Bicaz Gorge - Red Lake - Piatra Neamt

Tour Details

The Bicaz Keys, due to their impressive size, represent a true tourist attraction with spectacular landscapes. The road that crosses the Bicaz Keys is like a gorge carved into stone, full of serpentine roads of rare beauty, and the immense limestone walls of the rocks hide caves and ravines.

Departure & Return Location

• 33 Circului Street (Circus in Chișinău)

 
Departure Time

• 22:30
   

Price Includes:  

• Round-trip transportation
• 1-night accommodation at the Guesthouse
• Licensed guide
• Medical insurance
• Excursions as indicated in the program
   

Price Does Not Include:

• Entrance fees to tourist attractions
• Meals
• Personal expenses

 

Additional Services:

• Single room (30 euros)
• Seat in the first 5 rows on the bus (10 euros)
• Additional seat on the bus (45 euros)
• Guide in foreign languages (200 euros)
   

Notes:

In case the client is alone and has not paid for a single room but for sharing (the client agrees to stay in a room with another tourist or tourists), but until the departure day, the tour company does not have similar clients who are also alone but have paid the standard price for sharing, the client is obliged in this case to pay the supplement for a single room.

Itinerary

Day 1. Chișinău - Iași – Bicaz Keys (approx. 450 km)

Meeting with the guide at 22:00, Circus parking in Chișinău for boarding the bus. Departure at 22:30 on the route: Chișinău - Iași – Bicaz Keys

 

Day 2. Piatra Neamț – Bistrița Monastery – Ștefan Cel Mare Complex – Red Lake – Bicaz Keys – Dam (Bicaz Lake) – Boat Ride

The city of Piatra Neamț, the capital of Neamț County, is located in the northeastern part of Romania, in one of the most beautiful intramontane depressions at the eastern limit of the Eastern Carpathians. Situated at the confluence of two rivers, Cuejdiu and Bistrița, at an average altitude of 301 m, the city is surrounded by mountains – Pietricica (528 m), Cozla (650m), Cernegura (850 m), and Cârloman (617 m), enjoying all the advantages of a unique nature with a temperate-continental climate.

Due to its position on the route of important trade routes, the city experienced strong development in the modern period, becoming the most important urban center in Neamț County and the county seat. Industry, banking services, and public works experienced strong development, along with the flourishing cultural life.

Bistrița Monastery in Neamț County is located in the village of Bistrița, Alexandru cel Bun commune, and was built before 1407 (the first documentary attestation) by Moldova's ruler Alexandru cel Bun (1400-1432), who endowed it with villages, estates, and valuable treasures. In 1498, Ștefan cel Mare built a bell tower with a chapel dedicated to Saint John the New from Suceava, with a fresco painting of great artistic and iconographic value, preserved to this day. In 1546, Petru Rareș renovated the monastery and built a wall around it. He also gave the village of Mojeștii along with its income. In 1554, Alexandru Lăpușneanu completely renovated the monastery.

Red Lake (locally known as Gyilkostó / Ghilcoș Lake) is a natural dam lake formed after the collapse of a slope due to the earthquake on January 23, 1838, at 18:45. Magnitude 6.9, intensity VIII, at the foot of Mount Hășmașul Mare, near the Bicaz Keys, 26 km from Gheorgheni, in Harghita County. In the last measurements, conducted in 1987, its dimensions are: the lake extends over a perimeter of 2,830 m, the area is 114,676 m², and the volume of accumulated water is 587,503 m³. The lake was formed at an altitude of 983 m, in a depression with a predominantly subalpine climate.

The lake, with an elongated shape, northwest – southeast direction, has an area of 32.6 km² and was formed after the construction between 1950 and 1960 of a dam that supplies the 210 MW hydroelectric power plant built during the communist regime, including with the contribution of forced labor performed by political prisoners. For the construction of the dam and the arrangement of the lake, 22 villages were resettled from the area, and the natural landscape was drastically changed, being declared a natural aquatic reserve in 2000.

The Bicaz Keys are gorges located in the central part of the Hășmaș Mountains, in northeastern Romania, in Neamț and Harghita counties, developed in Jurassic limestones. They are located in the central part of the Tulgheș-Valea Rece eastern ridge of the Hășmaș Massif. Their main axis is represented by the Bicaz River.

As a natural monument, they are included in the nationally protected areas, the Bicaz Keys in Neamț County, and the Bicaz Keys and Red Lake in Harghita County, being located in the integral protection area of the Cheile Bicazului - Hășmaș National Park.

Accommodation.

 

Day 3. Agapia Monastery - Văratec Monastery – Bison Reserve – Neamț Monastery – Ion Creangă Memorial House – Neamț Fortress – Chișinău (approx. 370 km)

Agapia Monastery (also called New Agapia Monastery to differentiate it from Old Agapia Skete) is an Orthodox nunnery in Romania, located on the Agapia stream valley, 9 km from Târgu Neamț. It is situated in the middle of a forest, 3 km from the village of Agapia (Neamț County). It is one of the largest nunneries in Romania, with 300-400 nuns, ranking second in population after Văratec Monastery.

Văratec Monastery is an Orthodox nunnery in Romania, located in a clearing at the foot of the mountains, in the village of Văratec, Agapia commune (Neamț County), 12 km from Târgu Neamț and 40 km from Piatra Neamț. It is the largest nunnery in Romania, with over 400 nuns living here.

The monastery was founded in 1785 by the monastic Olimpiada, together with the spiritual guide Iosif. In this work, Mother Olimpiada was advised and guided by Paisie Velicicovschi, the abbot of Neamț Monastery. Passed under the administration of nearby Agapia Monastery, Văratec Monastery became an independent monastery in 1839.

Massive stone walls enclose a compound where the "Adormirea Maicii Domnului" Church (the main church), the abbey, and administrative buildings (located in the buildings on the northern side of the compound) are located. The monastic compound is surrounded by the monastic village, consisting of traditional peasant houses where the nuns live and which line the narrow streets.

Neamț Monastery is an Orthodox monastery for monks in Romania, located in the commune of Vânători-Neamț, Mănăstirea Neamț village, Neamț County. It is the largest and oldest monastic settlement in Moldova, being declared a historical monument. The monastery is attested documentarily from 1407, but the roots of monastic activity extend back to the 12th century. The foundation of the monastery is attributed to voivode Petru I Mușat (1375-1391), who built the first stone church here, now disappeared. However, there was an older wooden church on the monastery site, called the White Church, built by monks a century earlier. The current church in the monastery's precincts was founded by voivode Ștefan cel Mare at the end of the 15th century and is dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord.

Neamț Fortress (improperly known as Neamț Fortress) is a medieval fortress in Moldova, located at the northwest edge of the town of Târgu Neamț (in northeastern Romania). It is located on Timuș Rock on Pleșu Ridge (also known as Fortress Hill), at an altitude of 480 m and a height of 80 m above the level of the Neamț River. From here, it guarded the valleys of the Moldova and Siret rivers, as well as the road that crossed the mountains into Transylvania.

Neamț Fortress was part of the system of fortifications built in Moldova at the end of the 14th century, at the appearance of the Ottoman danger. The medieval fortification system included fortified settlements (princely courts, monasteries with high walls, as well as strategically important fortresses) for defense, reinforced with stone walls, earthen mounds, or deep ditches.

The fortress was built at the end of the 14th century by Petru I, fortified in the 15th century by Ștefan cel Mare, and destroyed in the 18th century (1718) by the order of the ruler Mihai Racoviță.

The bison reserve in Silvuț Forest was established in 1958 when two bison were brought here from Poland. There are now 6 bison in the reserve. Departure for home.

Departure for home.
 

Day 4

Arrival in Chișinău between 01:00-05:00