Tourist Attractions in Banat

Today we are going to the historic region of Banat

Daniel Onea, 24.11.2022, 03:19

Tourist
Attractions in Banat

Today
we are going to the historic region of Banat. We discover the most
isolated locality in Romania, a tiny village in the Cerna Mountains,
whose only connection to the outside world is a wooden ladder, 100 m
long, fixed to the side of a mountain. We can also reach the
watermills in Rudaria, unique in Eastern Europe. We are also going to
talk about the Jazz Festival in Garana, an international event that
is also about traditions and authentic folklore.

Banat
and the whole of Romania want to activate tourism in various forms,
according to Dan Mirea, the manager of the Center for Creation and
Promotion for Traditional Culture in Caras Severin:

If
we refer to authentic tourism, or brand tourism, which we already
have, I think I would make a direct referral to the Bigar Waterfalls
in Almaj Valley. It is very well known. It is one of the seven most
beautiful waterfalls of the world. We have another area with a lot of
foreign tourists. These are the watermills of Rudaria, which are
built in the 18th century. What is different about them is
that locals in the area are still milling their wheat and corn to
this day, because they remain functional. Many television crews from
around the world go there to report on the windmills. We also have
another special are. We have a village in Caras, in the mountain part
of Banat, which can only be reached by some very steep steps. It is
called Inelet. As a poet put it beautifully, it is the village in
Romania that is closest to God. There is no other access to this
locality. People use these stairs, which are used even to take kids
to school or to the doctor, in what we call saddlebags. And when
people pass away, their journey to being laid to rest takes seven
hours, because they don’t have a cemetery there.

This
most isolated of villages in Romania, Inelet, has around one hundred
houses, spread out, one on each small hill. Of these, only 33 are
still inhabited. The first sign that tourists have reached this place
is the village church, built on a hill in the year 1973 by the
locals. Another great area is that of the village of Garana, which
was inhabited starting in the 19th century by Saxons, says
Dan Mirea:

Right
now they have there one of the most important jazz festivals in the
world, and a lot of foreign tourists come here along an entire week,
at the end of August. The tickets get sold out two years ahead of
time. This year, as opposed to previous years, after this period of
time that has put the brakes on all art manifestations, tickets were
sold out within 14 hours. Another great element would be the mountain
of Semenic, which is now undergoing perpetual change. A lot is
getting invested in logistics and infrastructure. Two European level
ski slopes are being built, one of them rivaling the one in the
famous resort of Innsbruck, in Austria. In fact, it is precisely an
Austrian company that is working there. By the end of 2023, when they
will be opened to the public, these slopes will definitely bring in a
very large number of tourists. We also have on the Bistra Valley, in
the heart of Banat, many artistic activities, and not only in this
area. Banat is represented by loads of artistic activities. One
example would be the International Festival Hercules, in Baile
Herculane. This is a town that did honor not only to Caras-Severin
County and Banat, it did honor to Romania during the time when it
became an emblem of spa tourism all over Europe.

As
for the Baile Herculane spa itself, certainly one of its main
attractions is its historic center. We find here legacy buildings,
such as the Casino, the Austrian Imperial Baths, and the villa that
was hosting the Empress of Austria-Hungary, Elisabeth, or Sissi, who
fell in love with Baile Herculane and the surrounding area. Here is
Dan Mirea:

The
old center has just been completely restored, and the famous Hercules
statue, which became the national and international brand image for
Baile Herculane, regained the shine it had in the 19th
century. In Herculane there is an international festival, over 30
years old, the International Hercules Festival. Every year, over 40
countries come here to present their traditions and folklore. We have
in Banat a large number of regions that represent some form of
folklore. There are three big areas: Caras Valley, Bistra Valley, and
Almaj Valley, the mountainous area of Banat. These regions have the
most appreciated singing, dancing, and traditional costumes. People
value traditional garb more than anything else. It is said in Banat
that old people would sell even their funeral plots, but they would
not part with the traditional costumes from their forebears. As
manager of the Center for Creation and Promotion for Traditional
Culture in Caras Severin, I have a few projects for next year. We are
trying to gravitate towards and join Timisoara, which will be 2023
European Cultural Capital. One of my projects for next year is an
exhibition with over 1,000 costumes from all the representative areas
of Banat.

In
addition to the spa of Baile Herculane, there is a small area that
started becoming a pole of attraction for tourists, called Muntele
Mic, the Small Mountain. The spa here is at an altitude of about
1,550 m, and is a destination for lovers of winter sports. At the
same time, at the foot of the mountain you will find traditional
craftsmen and their stories, as Dan Mirea told us:

We
also have right by the city of Resita a village that has become
representative not just for Banat, but for the whole of Romania. It
is the village of Binis, where a master potter, who passed forward
the tradition of his forebears, represented Romania at the greatest
international fairs of the world. As a fun fact about this place,
four presidents of the US have decorated this master potter. The
unique thing is that he never upgraded his potter’s wheel. It has
been used for over 200 years, and it has a special charm. Anyone
sitting down at this wheel and spinning it has no chance of spilling
the clay off of it. Last but not least, we have a wood carving camp,
which this year expanded. It was started a few years ago in Barana.
Right now, any other places have adopted this carving camp. Artists
from all over the world, from 35 countries, come every year to
Caransebes. For a month, they pick a tree stump from the surrounding
forests in the Banat mountains, after a ritual of befriending this
stump.

This
is a destination where natural attractions blend harmoniously with
the cultural heritage, all this complete with cultural events
throughout the year.