Câmpulung - Jidova 1 and Village of Prejmer-Tartlau
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
314 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 34
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 314 km round trip from Schitu-Goleşti - roughly 7 h 34 in the saddle. On the way it passes Codrul secular Șinca, Village of Prejmer-Tartlau and back through Codrul secular Șinca. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,200 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Câmpulung - Jidova 1
Câmpulung Muscel lies at the foot of the Carpathians in northern Argeș county, and it claims the title of the first capital of Wallachia. Tradition credits its founding as a princely seat to the legendary Negru Vodă in the thirteenth century, and the old princely court and the Negru Vodă monastery in the town centre recall those early days of the Romanian principality. The town spreads along the valley of the Râul Târgului, with the mountains of Iezer and Piatra Craiului rising steeply to the north.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Câmpulung - Jidova 1 is where the day begins. Next is Codrul secular Șinca.
2. Codrul secular Șinca
Codru is an old Romanian word for a deep forest, and the Codrul Secular Șinca, the ancient forest of Șinca, is exactly that: a stand of old-growth beech and fir on the northern slopes of the Făgăraș mountains in Brașov county, where trees have grown, died and fallen for centuries without being cut. It is part of the UNESCO listing of the ancient and primeval beech forests of Europe, a chain of protected forests across many countries that together tell the story of how beech spread across the continent after the last ice age. Walking among trees that are hundreds of years old, with fallen trunks covered in moss and fungi and the canopy closing high above, is a humbling experience.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Codrul secular Șinca comes up about 89 km into the recorded legs. Next is Village of Prejmer-Tartlau.
3. Village of Prejmer-Tartlau
In the Burzenland plain east of Brașov, the village of Prejmer, known to its Saxon founders as Tartlau, is home to one of the most remarkable buildings in Romania: a fortified church surrounded by massive circular walls, with hundreds of storage rooms built into them on several levels. The church was begun in the thirteenth century by the Teutonic Knights, who were invited into the region by the Hungarian king to defend the frontier, and later strengthened by the Saxon villagers, who built the walls to protect themselves against Ottoman and Tatar raids. It is part of the UNESCO listing of villages with fortified churches in Transylvania.