Tourism in Mehedinti
Mehedinti, in southwestern Romania, is a tourist area famous beyond the borders of the country
Daniel Onea, 27.09.2017, 20:20
The county of Mehedinti accommodates tourists of every kind, providing venues for spelunking, mountaineering, rafting, archery, horse riding, biking and adventure tourism. Accommodation is widely available, while cuisine is focused on fish dishes.
Our guide today is Cornelia Balaci, museum curator with the Iron Gates Museum: “The museum devoted to the Iron Gates 1 Dam presents a synthesis of the natural and cultural history of the Iron Gates gorge. One of the main points of attraction is going down by elevator to see the turbines, see how the electrical dam functions live. In the village of Cerneti we have two watchtowers, which are historical monuments: Tudor Vladimirescu’s tower and Nistor’s tower. The museum is laid out in a building that was built around 1926. It was built as a dormitory for a high school. In 1972, on May 15th, the modern exhibition was inaugurated. There you can see an aquarium with fish species native to the Danube. The natural science collection is on the ground floor, the history and archaeology section occupies the entire first floor. The building in the back is a miniature of the main building, housing the ethnography and traditional art collection. It also houses objects that the museum holds in storage, along with the restoration and conservation laboratory.
These are just a few of the options for spending your free time. You can also take a short boat trip on the Danube. The Orsova- Cazanele Mari is the route that boasts the most beautiful scenery. In the city of Orsova you can also see lots of interesting things:
“In terms of tourist objectives, in Orsova one can visit the Roman-Catholic church, as well as the St. Anna Monastery. Here you also have a sports base dedicated to rowing, which has won Romania many international trophies. You can see there the administrative building of the Iron Gates Nature Park. The old city, with remnants of Roman imperial buildings, is now under water. Also submerged are the ruins of an old Byzantine fortress, as well as a Medieval fortress. The climate here is exceedingly mild. The annual average temperature is considered the highest in Romania, not only due to the very hot summers, but very mild winters. The temperature allows some exotic plant species to grow here. There are a few species of magnolia being grown, as well as fig trees. In the village of Svinita we have a fig grove, and the preserve made from this crop is famous beyond the country’s borders.
If you vacation in the Danube Gorges area, you can see the giant image of the last king of the Dacians, Decebalus, 55 meters tall and 25 meters wide, sculpted right into the side of the mountain. Just to get an image of its size, picture the face which is only six meters shorter than the Statue of Liberty in New York, eight meters taller than the Jesus statue in Rio, and ten meters taller than the Colossus of Rhodes is said to have been.
It is the tallest sculpture in Europe, as we found out from Marin Cărămizaru, the head of the Cazanele Dunarii Tourism Association in Dubova, Mehedinti County: “We sought to diversify our offer. To begin with, we recommend getting back to nature. For this purpose, we recommend the trails in the Ciucarul Mare, Ciucarul Mic and the Trescovăt Massif, which offers a spectacular view of the gorges. We also recommend biking on the local trails. You can rent bikes from most B&Bs. The most popular activity is boat trips on the river. You can also rent kayaks in the area. Also, a few caves are worth exploring, the most beautiful being the Gura Ponicovei cave.
Foreign travellers coming from Europe like to go cycling over long distances, says Marin Caramizaru: Two major cycling trails are crossing the Danube Gorges: Eurovelo 6 and the Iron Curtain Route. The Danube Gorges is an area of great ethno-cultural diversity. We invite tourists to refer to the Travel Association in order to get the most reliable information about the travel area, accommodation facilities, tourist objects that can be visited and, why not, hire guides for the travel routes in the area.
The Mehedinti County abounds in tourist attractions and exquisite areas, which are worth visiting and refreshing. Diana Nodit chairs an NGO called Pro-Mehedinti: Anywhere you go, to any part of Mehedinti County, tourist attractions are extraordinary. And I refer here to the Danube Gorges in the countys southwest with the famous statue of the Dacian king Decebalus. We can provide accommodation in breathtakingly beautiful areas. Then there is the south of the county with its protected nature reserves where one can admire pelicans. This is an extraordinary area, and those who cannot go to the Danube Delta should come here in Mehedinti, to get a glimpse of it. In the north of the county, there is a karstic area with caves and special natural objectives, such as the natural bridge of Ponoarele, the only practicable natural bridge in the world. This is an extraordinarily picturesque region abounding in traditional crafts and trades.
If you are either into sporting activities or you just want to relax, a sojourn in Mehedinti County may be the right choice.
