Tourism in Bistrita
Bistrita-Nasaud is a county with great tourism potential, with lots of cultural, historical and nature attractions.
Daniel Onea, 21.04.2016, 13:37
We dedicate this edition of Travelers Guide to a new competition launched by RRI called “Holidays in Bistrita-Nasaud”. It will take us to the northern part of Romania, to a county with great tourism potential, with lots of cultural, historical and nature attractions.
Ovidiu Teodor Cretu, mayor of the city of Bistrita, provided us with a short history of the place: “Bistrita was founded by Saxon colonists in the 11th and 12th centuries. Linguistic data indicates that they came from the area of Luxembourg, but things are by no means clear. What is certain is that a document dating back to 1241 found in a Luxembourg monastery certifies that the city of Nosa, as Bistrita was known back then, was raided by Tartars, who left 6,000 dead. This is an impressive figure for 1241. It is the first documentary mention of the city of Bistrita. It took hold as a Saxon colony, and it developed along with its crafts. The development of the city was influenced by the fact that the inhabitants were historically well oriented. In 1330, Hungarian king Louis the Great was fighting some Hungarian noblemen in this area. The Bistrita Saxons sided with the king, who, after defeating the rebellious noblemen, rewarded them by bestowing upon them the title of royal city, the right to hold a grand fair like the one in Budapest, and have their own seal and courts.”
The old city center reminds of the wealthy past. The oldest historic monument in the city is the former minority church, right now an Orthodox church, built between 1270-1280. The Evangelical Church in the center is a symbol of the city. In addition, you will find yourselves in a city with rich cultural activity, according to Gavril Tarmure, the manager of the County Cultural Center in Bistrita-Nasaud.
Gavril Tarmure: “The county cultural center runs its activities on two tiers: one deals with traditional culture, rural culture in general, the other deals with urban culture. Therefore we have a dedicated service for researching, promoting and preserving traditional culture. We have a very solid chamber music season, we have an exhibition program at the citys most important art gallery, we have literary events, and large scale festivals. As part of the permanent music season, in addition to the offer of the Concert Society Foundation, which we founded in Bistrita 20 years ago, the County Cultural Center organizes about 60 chamber concerts and over 15 symphony concerts every year.”
One of the favorite destinations for tourists is the so-called Mountain Seaside, which is how locals call Colibita, a mountain retreat on the shore of a large lake, where people live a quiet existence, raising farm animals.
Here we talked to Vasile Corutiu, owner of the Fishermans Resort B&B: “We are at the foot of the Calimani Mountains, 40 km away from Bistrita, 17 km away from Tihuta Pass, known from the Dracula legend, we are in a superb depression, which gives us a great advantage in terms of geography and climate. We have the cleanest air in the world. The ozone has its greatest concentration here. We basically have mountains, but also something of a beach, hence our slogan, Mountain Seaside. We can accommodate 80 people, we have a restaurant with 250 seats, a wine cellar, a small spa center, for recreation and recovery, and a small fitness room. We have outdoor sports courts, and boats on the lake. We have fishing sessions, off-road trails, trekking with guides to Calimani peak, 18 km away, 2.000 meters in altitude. Soon we will bring in horses for rides and for pulling carriages, or sleighs in winter.”
Head of Bistrita County Council Emil Radu Moldovan told us that his county has a superb scenery and very hard working people: “It is a medium sized county, with around 330,000 inhabitants, 62 territorial units, a county seat, three cities, and 58 rural communes. The landscape here is beautiful: two national parks, the Rodna Mountains National Park, the Calimani Mountains National Park, with the richest ozone in Europe, scientifically proven, in the area of Colibita Lake, the legendary Dracula Castle, and the area where Bram Stoker went before writing his novel, on which Francis Ford Coppola based his movie. Further on, on Somes Valley, we find Sangeorz-Bai, the resort with curative mineral waters, natural cures for lots of internal conditions, for the stomach, the gall bladder, the spleen, and a whole range of other conditions. Higher up we get to the Rodna Mountains National Park.”
If you like legends, if you like adrenaline, dont miss Dracula Castle Hotel. Ana Maria Muscar, manager of the hotel, told us that this is supposed to reproduce the atmosphere in Bram Stokers novel: ”This is an imposing construction, with very high points and very low points, with crenellations, lots of stone structures, and lots of natural elements, with very attractive interior decorations: lots of red, lots of black and dragons. We have two points of interest in our castle. One is Count Draculas crypt, the other, newly built, is Count Draculas Tunnel. This is a longer trail, a few dozen meters long, which leads to the counts crypt. From the dark atmosphere to the somber music and down to our programs, which I am not going to disclose anything about now, its supposed to be a surprise, we create an experience tailored to people who love adventure. We have theme parties on Halloween, like the Witches Ball. These are large-scale events, with thematic theater and flame juggling. During these events we have purifying fires, Swedish torches, which call the tourists to the catacombs of the hotel. They all peak with Count Draculas Ball.”
(Translated by Calin Cotoiu)
