Tag: Buildings

  • The Dornas Country, a fairy-tale destination

    The Dornas Country, a fairy-tale destination

    We’re exploring, today, an area where nature is one of its main assets. We’re heading towards a destination with a legendary name: the Dornas Country. It is an eco-tourism destination inviting those interested to experience a kind of responsible tourism, by means of which visitors experiment local nature and culture. As early as the 19th century, the area has compelled recognition thanks to its special scenery and unique atmosphere.

    Mihaela Cocîrță is a destination manager with the Dornas Country Destination Management Organization. She will now be telling us why the entire area has compelled recognition as a fairy-tale destination.

    “Nature harmoniously blends into everything related to traditions, to the locals’ hospitality, to customs and traditions, culture and way beyond that. All that offers visitors an experience to remember, irrespective of the season. For instance, as we speak, we’ re still in the winter season and, even though the time of the winter holidays customs and traditions has come to an end, the Dornas Country still waits for visitors on the ski slopes.

    Those who are into rather more relaxing activities, we suggest you take a ride with the chair lift, capable of offering a special bird-s eye view of the town of Vatra Dornei, but also of the Dornas Country. Furthermore, the Dornas Country also offers relaxation options for those who, after an eventful day in the mountains, want to relax in the SPA or Wellness centers.

    So we got the newest resort opened, Dorna Candrenilor, offering relaxation options, such as shallow, long-course swimming pools, easily accessible to all categories of visitors. “

    By all means, the activity on the ski slopes depends on the weather outside. As we speak, the destination manager with the Dornas Country Destination Management Organization. Mihaela Cocîrță, told us the Parc Slope was open. But what is the area’s complete offer?

    “ We have three categories of ski slopes and I will mention them to you. We have the Parc ski slope with a length of 900 meters and an angle of 28.5 degrees. It has a level difference of 150 meters, with a medium level of difficulty. Also, we have the Poienita slope, also known as Parc 2, with a length of 550 meters and a level difference of 50 meters. It is perfect for children and for beginners since it has a low level of difficulty.

    Then there is the Veverița (Squirrel) slope, with a length of 780 meters and a level difference of 200 meters, it also has a medium level of difficulty. Of course, all slopes are floodlit, they have snow cannons and a wide range of cable transportation facilities. There are centers where you can rent skis, snowboards, all sorts of equipment, clothing included, yet there are also monitors for those who have not used skis so far or for those who want to be reminded the correct ski posture.

    It is very important for the people who come to the slope to have the appropriate behaviour so as to avoid accidents. Apart from the slope activities proper, tourists can also go on a sleigh ride since there are dedicated areas for that, or they can skate in the skating rink lying two minutes away from the ski slope. “

    At the foot of the ski slopes there are restaurants and chalets offering tourists coming to the Dornas Country the opportunity to relax over cup of mulled wine or a cup of hot tea. They can also enjoy, of course, the local, natural products, famous for being so delicious. In the evening, they can have a good time in the Dorna Candrenilor resort, where they can enjoy sauna and moments of relaxation.

    Moreover, in the resort of Vatra Dornei, there are many restaurants, while quite a few of them, in the peak period, stage parties or relaxing evenings for tourists. As for the active tourism, it goes with cultural tourism quite all right. In Dornas Country we can embark upon a true tradition-discovering journey.

    “The Dornas Country is very rich in crafts, in traditions and customs. We still have people who have kept the legacy that was handed down to them by their ancestors. We can speak about spring a little bit, as Easter is drawing near. At that time of the year, there are quite a few ladies who still paint eggs. They paint them or they weave them. These ladies are also present at Vatra Dornei’s Ethnographic Museum in every Saturday, in a traditional evening. Then they sow the embroidered peasant blouses, yet at Easter time they paint eggs as well.

    Ciocănești has been declared an open-air commune museum for a couple of years now. There, the craftswomen have opted for preserving that custom of egg painting, there even is a Museum of the Painted Eggs we recommend every time to those who visit the Dornas Country, if they want to have a glimpse of the essence of the traditions we have in our own area. Some of these eggs are even a hundred years old. “

    Germany, England, Scotland, Australia or Mexico are just some of the places of origin of the foreign tourists who travel to Dornas Country. For Romanian tourists and for the foreign ones alike, the Dornas Country Destination Management Organization has also been working on several projects of setting up leisure areas, soon to be materialized.

    Every season has its own charm here, and that’s for sure. Adding to the charm are the seasonal dishes. A destination manager with the Dornas Country Destination Management Organization, Mihaela Cocîrță, recommends that we also pick our stay in Dornas Country in the summer of autumn.
    “With us, there is a very beautiful and very eventful period, rich in sports events, but not only that. We say that in the food of Dornas Country visitors will find a great deal of passion, mastery and authentic taste. If, for instance, a tourist turns up in autumn, he is sure to find everything related to vegetables hotchpotch and preserves prepared by housewives. Also, again during autumn, they can have a taste of such dishes as the apple pie.

    They can pick the apples and, if they find accommodation in an agri-tourism guesthouse, they can join their hosts in the preparation of those dishes and can also take the recipes back home with them. At this time of the year, in winter, we have special food, mainly meat or fish-based, of course, we have the all too familiar minced meat cabbage rolls, meat jellies or aspic.

    The food is absolutely yummy and locally produced. I was lucky enough to meet foreign tourists constantly, also because Via Transilvanica crosses Vatra Dornei. There is a route attracting a great many foreign tourists who keep saying the same thing: ’ You don’t know what richness you have here, in your region.’ They appreciate the natural scenery, a lot, but also the architecture.

    The Dornas Country used to be under Austrian-Hungarian administration, while quite a few of the region’s iconic buildings, which shaped our region, were built in the Austro-Hungarian time. Therefore, the unspoiled nature, tying in with the architecture, the traditions and the customs make it a special place, held in high esteem by tourists. “

    Germany, England, Scotland, Australia or Mexico are just some of the places of origin of the foreign tourists who travel to Dornas Country. For Romanian tourists and for the foreign ones alike, the Dornas Country Destination Management Organization has also been working on several projects of setting up leisure areas, soon to be materialized.

  • Unexpected seismic activity

    Unexpected seismic activity

    Two earthquakes
    rocked for two consecutive days the south-western regions of Romania. The first
    with a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter scale took place on Monday and had 16
    aftershocks. The second one, more powerful with a 5.7 magnitude took place at a
    depth of 7 kilometers and was also felt in other regions of Romania, including
    in Bucharest. These two earthquakes came at a time when the death toll of those
    that hit Turkey and Syria last week is on the rise. Romania’s main seismic area
    is Vrancea in south-east, so the latest earthquakes in the country’s south-west
    came as a surprise mainly to those studying the phenomenon. Here is the
    director of the Institute for Earth Physics, Constantin Ionescu.




    Constantin Ionescu:The area has rarely seen any earthquakes and
    those that happened there before were of low magnitudes, of 3, 2, 1 degrees.
    And it came as a surprise to us the fact that the area became active again. A
    couple of earthquakes was reported in that area in the past but never with
    magnitudes over 4 degrees. From the geological point of view, the tectonic
    plates moved vertically. Both of them shared the same mechanism, it was a
    tandem, so to say. And the second one wasn’t an aftershock.




    There were no
    victims but the first quake caused panic, which was probably fuelled by the
    recent Turkish-Syrian tragedy. The two earthquakes had effects in three
    counties in the country’s southwest though.


    Here is now Raed
    Arafat, the head of Romania’s Department for Emergency Situations.




    Raed Arafat: The
    effects of these two earthquakes have been felt in six towns and villages in
    three counties, Gorj, Dolj and Mehedinţi. Fifty emergency calls have been
    registered but people mainly called in about their cracked walls or to report some elements of masonry that had collapsed.
    Initially there were rumors about a destroyed building, which eventually proved
    false. Several panic attacks have also been reported by means of the 112
    emergency number.




    More serious issues
    appeared in the Gorj county on the national road crossing the Jiu Gorges, which
    was blocked by fallen boulders and the intervention of road workers was needed.
    In Târgu Jiu, capital of the Gorj county, the tremors caused damage to the
    buildings of the City Hall and the Prefect’s Office. They also caused
    disruptions in the electricity and gas supplies, which resumed shortly.


    State secretary
    Arafat has drawn attention to the fact that panic can lead to a series of
    mistakes during an earthquake and can even prove deadly. According to him
    people must train to get a better reaction in situations like these. An
    application, which can be accessed at the portal of the Emergency Situations
    Department, comprises a series of recommendations on how to behave before,
    during and after an earthquake.


    (bill)



  • Romania to reinforce its high-risk buildings

    Romania to reinforce its high-risk buildings


    The devastating earthquakes that last week hit Turkey and Syria have prompted the Romanian authorities to take measures for the reinforcement of the buildings, which could be affected by a strong earthquake. Several projects in this respect have been carried out in the past years but with little results and thousands of historical buildings in Romanias major cities could collapse in the event of a powerful earthquake.


    A series of measures on carrying out research and restoration works to old vulnerable buildings, is high on the agenda of the government proceedings in Bucharest, upon request from the countrys Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca. 27 hundred buildings in Romania, most of them in capital city Bucharest, are presently running the risk of being razed to the ground by an earthquake like those that rocked Turkey and Syria last week.


    Two programmes aimed at consolidating these buildings are presently benefitting from funds: a first one that is run by the Ministry of Development and a second one, which has been included in the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience Romania has assumed with the EU.


    Prime Minister Ciuca has called on those responsible to present the measures that are to be taken by the Ministry of Development to step up the programme it was entrusted after the severe situation in Turkey and Syria, where thousands of people have been killed by last weeks quakes.


    The Prime Minister has drawn attention to the problems that reside in the delays of implementing programmes, which already exist.


    Nicolae Ciucă: “These are the problems we are currently facing in Romania. We are doing talks and planning but when it comes to implementing these plans, we come with a series of arguments to justify the delays in implementing them. And this is what I believe has led to this situation we are seeing today, the lack of coherence in implementing the decisions made in this respect.”


    In turn, state secretary with the Ministry of Development, Marin Țole, says that both residential and public buildings such as schools, kindergartens and hospitals are to be consolidated. The Romanian official has also mentioned a special mechanism to simplify the way of identifying the high-risk buildings.


    Marin Țole: “Weve tried to conduct research on all high-risk buildings, of the first and second degree, so that the state may intervene through its Territorial-Administrative Units for their consolidation with funds from the national budget or from those made available by the European Commission”


    The National Plan for the consolidation of buildings relies on a budget of 142. 8 million euros and the programme known as The Wave of Restoration part of the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience has a budget over 500 million euros. The latest big earthquake that hit Romania was on March 4th 1977 when 15 hundred people lost their lives. And according to statistics, Bucharest is the European capital that is most at risk from earthquakes.


    (bill)