The Olt does something improbable south of Sibiu. Instead of going around the Carpathians, it cuts straight through them, carving a deep, winding gorge between the Făgăraș and Lotru ranges, and for two thousand years that gorge has been one of the great gateways between Transylvania and Wallachia. At its northern mouth, near the village of Boița, the Romans built a fort they called Caput Stenarum, the head of the narrows, to guard the entrance.
The fort controlled the road through the gorge, which the Romans used to link their province of Dacia with the Danube. Later, the pass became known as the Red Tower Pass, after a medieval fortress whose ruins still stand nearby at Turnu Roșu, and it saw armies come and go for centuries, including Ottoman invasions. The remains of the Roman fort are modest, but the strategic logic of the site is obvious as soon as you look south and see the mountains closing in on the river.
The road through the gorge, the DN7, part of the E81, is spectacular in scenery but busy, carrying a lot of heavy traffic between Sibiu and Râmnicu Vâlcea, and roadworks for the new motorway have been a feature for years. Overtaking trucks on the winding road requires patience and care. If you want quieter riding, the Transfăgărășan, one of the most famous mountain roads in Europe, starts a few kilometres east at Cârțișoara, climbing over the Făgăraș mountains to Bâlea Lake at over two thousand metres; it is usually open only from early July to October.
Boița is a small village, and Tălmaciu, six kilometres away, is a town with fuel and shops. Sibiu, twenty kilometres north, is one of the most beautiful cities in Romania, with a Saxon old town of squares, towers and houses whose roof windows look like watching eyes. The Mărginimea Sibiului villages to the west, such as Sibiel and Rășinari, are known for their shepherding traditions and their cheese. The gorge is at its best in the early morning, when mist lifts from the river and the traffic has not yet built up.