Olt River Valley: Cozia Monastery and Arutela Roman Castra - tourist destination in Romania

Olt River is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. The river rises in the Hasmasu Mare Mountains, which is a part of the eastern Carpathian Mountains, runs for 615 km along many Romanian provinces, and flows into Danube River.








The Olt Defile has been cut through the southern Carpatian Mountains, allowing access from Wallachia Region to Transilvania Region and was very important when Rome occupied the Dacian kingdom during the 1st century BC to 2nd century AD.



The Romans have built  "Limes Alutanus"  fortifications line along the Olt to north of the Danube, which once marked the eastern frontier of Roman Dacia. Remains of the Roman castra have been found in seven villages, including Călimăneşti. It is also said that the Kogaionon, the Dacian sacred mountain, was located nearby. On the  same route Vlad’s The Impaler (Vlad Tepes) armies from Dracula Legend were taking when attacking the Transylvanian cities.

Nowadays along the Olt Valley is running European route E81, hidden on the left bank of Olt River scenery,  and in the Spa-Town of Calimanesti,  the travelers can visit
 
"Arutela" Roman Castra ("Poiana Bivolari")

and


  Cozia Monastery (1386-1388), named also "Nucet" or the Nut Grove, a great example of Wallachian arhitecture with  Byzantine Medieval influences, the resting place of Mircea the Old (Mircea cel Batran), The great Ruller of Wallachia, Vlad the Impaler’s grandfather.

In the next 3D model you can rotate, zoom plans through  Cozia Monastery architecture using mouse/keyboard functions:





"The Holy Trinity" Church of the Cozia Monastery was built by Mircea the  Old in 1388 and attracts the attention through the elegance and harmony of its shape, as well as through the richness of its decorations and the valuable painting, beeing painted between 1390 and 1391.

Some of the original frescoes are still well preserved. With a great valued are the stained glass windows of the Cozia Church  with the Monastery founder Mircea The Old  (Mircea cel Batran) and his son Michael The Brave (Mihai Viteazul Voievod) and with the  co-founders Petru (Petru Voievod de la Arges) and his family.

The Wallachian flag emblem

The Olt  River Valley is one beautiful tourist destination in Romania where the traveler has a good view of the amazing greenery and clear water.

Below Cozia mountain, the rushing torents from Olt River Gorge allow to all enthusiastic rafters to surf along the waters. In Spa-Towns Calimanesti and Caciulata travelers can enjoy several thermal springs with very hight mineral content.



And most important add to any trip along Olt River Valley  is that the traveler explores the romanian history from stunning mountain ranges and admires the natural scenic beauty of National Park Cozia on any sides of Olt River.


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