Walking Seminar 2026 Wallachia Capitals

Goals: This week-long walking seminar invites participants to journey through the historic capitals (residences) of Wallachia – Curtea de Argeș, Câmpulung, Târgoviște, and Bucharest – uncovering the layers of history, architecture, and cultural identity embedded in their urban landscapes. Through guided tours, expert-led discussions, and site-specific activities, participants will engage with the tangible and intangible heritage that shaped both Romanian and European narratives. The seminar blends academic inquiry with experiential learning, offering a dynamic format where walking becomes a tool for reflection, dialogue, and discovery. Participants will explore rulers’ courts, monasteries, museums, and urban spaces, while engaging in collaborative sessions on heritage preservation, cultural sustainability, and European identity. By tracing Wallachia’s legacy across its capitals, the seminar aims to illuminate how local histories contribute to broader European cultural frameworks, and how heritage can be reimagined in the face of contemporary challenges. Students will play an active role throughout the seminar by contributing to documentation and creative outputs (such as heritage diaries, photography, and mapping), presenting personal reflections, and helping shape collaborative discussions and final conclusions.

What to Expect:

 Immersive Cultural Exploration

• Discover the layered history of Wallachia through guided visits to its former capitals: Curtea de Arges, Câmpulung, Targoviste, and Bucharest.
• Engage with local heritage sites, architectural landmarks, and urban narratives that shaped Romanian and European identity.

Academic Exchange & Dialogue

• Participate in interdisciplinary meetings led by experts in architecture, history, cultural studies, and heritage preservation.
• Share your research and perspectives with fellow KreativEU professors, researchers, and students in a collaborative environment.

Walking-Based Learning Format

• Experience a unique walking seminar model that blends physical movement with intellectual engagement.
• Reflect on heritage in situ, fostering deeper connections between place, memory, and identity.

Site-Specific Activities

• Curated visits to ruling courts, museums, urban spaces, and monasteries that embody Wallachia’s legacy.
• Opportunities for fieldwork, sketching, photography, and storytelling.

European Identity & Heritage

• Explore how Wallachia’s historical residences contribute to broader narratives about European cultural identity and shared heritage.
• Discuss contemporary challenges in heritage conservation, urban development, and cultural sustainability.

Networking & Collaboration

• Build connections with peers across Europe through KreativEU.
• Discover potential for future research collaborations, joint projects, and mobility opportunities.

We count on your support and enthusiasm to make this walking seminar a success and a memorable beginning to a new KreativEU tradition.

Be Kreativ!

Walking Seminar: Living Heritage: Tracing Wallachia’s Legacy across its Historic Capitals (Curtea de Arges, Campulung, Targoviste, Bucuresti)

📘 Programme Highlights (June 28, 2026 – July 4, 2026)

• June 28 (Sunday) – Targoviste

• Participant Registration & Welcome Pack Distribution
• Opening Ceremony: Introduction to the Walking Seminar concept
• Welcome Dinner: Traditional Romanian cuisine & networking

POWER & MEMORY

• June 29 (Monday) – Targoviste (Blended Walking Seminar)

• Knowledge Assessment
• Keynote Lecture: Wallachia in the European Medieval Imagination (Blended)
• Guided Tour: Rulers Court of Târgoviște, Chindia Tower, Dealu and Stelea Monasteries

ORIGINS & FOUNDATIONS 

• June 30 (Tuesday) – Golesti & Curtea de Arges (Walking Seminar)

• Guided Visits:

• Museum of Viticulture and Pomiculture & Manor House (Golesti)
• Curtea de Arges Rulers Assembly
• Curtea de Arges Municipal Museum
• Norocea House
• Curtea de Arges Monastery Assembly

• Roundtable: Living Heritage – Continuity, Community, and Change

CULTURAL CROSSROADS 

• July 1 (Wednesday) – Campulung Muscel (Blended Walking Seminar)

• Guided Tour:

• Campulung Rulers Assembly
• Catholic Church of Câmpulung
• Municipal & Ethnographic Museums

• Keynote Lecture: The Campulung Residence of Wallachia during the first rulers of Basarab dynasty (Municipal Library of Campulung, Blended)

BYZANCE APRÈS BYZANCE – ARISTOCRATIC LEGACY

• July 2 (Thursday) – The Cantacuzin Road in Prahova County (Walking Seminar)
• Guided Tour: Pana Filipescu Manor House, Cantacuzino Family Churches and Former Palaces

• Discussion Circle: The Ruling Families of Wallachia

MODERNITY & CONTINUITY

• July 3 (Friday) – Bucharest (Walking Seminar)

• Guided Tour: Brancovenesc Palaces – Potlogi, Mogoșoaia, Cotroceni
• Exploration: Old Court of Bucharest & Old Town
• Discussion Circle: From Princely Courts to European Capitals
• Flash Talks: “My Heritage, My Europe”: how heritage in my home country connects to European identity?

• July 4 (Saturday) – Targoviste

• Wrap-up Session
• Student Heritage Diaries Presentations
• Final Knowledge Assessment
• Closing Ceremony
• Participant Feedback
• Farewell & Departure

 Participants’ benefits:

✔ Free access to all venues and program activities
✔ Free transportation to all seminar locations
✔ Welcome Dinner with local cuisine and cultural introductions

✔ Exclusive encounters with art historians, museographers, heritage NGOs, and cultural experts.

✔ Immersive experiences at historical sites and insightful presentations.

Registration at: https://www.kreativeu.org/en/news/391/

Deadline for Registration: 1 May 2026.