Tales from Banatul Montan

An area full of history and traditions.

Daniel Onea, 14.12.2023, 14:00

An area full of legends and traditions, Caraș-Severin county, located in the southwest of Romania, takes pride in its multiculturalism and its unique tourist attractions. Beautiful villages, old watermills that still work, and ski slopes are only some of the latter.

We begin our journey with Semeringul Banățean. This is the oldest mountain railway in Romania, and the most spectacular, declared the Destination of the Year 2021. Inaugurated on December 15, 1863, some 160 years ago, it passes through 14 tunnels and 10 viaducts, and has a total length of 33.4 km. Semeringul Banatean connects the city of Oravița with Anina, a locality that in the past lived on industry, according to Dan Mirea, the director of the Caraş-Severin County Center for the Preservation and Promotion of Traditional Culture: At present, it is a city that has found tourism development as a solution. An unique element is the fact that here, in one of the deepest mines in Europe, there is an old English engine that is still functional. It is an engine that no longer exists anywhere else in the world, one of the series of engines that were also used on the famous Titanic. As I said, this engine still exists in the mine in Anina, and the mayor, together with the city council there decided to make it a tourist attraction, because there are many foreigners who know about this engine. Tourists get here with Semeringul Banățean, a railway line in a breathtaking landscape.

Also in the mountainous area of Caraș-Severin county, tourists can see the most famous waterfall in Romania. This was put by World Geography Portal on the first place in the ranking of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world.

Dan Mirea: There is no doubt that one of the most well-known tourist attractions objectives in the county is Bigăr waterfall, which, in the last year, drew a record number of tourists, the area also developing as a tourist area. I would like to also next to the Bigăr Waterfall, not even 10 km away, the town of Eftimie Murgu, Rudăria, as the Banat locals call it, a town where there are the famous water mills, which have been operational for over 100 years. They are also currently used by the locals as a tourist attraction and as a presentation of traditional dishes. The corn flour that the peasants grind at the mills is prepared in traditional dishes in households in Rudăria. There are a lot of foreign tourists who go there.

Among the most interesting mountain destinations are Semenic and Văliug, two localities that have developed a lot in recent years. Dan Mirea tells us more: There is a famous village in the mountains of Banat, Gărâna. During the summer, it hosts the largest jazz festival in Eastern Europe, and during the winter, it turns into a real celebration. All the houses there were transformed by the locals, with the support of the authorities, into small guesthouses. Each of them offers, in addition to traditional dishes, a real show in terms of customs, not only Romanian, but also Saxon. Gărâna is one of the Saxon areas that flourished as tourist destination. We have communities of Croatians, Serbians, Hungarians, Ukrainians and Saxons who came here a few hundred years ago as labour force, and then became natives by merging with the locals and ended up creating wonderful communities. In every area of Banat, there are beautiful customs.

There are two skiable areas in the Banat area: the Semenic-Văliug area and the Muntele Mic area, says Romeo Dan Duncă, president of the Caraș-Severin County Council: There are still some older installations on Semenic and Văliug, but, very interesting, there are some newly made slopes. One of them is six km long. It is the longest ski slope in Romania. There is an project already approved, for installing a gondola over a length of 4 km. Basically, we will put this very beautiful area back on the ski map, which will be very attractive not only in winter, but also in summer or in autumn, for all mountain lovers. The other area, the Muntelui Mic area, is an area that has developed a lot and has very beautiful landscapes. From Muntele Mic you can see all the other mountains: the crown of the Ţarcului Mountains and the Retezat Mountains.