Understand
In 1690 a Wallachian nobleman, Mihail Cantacuzino, built a small monastery on the upper Prahova river and inspired by his voyage to Mount Sinai named it Sinaia; a village developed around it. In the 1860's, attracted by the area's wild beauty, Romania's first king, Charles of Hohenzollern, decided to build here a summer residence, which would become Peles Castle inaugurated in 1883. Soon the place became the favorite resort of the Romania upper class, who started raising their own luxurious holiday villas in the area. Impressive hotels, casinos, modern restaurants and shops followed, which, by the end of the 19th century, turned Sinaia from an obscure village into Romania's unofficial summer capital.
