Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 and Dumbrăveni - Măgura

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1

   The Someș is the river of northern Transylvania, gathering its waters in the mountains and winding west through a broad, green valley towards Hungary. Around Rus and Ileanda, in the northeast of Sălaj county, the valley narrows between wooded hills, and the villages cling to the slopes above the river. Dăbâceni and the ridge called Coama Pietrar lie in this landscape, one of many recorded archaeological sites in the area, and like most of them it is more about the setting than about visible remains.

   Read the complete Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 is where the day begins. Next is Muncel - Comorița.

2. 2. Muncel - Comorița

   On the hills between the valley of the Someș and the Meseș mountains, in the north-west of Transylvania, the ground rises in gentle ridges, and this is the highest point in a small stretch of country near the villages of Vad, Gâlgău and Poiana Blenchii. The label is Muncel, meaning little hill, and Comorița, which carries the sense of a small treasure, and both names tell you about the country: low, open, rounded hills, used for generations as pasture and orchard land. A lot of local folklore has treasure buried in hills like this, and many an old shepherd has a tale of a hoard or a lost mine.

   Read the complete Muncel - Comorița write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Muncel - Comorița comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dumbrăveni - Măgura.

3. 3. Dumbrăveni - Măgura

   In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a fortress on a hill above the Someș valley near Ciceu belonged not to the rulers of Transylvania but to the princes of Moldavia, on the far side of the Carpathians. Stephen the Great received the castle of Ciceu and its estates as compensation from the Hungarian king, and the Moldavian princes held it for decades, a curious enclave in the middle of Transylvania. The castle was later destroyed, and only ruins remain on the hill above Ciceu-Corabia, but the story gives a sense of how fluid borders and loyalties were in this part of Europe.

   Read the complete Dumbrăveni - Măgura write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 59 km into the recorded legs you reach Dumbrăveni - Măgura. Next is back through Muncel - Comorița.

4. 4. back through Muncel - Comorița

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Muncel - Comorița write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Muncel - Comorița, late in the day. Next is Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1.

5. 5. Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Dăbâceni - Coama Pietrar 1. That is the ride.