Romania Darmanesti

Slanic Moldova Resort is also called Perla Moldovei. It is 40 km away from Darmanesti on the other side of the Nemira Mountains towards south. It is a wonderful place situated between mountains, with fresh air and water sources that do wonders. It is arranged with parks, restaurants and shops with traditional objects.

Sights in Slanic Moldova:

• Mineral Springs area – impressive by the outstanding landscapes and the therapeutic qualities of mineral springs.

• Slanic Moldova Park - an oasis of calm and relaxation in nature.

• The keys and the waterfall of Slanic – part of the route of 300 steps that takes you way up on the mountain top

The narrow paths and sometimes steep on the left side of Slanic, shady and quiet, offer a wild and captivating landscape for outdoors amateurs, and form a route preferred by many tourists who love to capture a part of the show offered by the resort, accompanied by the sound of the waterfalls.

We are waiting for you at our resort!!!

A map of the region

Our city lies not so far away from the Nemira Mountains. These mountains form the Eastern part of the Carpathians. They reach 1648 meters, being the highest of our region. During one field trip with some of my students we have come across an amazing sight, up there, on top of the mountains.

How we got there

In order to get to the top of these mountains from our city, you have to drive some 30 km into the woods and afterwards, when the road starts disappearing between trees you are left to walk. It is a most interesting walk. You have to climb all the time and after some 5 hours of walking you can get to the top. The scenery up there is more than amazing. Apart from the natural beauty of the landscape, there is another aspect that gets your attention. At first, when you just see the amazingly looking structures that form the upper side of the mountain, you are a bit puzzled.

My students were curious and decided to get to know more

Trenches from World War I

Thus, doing some research, they found out that those rock formations were trenches during the First World War. It is amazing the way they are preserved. They are so visible, despite the fact that some are covered with leaves. You can see trenches, munitions depots. There is even barbed wire between trees to mark the enemy lines.

And bears……

Just the thought of a war going on up there during the winter gives you the shivers. Not only that it is very far away from any inhabitants, but it is also the realm of the bear and we have to admit that we had to look over our shoulder, just in case. One never knows when the bear might come out or where he might come out from!

Looking through the files from our school library, we found out some very interesting information concerning all that evidence of the First World War.

The events took place between the 1^st of October and the 10^th of November 1916.

It was during the winter and I have to say that winter in our region deserves its name. Temperatures go down  to -35 C and if you add the wind to that, well you have there one very powerful enemy. The battles concerned the Romanians and the Austro-Hungarians in 1916. During these battles, 4 officers went missing along with 1462 soldiers. 33 officers were severely injured and 2183 soldiers had the same fate. And the sad part is that during that frightful period 14 officers with 446 soldiers died. The persons that died then were from different countries throughout Europe. They were Polish, Germans, Austro-Hungarians, French and not only.

Beauty and silence

The silence that reigns there is quite the opposite of the days that once were…. days that took so many lives. It is a particular feeling that gets the hold of you up there. If you don’t know what happened there you are stunned by the beauty of the places, the silence leads you to a reverie state, it soothes you. It’s nice being there; but if you find out more, you get to see the same reality with totally different eyes. There is the saying” there are two sides to the story”, well I guess this is the living example.

We are glad we are able to share this with you and hope you will come one day and experience what we have.

La ville de Darmanesti se situe à l’est du département de Bacau, dans la dépression Comanesti-Darmanesti dans la zone centrale des Carpates Orientaux.  Le nom de la localité provient du nom Darman, le commandant de la population il y a longtemps

The city of Darmanesti is situated in the county of Bacau, Romania

Le relief de cette zone comprend un mélange complexe de formes : des montagnes d’une hauteur moyenne et petite, des collines et des dépressions. La montagne la plus haute de la région s’appelle Nemira qui a une hauteur de 1646 mètres.

The town is surrounded by beautiful mountains. They are called Nemira and they are 1646 meters high.

Situé le long de Valea Uzului, Darmanesti est entouré par les montagnes qui sont belles pendant l’été, nostalgiques pendant l’automne, silencieuses et solitaires en hiver.

En hiver la neige est très abondante de sorte que la ville semble oubliée du reste du monde. Pendant le printemps on y retrouve quelque chose du charme auquel on ne peut pas résister.  C’est ici que les perce-neiges fleurissent ; il s’agit des fameux perce-neiges de Valea Uzului. On peut y rencontrer de véritables tapis fleuris formés des symboles de la vie qui créent l’impression de fête au bon milieu de la forêt.

During the first days of spring, the forests are full of flowers

Une fois entré dans la ville de Darmanesti, le voyageur peut regarder une ville qui ressemble plutôt aux villages traditionnels roumains, une  ville qui essaie de promouvoir son côté touristique. La beauté du paysage attire beaucoup de regards. Les gens qu’on retrouve ici n’ont rien emprunté de la froideur spécifique des habitants des grandes villes. Ils t’accueillent  les bras ouverts  et ils n’oublieront pas de te dire qu’ici les traditions sont strictement observées. Ainsi ne trouvera-t-on personne qui ne soit plus que content de parler des traditions de Noël et du Nouvel An. Ces traditions ont fait que la zone est reconnue dans le pays entier : les traditions de l’ours, les danses traditionnelles.

The area is famous all over the country for the traditions that are kept.

En les écoutant on peut lire dans leurs yeux la fierté d’être les descendants  du très connu Darman,  les gardiens  de l’histoire ancienne.

Le château de Stirbei, situé toujours dans ce coin du monde, est placé sur un plateau à une altitude de 600 mètres. Il a été construit à partir du 19^e siècle par Gheorghe Stirbei et Elisabeta Baleanu. C’est un monument important dans le patrimoine culturel du pays.

Conscients de la beauté de la zone, ceux qui y habitent, disent: ‘celui qui a jamais bu de l’eau d’Uz (la rivière qui traverse cette vallée) ne quittera jamais cette région’.

Dans l’âme de Darmanesti et de ses habitants, Dieu semble avoir parsemé des gouttes d’éternité.

L’article a été écrit par Roman Ionela-Corina, professeur de roumain dans notre lycée. Mille fois merci a elle !