Câlnic is an isolated place, far away from the main roads and close to the Carpathian Mountains. It is mostly known for its fortress, one of the few monuments of Romania included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. In this article we will have a walk around this famous citadel.

The village of Câlnic (Kelling in German and Kelnek in Hungarian) was first attested in the year 1269 as Kelnuk, belonging to a local nobleman (greav, count) named Chyl or Chylvon. It has now around 1400 inhabitants (according to the 2021 census) and is presently part of the Alba County.

The fortress was built as a residence for the greav and his family, but following lengthy disputes with the local peasants, it was bought in 1430 by the locals and then fortified, despite being in a rather strategically vulnerable and hardly defendable position.

As the time passed, the fortress has seen horrible attacks from the Turks, but also from Michael the Brave (Mihai Viteazul) who has devastated it in 1599. However, as everything in Romania, there was always an ancient reflex of rebuilding what has been destroyed, often so as to be destroyed at a later date…

Obviously, the castle was closed. Obviously.

But finally, a decent price for the entrance (15 lei = 3 euros). Decent compared to what I have seen so far in the region…

However, a partial entrance in the garden of the edifice was possible.

And here is a view from what we could say is the rear part of the fortress. The photo is taken from the little acces road towards the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Câlnic, a road that goes through the garden outside the walls of the citadel. And yes, there was garbage on the road and on the grass. And no, it wasn’t a particularly windy day…