Sântioana - Vârful Mortila and Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Sântioana - Vârful Mortila

   Sântioana sits in rolling country on the edge of the Transylvanian Plain, in Bistrița-Năsăud county, a gentle landscape of low hills, fields, orchards and scattered woods. The hilltop of Vârful Mortila, above the village, is one of the many archaeological places recorded in this part of Transylvania, a high point that would have made a natural lookout or settlement site for earlier peoples. There is little to see on the surface, but the view from the top gives a fine sense of the landscape, with the Transylvanian hills rolling away in every direction and the mountains rising on the horizon.

   Read the complete Sântioana - Vârful Mortila write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Sântioana - Vârful Mortila is where the day begins. Next is Sărățel - Cetate 1.

2. 2. Sărățel - Cetate 1

   The name Sărățel means the little salty place, and this corner of Bistrița-Năsăud has salt underground: springs of brine rise here and there in the hills, and for centuries people used them for cooking, curing meat and treating animals. Salt was one of the reasons the Romans wanted Dacia, along with gold, and on a hill near the village they placed a fort, Cetate, meaning the citadel, at the north-eastern corner of their province. Behind it lay the valley of the Șieu and the road towards the interior; in front, the hills where the free Dacians lived. The site is now part of the Roman frontier of Dacia on the World Heritage list, though, like most of these places, it is visible mainly as an outline of banks and ditches.

   Read the complete Sărățel - Cetate 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Sărățel - Cetate 1 comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului.

3. 3. Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului

   Bistrița is the town where Jonathan Harker spends his last comfortable night before heading into the mountains in Bram Stoker's Dracula, and the village of Orheiu Bistriței lies just eight kilometres to the south-east, in the hills above the valley of the Bistrița river. In Roman times, this was the site of an auxiliary fort on the north-eastern frontier of Dacia, and the remains lie beneath the village itself, which the locals know as the vatra satului, the village hearth. Excavations have revealed the outline of the fort, and finds are displayed in the county museum in Bistrița.

   Read the complete Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 46 km into the recorded legs you reach Orheiu Bistriței - Vatra Satului. Next is back through Sărățel - Cetate 1.

4. 4. back through Sărățel - Cetate 1

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sărățel - Cetate 1 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Sărățel - Cetate 1, late in the day. Next is Sântioana - Vârful Mortila.

5. 5. Sântioana - Vârful Mortila

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sântioana - Vârful Mortila write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Sântioana - Vârful Mortila. That is the ride.