Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 and Church of the Holy Archangels

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1

   Bram Stoker sent Jonathan Harker to Bistritz, and the town of Bistrița, just a few kilometres from here, has never quite escaped the vampire. In the novel, Harker spends a night at the Golden Krone hotel before setting off towards the Borgo Pass and Count Dracula's castle, and today the town has a hotel of that name and the pass a hotel built to look like a castle. The real history is more interesting. Bistrița was one of the seven Saxon cities that gave Transylvania its German name, Siebenbürgen, a rich trading town with a big Gothic church, arcaded merchants' houses and a ring of walls, much of which has been lost.

   Read the complete Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 is where the day begins. Next is Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1.

2. 2. Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1

   The northern edge of Roman Dacia was a long line of watchtowers, small forts and earthworks drawn across the hills of what is now northern Transylvania, and Dealul Podului, the bridge hill, near Dumbrăveni, was one of the points along it. Watchtowers here kept an eye on the valleys that led north from the province, toward the lands of the free Dacians and other peoples beyond the frontier, and their remains, now mostly low earthworks in the fields and forest, are part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire listing for Dacia, added by UNESCO in 2024.

   Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 comes up about 62 km into the recorded legs. Next is Church of the Holy Archangels.

3. 3. Church of the Holy Archangels

   Just outside Baia Mare, where the city gives way to the hills, the countryside of northern Romania begins to show the tradition that made this region famous: churches built entirely of wood, with steep shingled roofs and tall, needle-like spires. Many of them are dedicated to the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and this dedication is common across the region, from small village churches to some of the eight Wooden Churches of Maramureș listed by UNESCO in 1999. Surdești and Plopiș, both within a short ride of Baia Mare, are among the finest of those, with spires that seem far too tall for the buildings beneath them.

   Read the complete Church of the Holy Archangels write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 153 km into the recorded legs you reach Church of the Holy Archangels. Next is back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1.

4. 4. back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Dumbrăveni - Dealul Podului 1, late in the day. Next is Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1.

5. 5. Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Budacu de Jos - Dealul Cetății 1. That is the ride.