page_title: Romania
section_title: Arts and monuments
hierarchical_section_title: Romania / Culture / Arts and monuments
caption_attribution_description: English: Lloyd Palace, seat of the Politehnica University Timişoara, Romania. Français&#160;: Le Palais Lloyd, siège de l'Université Politehnica Timişoara, en Roumanie. Română: Palatul Lloyd, sediul Universităţii Politehnica Timişoara, România.
context_page_description: Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It shares land borders with Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east and has its opening to the Black Sea. It has a predominantly temperate-continental climate. With a total area of 238,397 square kilometres, Romania is the twelfth-largest country in Europe and the seventh-most populous member state of the European Union, having approximately 20 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest. Other major urban areas include: Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Constanța, Craiova, Brașov, and Galați.
  The River Danube, Europe's second-longest river, rises in Germany's Black Forest and flows in a generally southeasterly direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romania's Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest, include Moldoveanu Peak, at an altitude of 2,544 m.
  Modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia.
context_section_description: The topic of the origin of Romanian culture began to be discussed by the end of the 18th century among the Transylvanian School scholars.
  Several writers rose to prominence in the 19th century, including: George Coșbuc, Ioan Slavici, Mihail Kogălniceanu, Vasile Alecsandri, Nicolae Bălcescu, Ion Luca Caragiale, Ion Creangă, and Mihai Eminescu, the later being considered the greatest and most influential Romanian poet, particularly for the poem Luceafărul.
  In the 20th century, a number of Romanian artists and writers achieved international acclaim, including: Tristan Tzara, Marcel Janco, Mircea Eliade, Nicolae Grigorescu, Marin Preda, Liviu Rebreanu, Eugène Ionesco, Emil Cioran, and Constantin Brâncuși. Brâncuși has a sculptural ensemble in Târgu Jiu, while his sculpture Bird in Space, was auctioned in 2005 for $27.5 million. Romanian-born Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, while Banat Swabian writer Herta Müller received the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature.
  Prominent Romanian painters include: Nicolae Grigorescu, Ștefan Luchian, Ion Andreescu Nicolae Tonitza and Theodor Aman. Notable Romanian classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries include: Ciprian Porumbescu, Anton Pann, Eduard Caudella, Mihail Jora, Dinu Lipatti and especially George Enescu. The annual George Enescu Festival is held in Bucharest in honour of the 20th-century composer.
  Contemporary musicians like Angela Gheorghiu, Gheorghe Zamfir, Inna, Alexandra Stan and many others have achieved various levels of international acclaim. At the Eurovision Song Contest Romanian singers achieved third place in 2005 and 2010.
  In cinema, several movies of the Romanian New Wave have achieved international acclaim. At the Cannes Film Festival, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu by Cristi Puiu won the Prix Un Certain Regard in 2005, while 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days by Cristian Mungiu won the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, in 2007. At the Berlin International Film Festival, Child's Pose by Călin Peter Netzer won the Golden Bear in 2013.
  The list of World Heritage Sites includes six cultural sites located within Romania, including eight painted churches of northern Moldavia, eight wooden churches of Maramureș, seven villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, the Horezu Monastery, and the Historic Centre of Sighișoara. The city of Sibiu, with its Brukenthal National Museum, was selected as the 2007 European Capital of Culture. Multiple castles exist in Romania, including the popular tourist attractions of Peleș Castle, Corvin Castle, and Bran Castle or "Dracula's Castle".
caption: Timișoara was designated the European Capital of Culture in 2021.
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