Tourist attractions in Neamt County

Ștefan Baciu, 29.06.2017, 12:12

Although it is not among the most popular tourist destinations in Romania, such as Transylvania, the Black Sea Coast and, more recently, Bucharest, the Neamt area makes for an equally interesting holiday on account of its beautiful nature, historical sites, monasteries, local legends and customs, as well as cuisine that nobody can resist.

Some of these places of interest are located in Piatra Neamt, the capital town of the county. The Princely Court in the middle of the town was built in the late 15th century during the reign of the Moldavian ruler Stephen the Great. Unfortunately, only part of the former princely court is still standing, more precisely part of its enclosure walls and its cellars. The place is home to the Saint John Princely Church, made of stone, built in 1497-1498 in the Moldavian architectural style.

Of the many museums in town, one is special, namely the Cucuteni Museum of Neolithic Art. It opened in 2005 in a building formerly occupied by a bank, in the very historical centre of the town. Exhibits there include painted ceramic vases in elegant shapes and with decorations typical of the ancient civilisation that used to inhabit Moldavia, south-eastern Transylvania, the present-day territory of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine between 4600-2750 BC. The name of this civilisation is linked to the name of the place where the archaeological items were found in 1884 and 1893: Cucuteni, near Iasi. Journalist Traian Badulescu will now tell us more about Neamt County and its tourist potential:

“Neamt County is one of the counties with a big tourist potential. Rural tourism, for instance, is pretty well developed here. There are hundreds of guesthouses, but also 3 and 4-star hotels, which have been renovated in recent years. We have the legendary Ancutas Inn, one of the best-known Romanian traditional restaurants and inns, famous both among Romanian and foreign tourists. Another attraction is the Bicaz Dam, the Ceahlau Peak and lots of beautiful scenery. These mountains are also good for hiking.”

From Piatra Neamt visitors can easily reach the Bicaz Dam and, going further to Transylvania, through the Bicaz Gorges, the Bicaz National Park, the Ceahlau National Park and the Ceahlau Peak. Another route to reach Ceahlau Peak is through the towns of Roman and Targu Neamt. In Roman, you can find the memorial house of one of the greatest conductors to come from Romania, Sergiu Celibidache. Between Roman and Targu Neamt you can also find Ancutas Inn, a place famous among Romanians, built in the 18th century as a place of repast for traders passing through this area of Moldavia. One of the most prolific Romanian writers, Mihail Sadoveanu, wrote a volume of short stories named after the inn, which was published in 1928.

Now we get to the Targu Neamt area, where we can find several tourist attractions, a medieval fortification of the same name, as well as the memorial house of Ion Creanga, another major name in Romanian literature. It is the house where the writer grew up, in Humulesti, a former village that is now an area of the town. Heading towards the mountains, we reach the Vanatori Neamt Nature Reserve, and the Dragos Voda buffalo reservation.

Also within the area of the Vanatori Neamt village, around 15 km away from Targu Neamt, visitors will find the oldest and the most significant monastery in Moldavia, Neamt Monastery. It was built by rulers from the Musat dynasty, such as Petru I Musat, Alexandru the Good, and Stephen the Great. At the monastery, we met Father Andrei, and we asked him to tell us why it is important for tourists to visit this monastery:

“First of all, Neamt Monastery is a symbol of monasticism and our Romanian culture. In addition, it is a place of beauty, and was built by the Musat dynasty, which, as you know, had been building such beautiful places since the Middle Ages. Since it is situated close to the Neamt Citadel, it had a strategic role during that time. In addition, the monastery got generous beneficence from the rulers of the Musat dynasty, which allowed the place to be beautified. Also, the monastery was privileged to have as a father superior Iosif I Musat, who went on to become the first metropolitan bishop of Moldavia. He was also part of the Musat dynasty.”

It is worth mentioning that in the 14th century, the monastery developed a school of calligraphy and miniature, and set up a print shop in 1800. Departing from Neamt Monastery, after 50 km through a wooded area, we get to the resort of Durau. It is a quiet resort, with quality accommodation and a ski slope. During the summer, Durau is a good starting point for trips, the most popular being that to the Toaca Peak on Ceahlau Mountain. On August 6th, the day of Orthodox Epiphany, if you stand on the peak at dawn, you are witness to a unique phenomenon, seeing the shadow of the peak surrounded by a multicoloured aura. This may explain why the ancient Dacians believed this peak was the abode of the gods, climbing there to raise prayers to them.