia into Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. An issue emerged over the name of Republic of Macedonia (FYRM) with Greece. Greece (Greek: Ελλάδα), officially the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Ellinikí Dimokratía), historically also known as Hellas (Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς)

保加利亞、塞爾維亞、羅馬尼亞 Bulgaria, Serbia & Romania tour

我本來的主題是“巴爾幹半島和希臘之旅”，但它涉及太多的材料，尤其是我們有5天希臘自由行, 拍了很多博物館照片, 所以以後再談希臘。此外，Balkans歷史悠久，有歐洲最古老的國家，許多人包括我們對該地區不了解, 很少人去那裡旅遊, 但現在慢慢改變了。實際上它有3條不同的行程：一條有克羅地亞;另一條有阿爾巴尼亞;我們的有塞爾維亞(事前不了解)。各是非常不同的國家。很幸運的, 我們有一位當地的羅馬尼亞歷史學家作為導遊。特別是Transylvania, 擁有豐富的神話和朦朧的中世紀遺址, 是吸血鬼和西方龍的神秘之地。每個帖子，我都加了照片的鏈接(links)，但對於大多數羅馬尼亞地方，我還沒有時間去整理這些照片。My originally topic is "Balkans & Greece Tour", but it involves too many materials, especially the museum pictures taken during the 5-day on our own in Greece. So I will make Greece another topic. Many people don't know much about this area or travel there. In fact it has a long history and oldest countries in Europe. Also, there are actually 3 different itineraries for Balkans tour: one with Croatia; another with Albania; and ours with Serbia. They are very different countries. Luckily, we had a local Romanian historian as tour guide. Especially in Transylvania, it is rich in myth and misty medieval sites and best known as the mysterious land of dracula and western dragons. Each post, I included the links for highlighted pictures except, for most Romanian places, I have not have time to arrange the pictures yet.
點擊觀看我已經上傳的一些旅行視頻。Click to watch some of my already uploaded Trip Videos.

羅馬尼亞 Transylvania: Hunedoara,Sibiu,Sighisoara,Brasov

Transylvania是羅馬尼亞中部和西北部的一個歷史悠久的地區，以喀爾巴阡山脈的東部和南部為界。 它曾經是匈牙利王國的一部分，並在第一次世界大戰後加入羅馬尼亞。它擁有豐富的神話和朦朧的中世紀遺址：大約有100座城堡和堡壘, 以及大約70座堡壘化教堂。 羅馬尼亞最大，保存最完好的城堡和堡壘都可以在這裡找到。 但對於更好奇的旅行者來說，有許多小村莊有老房子和教堂。 它最出名的是吸血鬼和西方龍的神秘之地。Transylvania is a historical region in central and northwestern Romania and is bounded by eastern and southern of Carpathian Mountain Range. It was part of Hungary Kingdom and joined Romania after World War I. It is rich in myth and misty medieval sites: there about 100 castles and fortresses and about 70 fortified churches. Romania's greatest and best preserved castles and fortresses are to be found here. But for the more curious traveler, there are many small villages with old houses and fortified churches. It is best known as the mysterious land of dracula and western dragons.
點擊看在路上視頻。Click to watch on-road video with tour guide's explanation.

歷史History: Dacian Kingdom (1st–2nd centuries), Roman Dacia (2nd–3rd centuries), the Hunnic Empire (4th–5th centuries), the Kingdom of the Gepids (5th–6th centuries), the Avar Khaganate (6th–9th centuries) and the 9th century First Bulgarian Empire. During the late 9th century, western Transylvania was reached by the Hungarian conquerors and later it became part of the Kingdom of Hungary, formed in 1000. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526 it belonged to the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom, from which the Principality of Transylvania emerged. During most of the 16th and 17th centuries, the principality was a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire; however, the principality had dual suzerainty (Ottoman and Habsburg). In 1690, the Habsburgs gained possession of Transylvania through the Hungarian crown. After 1711, Habsburg control of Transylvania was consolidated, and Transylvanian princes were replaced with Habsburg imperial governors. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the separate status of Transylvania ceased; it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary (Transleithania) as part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. After World War I, Transylvania became part of Romania. In 1940 Northern Transylvania reverted to Hungary as a result of the Second Vienna Award, but it was reclaimed by Romania after the end of World War II.

Left picture: Historic rulers of Transylvania and Wallachia.
Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The novel tells the story of Count Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England. It is said that the historical Transylvanian-born Vlad the Impaler (also known as Vlad III, Vlad Dracula, Vlad Tepes, left picture middle row 2nd left) of Wallachia is related to the fictional Dracula.
During his main reign (1456–1462), "Vlad the Impaler" is said to have killed from 40,000 to 100,000 European civilians mainly by impaling. However, he is revered as a folk hero by Romanians for driving off the invading Ottoman Turks.

Historically, the name "Dracula" is derived from a Chivalric order called the Order of the Dragon, founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg (then king of Hungary) to uphold Christianity and defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. Vlad II Dracul (left picture middle row first left), father of Vlad III, was admitted to the order around 1431. His coinage bore the dragon symbol, from which the name "Dracula" is derived since "dracul" in Romanian means "the dragon". Left picture, the Dacian Draco was the ensign of ancient Dacian troops (see Bucharest museum in below post).

首先，我們參觀了14世紀建造在古老的羅馬防禦工事上的Hunedoara城堡, 這座堡壘多年來經過多次改造, 該城堡的神秘氣氛, 使最近2018年電影“鬼修女”在這裡拍攝。First we visited the mythical 14th century Hunedoara Castle built on old Roman fortifications and tourists are told that it was the place where Vlad the Impaler was (above picture middle 2nd left) held prisoner by John Hunyadi (Iancu de Hunedoara, above picture upper right), Hungary's military leader and regent. This fortress, transformed many times over the years, became the castle of Matthias Corvinus, known as the "Raven King." The mysterious atmosphere surrounding the castle was the setting for a recent 2018 film "The Nun".

Click to see more pictures
We drove to the charming town of Sibiu, with its maze of cobbled streets and baroque squares. This cultural center of Europe attracted many musicians in the 19th century and today is the center of Romania's major music festivals. We saw the houses of the town have eyes.

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The next morning, we went to Sighisoara, the best-preserved medieval city in Southeastern Europe with fortified-walled old town which is listed as UNESCO site. Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) is supposed to be born in Sighișoara. His father, Vlad Dracul, the ruler of Wallachia, and his pregnant wife were hosted in this house by the king of Sighișoara between 1431 and 1435, during the Turkish invasion of Valakia.

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我們驅車前往位於Transylvania南部的Brasov，周圍環繞著南喀爾巴阡山脈。We drove to Brasov which is located in the central part of the country, surrounded by the Southern Carpathians. The city is notable for being an important center of Transylvanian Saxons in the past, and a large commercial hub on the trade roads between East and West. The Hollywood-style Brasov sign can be seen in central picture. Still don't know who is that lady in the picture.

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我們參觀了著名的14世紀Bran城堡，它通常被稱為“Dracula城堡”。 現在它作為羅馬尼亞的最後皇后瑪麗（英國維多利亞女王的孫女）的展示館。We visited the famous 14th century Bran Castle and it is commonly known as "Dracula's Castle." Now it serves as a museum displaying collection of Queen Marie (last queen of Romania, granddaughter of Queen Victoria). The castle is owned by the heir of Princess Ileana and Queen Marie (above ruler's picture bottom row left 2 figures).

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羅馬尼亞 Romania: Sinaia,Peles Castle,Bucharest

Sinaia是距離Brasov不太遠的市鎮，是山區度假勝地。該鎮因Sinaia修道院而得名，而該名字則來自聖經中的西奈山。羅馬尼亞國王卡羅爾一世在該鎮附近建造了Peles夏天宮殿城堡。We visited Peles Castle, which is a Neo-Renaissance castle in the Carpathian Mountains near Sinaia on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia. It was the summer home of King Carol I of Romania (1866-1914). He defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War and secured Romanian independence. Pelisor Castle is nearby. We also visited Sinaia Monastery, built in 1695, which gave its name to the town of Sinaia.

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Bucharest是羅馬尼亞的首都，參觀了世界第二大建築的國會皇宮, 他們仍然抱怨沒有足夠的空間。 我們還去了國家歷史博物館，看到在公元前5000年出土的黃金文物, 它還展示了Trajan's Column石膏模型（最後一幅圖顯示羅馬和達契亞人之間戰爭）。Bucharest is capital of Romania and called the "Paris of the East" which takes you to the replica of the French Arc de Triomphe. We visited the gigantic Parliament Palace, second-largest building in the world after the Pentagon in the U.S. They still complain that they don't have enough room. We also went to National History Museum, now undergoing extensive restoration work and only partially open, to see ourselves the gold artifacts unearthed as early as in 5000 BC in Romania. It also shows the Trajan's Column plaster casts of the relief taken in the 19th and 20th centuries (last picture shows the war between Romans and Dacians).

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