An overview of things to visit in Neamt County.
In north eastern Romania, on Bistrita Valley, in one of the most beautiful mountain valleys in the Eastern Carpathians lies the city of Piatra Neamt. The beauty of its buildings and surrounding landscape have earned the city the name ‘The Pearl of Moldavia’. As a major tourist objective, it has a ski lift, a ski slope, and in the center of town, on a small plateau, you can find the former royal court, an ensemble of historic monuments dating back to 1468. The 19-meter-high church steeple was erected in 1400, and you can find there a number of museums, among them the Cucuteni Copper Age Art Museum, the most important art collection of its kind in south east Europe, with 800 exhibits. We spoke to Anca Floarei, head of tourism with Neamt County Council:
“If we leave from Piatra Neamt heading west we reach Bicaz, a small mountain town. Here the roads fork out and one goes to the Bicaz Gorges, 50 km away from Piatra Neamt. The trails are not long, and are easy to travel. The Bicaz Gorges is a nature reserve, part of the Bicaz Gorges-Hasmas National Palrk, a wonderful area. Over 8 km, the quick stream called Bicaz delved into the rock and created the wonderful gorges. The rock walls are impressive, 300 meters high, very close to each other. It is quite a show. This is the gateway from Gheorgheni to Neamt. From Bicaz you can go to Mountain Spring Lake, to the north west of the county. This is the Bicaz Dam Lake. This is a heavy-duty dam, built in 1960. It is 127 meters high, 6 km away from the town of Bicaz. The lake is 35 km long, forming a beautiful sight with the hills surrounding it, the villages downhill and the massif called Ceahlau in the background. On the side of the lake there is the road, which itself offers a great view.”
A great many famous monasteries are situated in Neamt. They boast great museums, with church paraphernalia, book collections and rare print, as well as famous murals by famous artists such as Nicolae Tonitza, at Durau Monastery, or Nicolae Grigorescu, at Agapia Monastery:
“The architecture at Agapia is truly special. They have a manual carpet-weaving workshop, and recently they set up a pottery workshop too. Going further, we come to the edges of the town of Targu Neamt, with the Ion Creanga Memorial House, which has an ethnography museum. This is a 19th-century house, a tiny place where you can find out lots of things about writer Ion Creanga’s childhood, and where all the exhibits are old pieces specific to the area. Further on you can visit Neamt Citadel, a monument built by Moldavian ruler Petru Musat, expanded and consolidated by king Stephen the Great. A few years ago the citadel was restored, it was refurbished, it has many halls that can be visited by tourists. Leaving Targu Neamt and going to Pipirig we can find Neamt Monastery. This has been documented as early as 1210, and its construction works were financed successively by several kings, such as Petru Musat, Alexander the Good and Stephen the Great. Here tourists can find the largest and oldest monastery library, an unequaled church art museum and a museum of print. As early as the 14th century, scholarly and spiritual traditions in this venue are closely related to a famous school of calligraphy and miniature, as well as a print shop set up as early as 1500. The church is impressive. It is one of the most beautiful churches left by Stephen the Great in heritage. We invite everyone to come here and see it. On the way to Neamt Monastery you can find the Dragos Voda bison reservation, which is home to bisons that either roam free or are sheltered on the premises.”
35 km away from Piatra Neamt you see the Massif of Ceahlau, once worshipped as a holy site by the ancient Dacians. Most trails to the mountain start off in the Izvorul Muntelui area, but also from the resort of Durau, at the foot of Ceahlau Mountain. Anca Afloarei told us about the legends circulating in the area:
“Ceahlau is the mountain most often written about by Romanian writers. It has been referred to as the Olympus of Moldavia. It is famous with tourists. The trails are very old. This is a consecrated mountain, the second such mountain after Gaina. Every year, on a given day, people climb the mountain in observance. This is a tradition 5000 years old. The Dacians used to do it to worship their god. The believed that the god would protect them year long if they did that. We celebrate the mountain with a festival on August 6th. What is interesting and unique about this mountain is the fact that on that day, the Toaca Peak nearby takes the shape of a perfect pyramid against the sun, a special phenomenon. Tourists often spend the night on the mountain just to see this.”
To wrap up this edition of Traveler’s Guide, we have to specify that accommodation in the area is plentiful, with many possibilities on offer.
Useful Links
Copyright © . All rights reserved