Piatra Craiului Mountains

Piatra Craiului Mountains

The Piatra Craiului Mountains are a mountain range in the Southern Carpathians in Romania. In Romanian "Piatra Craiului" means "Rock of the King".

The Piatra Craiului mountains form a narrow and saw-like ridge, which is about 25 km long. The highest elevation in the massif is the "Vârful La Om" with 2238 m.

The ridge is regarded as one of the most beautiful sights in the Carpathians. The two-day north–south ridge trail is both challenging and rewarding. Starting at either Plaiul Foii in the north-west or Curmătura in the north-east, walkers climb up to the ridge before following a somewhat precarious path along the narrow spine. The descent at the southern end leads into a karst landscape of deep gorges and pitted slopes where water penetrating the rock has carved a series of caves.

Localisation

The massif is bordered in the west by the Dâmboviţa Valley which separates it from the Păpuşa massif; in the north-west the river Bârsa and Curmătura Foii separates it from the Făgăraş Mountains and in the east the "Bran-Rucăr passage" delimits it from the Bucegi and Leaotă mountains. The southern border is the confluence of the valleys of Dâmboviţa and Dambovicioara rivers, in the "Podul Damboviţei" depression.

Nature protection

The whole range is included in the national park "Parcul Naţional Piatra Craiului" (Piatra Craiului National Park).

The first protection of this area started in 1938 when 4.4 km² were declared as a "Nature Reserve". The Law 5/2000 enlarged this area to 148 km². In 2003 the external limits and internal zoning were created. Since 1999 a park administration exists and since 2005 a management-plan is in place.

In the national park area about 300 fungi species, 220 lichen species, 100 different mosses, 1100 species of superior plants (a third of the number of all plant species found in Romania), 50 Carpathians endemic species and also two endemic species for Piatra Craiului can be found.

There are also 2 endemic species of spiders, 270 butterflies species, amphibians and reptiles, 110 birds species (50 listed in the Bern Convention and 6 in the Bonn Convention), 17 bats species, chamois and other large herbivores and also many large carnivores (wolfs, brown bears, lynx) living in the national park.

Access

Zărneşti is the most important town for visiting the national park. It is also an ideal starting point for approaches in the northern part of the massif. This town is lying at a distance of 28 km from the city of Braşov, by road, bus or railway. From Zărneşti, an 11 km long road makes the connection with the comfortable chalet "Plaiul Foii", which is a good starting point for climbing the ridge.

From Zărneşti also a forest road starts from the south-western part of the town, leading through the Zărneşti Gorges (Prăpăstiile) and further up to the here up to the ridge.

In Zărneşti can also the office of the administration of the National Park be found. A a new visitor center had been built in this town which opened in spring 2007.

The traditional villages Măgura, Peştera, Ciocanu, Şirnea are interesting starting points for the routes on the eastern slope and for getting in touch with the traditional Romanian way of life.

Proposed extermination of the wildlife

The Romanian Parlament is currently (September 2008) discussing a bill aiming to open 13 National Parks to commercial hunting, in order to eliminate the wildlife from these areas. It is the first step toward the dismantling the National Parks in Romania and them transformation into human settled areas.

External links

* http://www.alpinet.org/
* [http://www.pcrai.ro/ The park's homepage]
* [http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/151358/piatra-craiului.html/ Summit-Post description of different routes]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Piatra-Craiului-Gebirge — Munții Piatra Craiului in Rumänien Das Piatra Craiului Gebirge (dt. auch Königsteingebirge, rum. Munții Piatra Craiului, ung. Királykő hegység) ist ein aus jurassischem Kalkstein bestehender Höhenzug im zentralen Rumänien, unweit der Stadt Brașov …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bucegi Mountains — The Bucegi mountains are located in central Romania, south of the city Braşov. They are part of the Southern Carpathians group of the Carpathian Mountains.To the east, the Bucegi mountains have a very steep slope towards the popular tourist… …   Wikipedia

  • Măcin Mountains — Prelucrare 3D Vârful Ţuţuiatu The Măcin Mountains (Romanian: Munţii Măcin) is a mountain range in Tulcea County, Dobrogea, Romania. Part of the Northern Dobruja Massif, they are located between Danube River to the north and west, Taiţa River and… …   Wikipedia

  • Transylvanian Mountains — is the general name of the mountain system that surrounds the Transylvanian highland or plateau on all four sides, and forms the southeastern and southern continuation of the Carpathian Mountains. At the mouths of the Vişeu River and the Golden… …   Wikipedia

  • Leaota Mountains — The Leaota Mountains are located in central Romania, north of the city Târgovişte. They are part of the Southern Carpathians group of the Carpathian Mountains, and have as neighbours the Bucegi Mountains to the east and Piatra Craiului to the… …   Wikipedia

  • Ceahlău Massif — Ocolaşul Mare Peak Elevation 1,907 m (6,257 ft) …   Wikipedia

  • Zărneşti — Infobox Settlement official name = Zărneşti pushpin pushpin label position = pushpin map caption = Location of Zărneşti latd = 45 | latm = 34 | lats = | latNS = N longd = 25 | longm = 20 | longs = | longEW = E subdivision type = Country… …   Wikipedia

  • Nature Protection and Tourism Club — Infobox Non profit Non profit name = Clubul pentru Protecţia Naturii şi Turism Braşov Non profit Non profit type = founded date = November 30, 1973 founder = location = Braşov, Romania origins = key people = area served = tourism, sports, ecology …   Wikipedia

  • Romania — This article is about the modern country. For other uses, see Romania (disambiguation). Romania România …   Wikipedia

  • Danube Delta — Danube Delta * UNESCO World Heritage Site Country Romania …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”