Tourist Attractions

Vâlcele: Aquasic Spa in the center of Valcele offers several medicinal and relaxing natural  treatments using spring water directly famous Valcele mineral spring. This highly mineralized water has one of the highest concentrations of magnesium in the world with  up to 335 mg / l magnesium, plus several other elements, notably silicon at  53mg/l . The magnesium ions aid in stress control, and the silicon is reputed to help with bone reconstruction. There are several other minerals present in high concentrations that may aid in both internal health and with skin conditions.

Vâlcele has a long and famous reputation for its spring water. In fact it was once the ground zero of balneology, where the first European balneology congress took place. Even over 1000 years ago the Romans of the area called this settlement “Castrum aqua vivarum”, which loosely translated means the place of healing waters. Even in the olden times the climate and mineral waters were known to have a curative effect on those suffering from liver, heart, or rheumatism. The knowledge of these healing properties of the water has been spread throughout the world and in the 70’s Valcele had many Balneology complexes, Hotels, and café’s and was a major tourist destination.

Valcele History

Count Nemes – During the 18/19^th centuries Vâlcele was visited by many royal families and nobility from throughout Europe. Count Nemes of the surrounding Brasov area is widely credited with developing the first resort and accommodation in the area.  The area was trendy during with a wide of nobility and diverse visitors seeking the curative waters of Valcele. Some notable visitors were leading men of their time from King Ferdinand to Nicolae Balcescu, Vasile Alecsandri and Titu Maiorescu.

Prior to the Romanian political troubles in the 80’s and 90’s Vâlcele had a cosmopolitan air, with several balneology complexes,  promenade alleys and Swiss-style villas. The many excellent and famous restaurants of their time had an extensive events calendar with banquets where world renowned ballet artists preformed.

The Serbian Prince Milos Obrenovici – was said to be a beneficiary of the curative Vâlcele waters and  for a reward for the miraculous results from the treatment he received he built the Orthodox Chuch which stands in the locality today, and is open to the public for viewing.

The center has two swimming pools, one with hot water and one with cold water, four baths with a bathtub where you can make hydrotherapy with the benthic mineral water from the spring “Pucioasa Fountain”. There is also a Finnish sauna and a saline room.

The local folklores tell of the water in the area has been used to cure skin or digestive system diseases and even to help people recover from paralysis.
The center uses mineral water from Izvorul Elisabeta, which is a feruginous mineral water, carbonated, calcium and magnesium. It can be used internally to cure or relieve symptoms of digestive and renal diseases. Carbonated baths are indicated for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and treatment of locomotor system disorders.

Today’s castle’s predecessor was first built in 1773. The current facility now houses two mansions that were constructed for the Benkő family of Arcus. One mansion is built of stone, and is located at the bottom of the village. Prior to 1823, the mansion was owned by the Daniel family of Vârghiş. The 1829 inventory of Elek Daniel’s possessions (1783-1848) describes the Arcuş mansion as an upstairs building, comprising of seven rooms, to the west and to the north being delimited by a porch. Inside the main building was a mill, garden, various farm buildings, hermit’s house, guest house, and a bathing house.

Count György Kálnoky bought the estate from Arcus in 1840, but in 1844 he passed away. After the death of the Count, the property passed to his widow, Countess Anna Haller (1816-1878). It is very likely that the Count built the chapel near the castle, sometime between 1840-1845, because the Catholic chapel is dedicated to St. George, and the bell of the chapel was cast before 1845 with the patron Saint Anne.

Şugaş Băi is a tourist resort in Covasna County.

The resort is located eight kilometers from Sfantu Gheorghe. It is a small and sleepy town surround by beautiful native forest. Within its  the town area, there are both pools and springs of mineral water, as well as for the possibilities of practicing sports.

In the winter there is a small ski resort, with skiers having a 500-meter-long and 250-meter-long slopes with lifts, night skiing and snow guns.

The city of Covasna is among those tourist destinations well known by those who go for balneology treatments, especially for the elderly. For young people, however it is an almost unknown city, but because in recent years new investments have been made in hotels, infrastructure and entertainment facilities, beyond the famous treatments, this is a place of clean air, wild nature and 1000  springs of mineral waters. When you say the Covasna resort it is renowned for its health and relaxation tourism. Almost half of the tourists who arrive annually in Covasna County, about which we have already written, come for treatment or relaxation in the resort with the same name.

Covasna is primarily a spa resort with a variety of mineral water sources, numerous mofts (CO2 emanations) and a picturesque natural setting, ideal for a relaxing and rejuvenating stay. Situated in the center of the country, one hour away from Brasov and 3.5 hours from Bucharest, this spa resort is very accessible to many Romans, being a short drive from Moldova, Muntenia and obviously Transylvania.

The Black Church

The Black Church (in German Die Schwarze Kirche) is the parochial church of the Lutheran Evangelical Community in Braşov, located in the center of the city of Brasov. The Gothic building was partially damaged in the fire that followed the Turkish invasion of 1689 when its walls collapsed and received its present name. The popular name after fire, the “Black Church”, was officially accepted in the nineteenth century.

The Black Church is one of the most representative monuments of Gothic architecture in Romania dating back to the 14th-15th centuries. Having a length of more than 89 meters is considered to be the largest church in Romania. Due to its size, when it was finished it was awarded the title of The Greatest Church between Vienna and Constantinople.

Rope Street

Rope Street is located in the city of Brasov, Romania, between the streets of Cerbului and Şchei Gate. Its existence is attested in the seventeenth-century documents as a simple corridor to help the firemen’s work. Street width The ropes vary between 1.11 and 1.35 m, which gives it the title of the narrowest street in Brasov. Rope Street, with a length of 80 meters, reflects the urbanization trends of medieval Brasov.

Rope Street is the third narrowest street in Europe (after Spreuerhofstraße in Germany that is 31 to 50 cm wide and Parliament Street in England with an approximate width of 122 cm).

The Seven Stairs Canyon

The Seven Stairs Canyon is a gorge in the Jurassic Limestone on the western side of the Piatra Mare Mountains, in the county of Brasov, Romania. Their length is 160 meters with a difference of 58 meters at an altitude of 948 meters. The gorge consists of seven steps with heights between 2.5 and 15 meters, which gives it its name and which turns into cascades when the water volume of the Sura de Piatra Valley, a tributary of the Sipoaia’s left, is high. The route can be reached by stairs, without the need for specialized equipment.

The Seven stairs, deep in Jurassic limestone, keep the traces of the recent morphological evolution of the Piatra massive as a whole. Accelerated epigenetic rock movement led to the rise in the Cretaceous conglomerates and then to the Jurassic limestone in the canyon, resulting in the formation of slope breaks (the seven cascades) following the plateau (2,5 to 15 m heights) and based on marmite erosion. Evolution of the valley occurred on the complex route of a network of faults and vertical fissures, which opened conditions for the emergence of interesting rock formation sidewalks on the slope.

Poiana Brasov has 12 ski slopes with different degrees of difficulty (Bradul – 458 m, Kanzel – 350 m, Sulinar – 2441 m, Ruia – 540 m, Subteleferic 1 – 495m, Subteleferic 2- 2220 m, Lupului – 2860 m, Drumul Roșu – 3821 m, Stadion – 300 m). It is regarded as the best ski area in Romania. It also hosts sports grounds, hiking and mountain biking in summer,  a lake, discos, bars and restaurants. Accommodation is provided in luxury hotels, hostels, villas or cottages. There is also an ambulance and a police station in the Poiana, as well as a post office.

The resort is also recommended for the treatment of asthenic neurosis, for exhaustion and physical and intellectual overuse, for secondary anemia and endocrine diseases for respiratory diseases. Often in winter, the temperature reaches -15 ° C.

Saint Ana Lake is the only volcanic lake in Europe. It is located in the Ciomatudin Massif Harghita County, on the left of the Olt River, near the Tusnad resort. The lake is situated at the bottom of the crater of an extinct volcano, called Ciomatu Mare (in the Hungarian Nagy-Csomád), from the volcanic massif Puciosu, the site of the most recent volcanic eruption in the Carpathians and Eastern Europe, which took place several tens of thousands years (probably more than 42,000 years ago).

Lake St. Ana is at an altitude of 946 m. ​​It is almost circular, similar to a palette of painter, is 620 m long and 460 m maximum, an area of ​​19.50 ha and a maximum depth of 7 m. The lake complements its waters only from rainfall, with no springs. The purity of water approaches that of distilled water, with only 0.0029 ml of minerals. The low water capacity of the lake water is also due to the mofetic emanations through the bottom of the lake and through the walls of the crater.

Tourists arriving at St. Ana’s Lake do not need meteorologists’ forecasts to find out how the weather will be; they have an empirical but accurate method offered by the volcanic mountain: the two cracks formed in the mountains that predate the weather. The locals know that “If the emanations from cracks crackle to the nose, then it is a storm sign, and if not, the day will be sunny, just right for hiking.” The phenomenon has a scientific explanation. In the mountains there is still a post-volcanic activity, sensitive to any change in atmospheric pressure. When the atmospheric pressure drops, gases such as carbon dioxide and sulfur go up to the surface and flood the cracks with a pungent odor, a sign that the rain comes.

The Bats Cave, with an area of ​​4.80 ha [3], has the status of a national natural monument and enters the special protection area of ​​”Piatra Craiului” Park.

There are rare bat species in the caves, which should only be studied by specialists who know how to treat such an animal. The cave should be closed to the general public. The Bats Cave is located on Bran’s platform, at an altitude of 950 m. The cave has a length of 162 m and is shaped from Jurassic limestone. The cave is a warm cave with moderate humidity and is sprinkled with many calcareous formations with “tears of the earth” and halls with differently colored ceilings. Through the Bats Cave flows a muddy brook. Although no special equipment is required and a flashlight is sufficient, it is advisable to have protective gear to avoid clay and traces of guano, the bats’ excrement.  The existence of numerous solitary bats in the Cave Bats Cave or grouped into colonies is responsible for guano.

The experts from the “Piatra Craiului” National Park Administration believe that the cave should not even be visited because it is the habitat of endangered bats. “Here we disagree with the Moeciu City Hall, who want to turn the cave into a tourist destination.