Welcome to Râmnicu Vâlcea! Today we are walking around Râmnicu Vâlcea with the tour guide Tudor Urse. Tudor takes us on a tour that he does with tourists eager to learn, and with locals who want to know more about the city in which they live. We start the tour in the city center, at the Children's Palace, a former mansion of the Lahovari Socoteau family, about which Tudor will tell us a few stories with and about the history of this mansion. Râmnicu Vâlcea is a city full of flowers. It is the epicenter of the fairs in southern Romania due to the intersection of important roads. We can say about Râmnicu Vâlcea that this is where the salt trade started. We head towards the Protected Area and pass by Tudor Vladimirescu Boulevard, which is known as the Boulevard of Houses with Flowers. Until the 80s, there were 396 old houses in Râmnicu Vâlcea, but after the systematization, only 31 houses remained. The houses can be visited on Mihai Viteazu Street, which is also a Protected Urban Area. Each house has an interesting story. We found most of them while walking on this street. Regarding the city, we can also add that this is the place where IL Caragiale taught grammar at the current Alexandru Lahovari National College, which is a special building made of river stone and brick, designed by Ghica Budești. The college was bombed during World War II because during that period, the building was transformed into a war hospital, remaining standing thanks to the materials used and the design of the construction. We continue our journey and arrive at a building whose construction pattern is listed in the book of records thanks to the dome, which is the largest arched glass construction in the world. We arrive at the Church of Saint Mina, where the relics of several saints are kept. The church is connected to the Anti-Communist Resistance Memorial because here we find the plaque commemorating the victims of the communist regime in Valcea, since this was the largest anti-communist resistance in Eastern Europe. We also learn that the flags of the 1848 revolution were consecrated here and that it was also here that the Romanian Anthem was sung for the first time in Church before the service, alongside General Gheorghe Magheru. We learn more stories about the Romanian Anthem at the Anton Pann Memorial House. We go to the Simian House, currently the Art Museum, and on the way we admire the neo-Romanian house of Paul Angelescu, who is among the first historians of Valcea to write a book about the old Ramnicu. The Simian House has a film story about the tanners' family. It is a wealthy family due to its craft and the fact that it made quality shoes used by the Army in World War II. During the communist regime, the family is forced to leave home. Mira Simian arrives with her husband Ștefan Baciu in Hawaii where she writes some memoirs about the Romanian exile. We reach the Independence Monument, which over time has been added plaques in memory of the soldiers who fell in the First and Second World Wars. This is also the starting point for a route to a 700-meter high peak, where there is a panoramic view over the city. On this hill, Capela Hill, lies the history of Romanian bobsleigh, which starts from here due to the fact that the length of the hill is 4 km. Bobsleigh and sledge competitions were held here and the story of the first Romanian bobsleigh crew also starts from here when a few military conscripts climbed the hill with a bobsleigh-style sled that had a tractor steering wheel and adapted brakes. The bob can be seen at the Bujoreni Vâlcean Village Museum. We reach 2 important buildings: the Courthouse and the Administrative Palace which look very good and which seem more like palaces. Also here is the Monument of the 1989 Revolution which keeps alive the memory of the fallen heroes in December 1989 and whose number was 25 people. We are fascinated by the County Council building built in the 70s which has a more special style in that at the top there is the neo-Romanian style arcade model. We make the final stop at the Anton Pann Memorial House which is the oldest house in the city. Inside the house there is a small museum dedicated to Anton Pann. This townhouse was moved approximately 50 meters by the engineer Eugen Iordăchescu and is the place where the writing and singing of the Romanian anthem began. For guided tours with Tudor you can contact here: Liv Tu Visit Your City / livtuvisityourcity Tudor Urse 0733698991 Material encouraged by: National Center for Tourist Information and Promotion Vâlcea / cniptvalcea We would like to remind you that these materials are made by the Giuclea team from its own resources, out of the pleasure of promoting, preserving and showing our history, that of the Romanians.