It’s a glacier lake situated at 2,034 m of altitude in the Fagaras Mountains and it’s also known as the most spectacular in Romania. This bit of the Carpathian Mountains is famous in all Europe for the wild scenery, it’s fauna and the amazing Transfagarasan road. A certain promise that you’ll not be disappointed in the lucky decision of choosing such an adventure. The Fagaras Mountains are world famous for the option to practice the virgin skiing where access is possible only by helicopter.

Was built between 1970-1974. It has 92 km of twists and turns and for the construction they dislocated 3 million ton of rock. Ceauşescu wanted to ensure quick military access across the mountains in the event the Soviets attempted a similar move into Romania. Consequently, the road was built mainly with military forces, at a high cost both financially and from a human standpoint—roughly 6 million kilograms of dynamite were used. It has more tunels (a total of 5) and viaducts than any other road in Romania. Near the highest point, at Balea Lake (2043m), the road passes through the longest road tunnel in Romania (884 m). In September 2009 the cast and crew of the British television show Top Gear were seen filming along the road. The segment appeared in first episode of Series 14, which first aired November 15, 2009. Host Jeremy Clarkson claimed they had made a mistake in naming the Stelvio Pass as the best road in the world and that Transfăgărăşan should have this title instead. Our next stop is at the Lippizan Horse Stables!

The history of the Lippizan Horse Stables started back in 1580, when Charles II of Austria established the stud farm in Lipiza in today’s Slovenia. The aim was to breed a horse suitable for the imperial court: excellent, resistant, impressive, which would express richness and splendor in its character. At the origin of the species are the horses from the mountains, resistant, with strong personality, and the stallions originating from Naples and Spain. The first import from Spain had great importance, it included 24 mares of Arabian origin and 9 stallions. On the other hand, the eastern influence is of equal importance, namely the Arabian mares from Radauti and Babolna. After the initial selection focusing on the requirements of the founder, they switched to pure breeding. In order to exclude the disadvantages of incest, starting from the 18th Century they initiated breeding according to genealogical lines. Thus the classical 8 lines of stallions, 17 classical families of mares were formed, as well as the next families of mares acknowledged until these days: 14 Croatian, 1 Slovenian, 13 Hungarian and 14 Romanian, which show the uniqueness of the species. In Romania, the stud farm in Sambata de Jos was re-established in 1920 from the remaining stock, with purchasing from private owners, as well as with the Lipizzan stock left in the possession of the army. An important stock got back from the Todireni stud, Botosani county. The stock gathered by this in the reestablished stud was extremely diverse, with a lot of flaws, like short stature (149 cm), big and heavy head, convex profile, too long back and loin, the rump having the tendency to be horizontal, tight chest, and shuffle pace. Starting from 1953, with hard work, progressive selection and supervised coupling , as well as proper nutrition, the augmentation of the stature has been achieved: 158 cm of height for stallions and 155 cm for mares, their weight has increased, the shape of the head, the line of the back, the pace and the breadth have been improved.

The “Brancoveanu” Monastery – is famous for being a place of recovery, comfort and spiritual balm for visitors who halt or pray in this sacred dwelling. The Brâncoveanu Monastery was build in the 17th century, when Preda Brâncoveanu erected on Sambata Valley the first church built in wood. On its place, around the year 1696, Constantin Brâncoveanu, the ruler of Wallachia (1688 – 1714), re-built a monastery in stone, in  order to strengthen and save the Romanian Orthodoxy from the danger of Catholicism, which appeared when Transylvania was ruled by the Habsburgs (1683). In 1785 the monastery was partially demolished by the order of general Bukow from Vienna All the cells were completely destroyed, the church became a ruin and the monks were driven away. The honor of becoming the second founder of the Brâncoveanu Monastery was given to Metropolitan Nicolae Balan, who started the restoration work in the 1926. Its consecration took place in 1946 , after the war (that is why the precincts were not rebuilt). The architectural style fits entirely in the Brâncoveanu style, which emerged in Wallachia at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. Stones decorate the windows and the door frames and I took real interest in observing the front entrance door, the sculptured pillars and the stone panels of the church which add a special beauty to the monastery.

After the visit to the Lippizan Horse Stables and Sambata Monastery, we invite you to the Fagaras Fortress. During the Middle Ages this was a traditional Vlah enclave in Transylvania. The first written document mentioning Romanians in Transylvania referred to Vlah lands (“Terra Blacorum”) in the Fagaras Region in 1222. (In this document, Andrew II of Hungary gave Burzenland and the Cuman territories South of Burzenland up to the Danube to the Teutonic Knights.) After the Tatar invasion in 1241-1242, Saxons settled in the area. In 1369, Louis I of Hungary gave the Royal Estates of Făgăraş to his vassal, Vladislav I of Wallachia, the territory remained in the possession of Wallachian Princes until 1464. Except for this period of Wallachian rule, the town itself was center of the surrounding royal estates belonging to the Hungarian kings. During the rule of Transylvanian Prince Gabriel Bethlen (1613-1629), the city became an economic role model city in the southern regions of the realm. Bethlen rebuilt the fortress entirely. Ever since that time, Făgăraş was the residence of the wives of Transylvanian Princes, as an equivalent of Veszprem, the Hungarian “city of queens”. Of these, Zsuzsanna Lorantfy, the widow of George I Rackoczy established a Vlach (Romanian) school here in 1658. Probably the most prominent of the princesses residing in the town was the orphan Princess Kata Bethlen (1700-1759), buried in front of the reformed church. The church holds several precious relics of her life. Her bridal gal, with the family coat of arms embroided on it, and her bridal veil now covers the altar table. Both are made of yellow silk.

We hope you enjoyed our Day Trip to Balea Lake, Sambata Monastery, Lippizan Horse Stables and Fagaras Fortress and remember, we are always happily welcoming new tours proposals, if you are not satisfied with the ones available or can’t seem to find one that you like!

Similar trips: Balea Lake, Transfagarasan & Sibiu • Fagaras & Sambata Monastery • Balea Lake & Sambata Monastery • Brasov & The Real Dracula’s Castle – Full Extra Tour • Full Tour to Transalpina Highway