Visit Cantacuzino Castle, the beautiful Romanian castle that recently became famous for being a filming location for the Netflix show Wednesday.
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If you watched the Netflix series Wednesday, you may have noticed the gloomy building home to Nevermore Academy. The building is Cantacuzino Castle, a Neo-Romanian castle built in the early 20th century by a noble Romanian family.
The castle was always an important attraction in the region but is now drawing even more visitors since it appeared in the famous Netflix show. If you want to visit Cantacuzino castle, keep reading to learn more about its history, location, and tour options.
A brief history of the Cantacuzino Castle
Cantacuzino Castle was completed in 1911 by the wish of prince Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino, twice prime minister of Romania, from 1899 to 1900 and 1904 to 1907. The prince was also called “the nabob” due to his wealth, which he used to build three palaces, including Cantacuzino Castle.
The Cantacuzino family descends from an ancient Greek family, Kantakouzenos, among the most prominent families of the Byzantine Empire. The first traces of the Cantacuzino family’s presence in Romania dates to the 16th century. The family had many notable members who covered political charges, including several ministers and mayors of Bucharest.
The nabob was among the most prominent members of the Cantacuzino family. Aside from the Cantacuzino Castle, he ordered the building of two other palaces, the Cantacuzino Palace in Bucharest and the one in Florești known as the Petit Trianon Palace.
Cantacuzino Castle was built in the Neo-Romanian style and served as the residence of the Cantacuzino family until 1930. The interior was decorated with elaborate ornaments and furniture, with wall paintings made by Venetian artists. The windows were in Murano glass, and the floor in the main hall was in Italian glazed ceramics.
Unfortunately, the castle suffered irreversible changes during the communist period. The building served as a sanatorium for several years, and during this time, the walls were painted with a thick layer of oil paint. Recent attempts at restoring the original walls are proving very complicated.
Nowadays, the only original paintings you can see are those in the ballroom because they were covered with layers of paper before covering them in paint, hence preserving them. Furthermore, the original furniture was confiscated, so the pieces you see now are replicas.
Where is Cantacuzino Castle?
Cantacuzino Castle is in Bușteni, a small mountain town in the Prahova Valley. The valley is a picturesque location in the Muntenia region, home to many historical landmarks and tourist attractions, including Peleș Castle, Sinaia and Azuga ski resorts, and the scenic Bucegi Mountains.
You can visit Cantacuzino Castle on a day trip from Bucharest or Brașov. However, you can also spend one night or two in the area, be it in Bușteni or in a nearby town like Sinaia. You’ll find plenty of accommodation options all over the Prahova Valley. I recommend checking Booking.com for a wide range of accommodation options.
Booking.comHow to get to Cantacuzino Castle
The closest city to Bușteni and Cantacuzino Castle is Brașov. By car, it takes just over half an hour to reach the castle. If you don’t have a car, you can catch the train from Brașov, which takes about one hour to Bușteni. The castle is a 15-minute walk from the train station.
If you want to visit Cantacuzino Castle from Bucharest, you can either drive for roughly two hours or catch the train for around one hour and 40 minutes.
The airport in Brașov is not yet operational, though it will likely open very soon. I’ve been waiting for it for years, so I’m skeptical, but the opening should be this year (2023). For now, your best option is to fly to Bucharest. You can find cheap flights from many locations across Europe. Search convenient flights with WayAway or take a look at these options.
Ticket options
You have a few ticket options to visit Cantacuzino Castle. Your choice depends on whether you want to visit just the exterior or you want a guided tour of the interior as well. However, the guided tour is only in Romania. You can still join it and admire the beautiful interiors. If you want a guided tour in English, you must call the castle and reserve.
The ticket for the complete visit with access to the castle grounds, the indoor guided tour, and the exhibition costs 55 RON (roughly €11). If you just want to visit the outdoors and either the exhibition or the inside of the castle, the ticket costs 35 RON (around €7). When I visited, there was a beautiful exhibition, Goya and Dalì Controversials.
The guided tour of the interior lasts roughly one hour and starts five minutes after every hour, the first one at 10.05. I went for the first tour, and there were only a few other visitors, despite being a Saturday, so I would say it’s a good idea to get there early. There were more people when I finished the tour.
Check out more information about the schedules, tours, and exhibition on the Cantacuzino Castle website. On-site, you’ll also find a restaurant and a bar with a gorgeous terrace where you can have a coffee while admiring the spectacular mountain view.
Filming location of Netflix’s Wednesday
In the clear light of a sunny day and against the light blue winter sky, it’s hard to recognize Cantacuzino Castle as the gloomy Nevermore Academy. Of course, CGI had something to do with the creepy transformation, but if you look carefully, you’ll notice the resemblance.
The castle served as a filming location for the outdoor scenes, and you can still see the targets Wednesday shoots in the archery scene in episode two. But many other scenes were shot in locations in Romania. A few worth mentioning are the ones from Wednesday’s previous school and the swimming pool from episode one, shot in Bucharest, the scenes in the botany class, shot in the Bucharest Botanical Garden, and the ball scene, shot in Casa Monteoru, also in Bucharest. Check out this video for more Wednesday filming locations in Romania.
What else to see near Bușteni
There is much more to see near Bușteni aside from Wednesday’s filming location. If you only have one day to spend in the area, you can combine your visit to Cantacuzino Castle with Sinaia Monastery and Peleș Castle. These two landmarks are located in the small town of Sinaia, only 10 minutes by train from Bușteni.
You’ll likely fly to Bucharest, but I recommend visiting Brașov and spending at least one night there. The city in the Transylvania region is one of the most beautiful in Romania, home to a gorgeous historical center. If you need convincing, check out this article on the reasons to visit Brașov.
Finally, you can also join a guided tour that usually includes several locations, like this tour of three castles, Peleș, Bran, and Cantacuzino. Check out also these other tours from Bucharest.
If you visit Bușteni, Cantacuzino Castle, and any other locations of the Netflix show Wednesday, let me know your thoughts in the comments section. Enjoy your visit!
