Natural Reservation of Vălișoara Gorges

   Natural Reservation of Vălișoara Gorges

These gorges represent a natural reservation of a botanical and geological type, also they form a protected area of national interest and, on a map, are located in the eastern part of the Trascău Mountains, in Alba County.

• covers an area of 20 ha
• the soil poor in humus has favoured the development of some rare plants
• over time the gorges have been carved in monolithic Jurassic limestone by Aiud River and they are 25 to 150 metres wide and maximum 150 metres high, while their walls hide caves, vaults, archways and other karstic formations
• one of their main attraction are the caves in which species of endangered invertebrates and bats live

• I know, I lost you a bit with my geographical explanation but the keywords are "Vălișoara Gorges" - on maps or normal search -

It happened to have a trip with my father on a normal Saturday, a sunny warm and beautiful day and I decided to drive further and discover someplace I've never seen before! Again, nothing planned, just a spontaneous idea that came out of my mind. Summer days are for discovering, getting information and taking pictures...

According to the sayings... "at the right of the gorges, coming from Aiud (being the nearest town), there is the rock called Cetate (translated as 'the old citadel'), where in the XIIIth century the documents prove the existence of Zedecheu fortress, unidentified in the field."

The heights of Trascău's peaks are suitable for paragliding, if some of you are interested in this kind of sport! 

The reservation is an important tourist attraction, here are the ruins of the medieval citadel of Trasca (in addition, in the vecinity you can find also the monastery church in Magina, the village of Rimetea and its ethnographic museum, the natural reserves of "Cheile Plaiului" near the village Izvoarele, the Silos Gorges, the "Vânătarile Ponorului" - also a natural reservation, "Huda lui Papară", the "Poarta Zmeilor" (Peștera de la Groși or Groși's Cave) and "Piatra Secuiului" (whose northern part is also called Trascaului tops).

The castle was built in 1320 by a nobleman who lived in the area. Initially it served as a defence fortress, and then became a military barracks during the Habsburg Empire. Later, it was then taken over by the Romanian army, which also gave it a military barracks destination for mountain hunters - so this castle took many attributes over the time. King Michael of Romania spent some time during the army at the Trascau Castle.

Now, this beautiful castle belongs to a doctor who bought it about 20 years ago, renovated it and gave it the name of "Knights' Castle".

• the article is here, available in Romanian language, but the main ideas are above