Transylvania

In this journey through the history and culture of Transylvania, Bronwen Riley explores a rural world that has largely disappeared elsewhere in Europe. The author looks at myths, old and new, encountering memorable characters and remarkable buildings in villages and remote hills and mountains.

Bronwen Riley lived for a time in the remote mountains of Transylvania, studying village traditions and learning Romanian. An Oxford Classics graduate, she specialised in the post-Byzantine art of Romania at the Courtauld Institute, London. She is now managing editor of guidebooks at English Heritage and organises tours of small groups to share her great enthusiasm for and knowledge of Romania. Bucharest-born Dan Dinescu is best known for his marvellous documentation of Maramures, a region in north-west Romania where life stayed unchanged for centuries. Over the course of 25 years, he has captured the people and places of this remote country in luminous, memorable images.