Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2 and Salva - Dealul Dumbravă

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2

   Transylvania's northern hills look like a landscape painted by someone who liked orchards and haystacks. Purcărete lies in the folds of the country between the Someș valleys and the Bistrița river, a region that was colonised in the Middle Ages by German-speaking Saxons, who built fortified churches and walled towns, and by Hungarians and Romanians who farmed the slopes. The Saxon town of Bistrița, not far away, still has a tall Lutheran church with a spire that can be seen from miles, and a handsome old centre of arcaded houses.

   Read the complete Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2 is where the day begins. Next is Perisor - Corobana.

2. 2. Perisor - Corobana

   Țara Năsăudului, the Land of Năsăud, is a hilly corner of Bistrița-Năsăud county in northern Romania, and it has a strong sense of its own identity. In the eighteenth century the Habsburgs organised the villages here into a military frontier district, with a Romanian border regiment that defended the empire's eastern edge in return for freedom from serfdom. The people of the area were proud of that status, and the schools and institutions founded with the regiment's funds helped create a remarkable tradition of learning. Two of Romania's best-loved writers grew up nearby: the poet George Coșbuc, born in the village that now bears his name, and the novelist Liviu Rebreanu, whose books describe the lives of Transylvanian peasants.

   Read the complete Perisor - Corobana write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Perisor - Corobana comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Salva - Dealul Dumbravă.

3. 3. Salva - Dealul Dumbravă

   The Someșul Mare valley around Năsăud was a frontier long before the Habsburgs made it one again. The Romans built watchtowers on the hills here to guard the northern edge of Dacia, and Salva - Dealul Dumbravă, the hill of the oak grove near the village of Salva, is one of the sites included in the UNESCO listing of the Dacian frontier in 2024. Sixteen centuries later, the Habsburg empire turned the region into a military border district, and the Năsăud border regiment, made up of local Romanian peasants, guarded the Carpathian passes in return for privileges and education.

   Read the complete Salva - Dealul Dumbravă write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 78 km into the recorded legs you reach Salva - Dealul Dumbravă. Next is back through Perisor - Corobana.

4. 4. back through Perisor - Corobana

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Perisor - Corobana write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Perisor - Corobana, late in the day. Next is Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2.

5. 5. Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Purcărete - Fața Carpenului 1 & 2. That is the ride.