Queen Marie Of Romania - Castle & Botanical Garden in Balchik (Bulgaria)

Marie of Romania (Marie Alexandra Victoria, previously Princess Marie of Edinburgh) ( 1875 – 1938) was Queen consort of Romania from 1914 to 1927, as the wife of Ferdinand of Romania.

- "In 1893 she married the heir to the Romanian throne Ferdinand, a short, big eared man who was all but run over by his domineering uncle King Carol I. Marie brought a much needed breath of fresh air into Romania. Carol's wife, Elizabeth, was a strange character who wrote poetry under the name Carmen Sylva, and who Marie and an on again - off again relationship with. Marie and Ferdinand had 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls. Marie was not fully allowed to raise the heir to the throne and so he turned out to be rude and unyielding. Her youngest child, Mircea would die at the age of 4, but the rest of her children did live on, the youngest one dying in 1991! The younger children turned out very nice, and later in life they looked back on their mother and her life with pride and wonderment."

- "After the death of her husband in 1927, Queen Marie remained in Romania, writing books and her memoirs, The Story of My Life. She died in Peleş Castle on 18 July 1938, and was buried next to her husband in the Monastery of Curtea de Argeş. In accordance with her will, her heart was kept in a cloister at the Balchik Palace (Bulgaria) which she had built. In 1940, when Balchik and the rest of Southern Dobrudja were returned to Bulgaria in accordance with the Treaty of Craiova, Queen Marie's heart was transferred to Bran Castle."  
Ref: - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_of_Romania , http://www.geh.org/link/sn/queen-marie.html

(in Romanian)
 In Balcic (azi, apartine de Bulgaria) se afla celebrul Castel (“Cuibul linistit”), resedinta preferata a Reginei Maria a Romaniei, inconjurat de o la fel de celebra gradina botanica unicat in Europa centrala si de est, in special datorita colectiei de cactusi. Pentru mult timp orasul a fost supranumit Orasul Alb, din cauza dealurilor albicioase din jur. De altfel, intregului tarm i s-a spus, din aceleasi motive, Coasta de Argint. In prezent, brosurile din Bulgaria care prezinta orasul il numesc “perla litoralului bulgaresc”.
Sursa: http://www.balcic.net/ FOTO: http://www.balcic.net/foto.html  
Castelul reginei Maria din Balchik & Gradina Botanica (video) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF1vVmrrJXY&feature=related

---