Via Transilvanica (in ) is a

hiking trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. ...

which crosses the

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berge ...

and

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of ...

regions of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

, and is meant to promote their respective

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor ...

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

diversity. It was built between 2018 and 2022, with its design and conception heavily inspired by historical

pilgrims' way The Pilgrims' Way (also Pilgrim's Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. This name, of comparatively recent coinage ...

s and

hiking trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. T ...

, such as The Way of St. James and The Appalachian Trail. Starting at Putna,

Suceava County Suceava County () is a county ('' ro, județ'') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat is the historical tow ...

, it stretches over , 10

counties of Romania , alt_name = , alt_name1 = , alt_name2 = , alt_name3 = , alt_name4 = , map = , category = Unitary state , territory = Romania , upper_unit ...

, over 400 communities, and 12

UNESCO World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

sites, ending in

Drobeta-Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern t ...

Mehedinți County Mehedinți County () is a county ( ro, județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia and Bulgaria. It is mostly located in the historical province of Oltenia, with one municipality ( Orșova) and three communes ( Dubova, Eșelnița, and Svinița) ...

. Its motto is "The road that unites".

History

The trail was envisioned by the

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

''Tășuleasa Social'', based in

Bistrița-Năsăud County Bistrița-Năsăud () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Bistrița. Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Beszterce-Naszód megye'', and in German as ''Kreis Bistritz-Nassod''. The name is identical with ...

. The way marking of trail was done in five major stages between the years 2018 and 2022: * In 2018, the first of trail was marked in

Bistrița-Năsăud county Bistrița-Năsăud () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Bistrița. Name In Hungarian, it is known as ''Beszterce-Naszód megye'', and in German as ''Kreis Bistritz-Nassod''. The name is identical with ...

. * In 2019, of trail was marked in

and in

. * In 2020, the trail sections in the

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of Mureș,

Harghita Harghita (, hu, Hargita megye, ) is a county (județ) in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a population ...

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census ( 2011), Brașov has a po ...

, and

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

were completed, bringing the total length of marked path to approximately . * In 2021, the approximately of trail through

Caraș-Severin County Caraș-Severin () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia. The majority of its territory lies within the historical region of Banat, with a few northeastern villages considered part of Transylvania. The county seat is Reșița. ...

were fully marked, bringing the total marked up to . * In 2022, on October 8, an inauguration ceremony is held in

Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; german: Karlsburg or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; hu, Gyulafehérvár; la, Apulum) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the Mureș River in the historica ...

after the last 150 km of markings in the counties of

Hunedoara Hunedoara (; german: Eisenmarkt; hu, Vajdahunyad ) is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in southwestern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and administers five villages: Boș (''Bós''), Groș (''Grós'' ...

and

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingdom ...

are completed. Via Transilvanica Pole 2

In terms of funding, the marking of approximately of trail was funded through charitable donations, sponsorship deals, and other partnerships with various

private companies A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

. Some of the funding was thanks to a donation of profits from the sale of the book "27 steps" by , a Romanian ultramarathon runner and extreme sport athlete, one of the main ambassadors of the Via Transilvanica. The marking of the trail, including the laying of the over 1,000

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the rou ...

s came up to approximately 1.5 million

Euro The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s. Hundreds of volunteers took part in the marking and

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

of the route including actors

Marcel Iureș Marcel Iureș (; born 2 August 1951) is a Romanian actor. He is one of Romania's most acclaimed stage and film actors. He has acted in films and on stage both in Romania and internationally, and has played at least ten roles on Romanian and Briti ...

and

Pavel Bartoș Pavel Bartoș (; born 20 January 1975 Miercurea Ciuc, Romania) is a Romanian actor and television presenter, known for hosting '' Românii au talent'' (Romanian's Got Talent) and ''The Voice of Romania''. Also the presenter was chosen by Dis ...

, former prince

Nicholas Medforth-Mills Nicholas Michael de Roumanie Medforth-Mills, formerly called Prince Nicholas of Romania (born 1 April 1985), is the eldest child and only son of Princess Elena of Romania and Robin Medforth-Mills. As a grandson of King Michael of Romania, he ...

, journalists

Andreea Esca Andreea Esca (, born August 29, 1972) is a Romanian television journalist on the Pro TV network. She graduated from a journalism school in 1990. She studied at CNN. She has been working as a news presenter at the Romanian television channel PRO ...

and , activist

Dragoș Bucurenci Dragoș Bucurenci (born August 30, 1981) is a Romanian communication strategist and coach, civic activist

, tennis player

Horia Tecău Horia Tecău (; born January 19, 1985) is a Romanian former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles. He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2017 US Open alongside Jean-Julien Roje ...

, TV presenter Charlie Ottley, and philosopher

Mihaela Miroiu Mihaela Miroiu (born 1955 in Hunedoara, Romania) is a Romanian political theorist and feminist philosopher and the most prominent activist for women's rights and a very well known activist for Roma rights, more generally, for minorities rights ...

. In 2023, it received the "Citizen Involvement and Awareness" award offered by

Europa Nostra Europa Nostra ( Italian for "Our Europe") is a pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage, representing citizens' organisations that work on safeguarding Europe's cultural and natural heritage. It is the voice of this movement to relevant inte ...

Route

Via Transilvanica is divided into seven historical and cultural regions:

Bucovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...

, the Highland, Terra Siculorum, Terra Saxonum, Terra Dacica, Terra Banatica and Terra Romana. The route spans ten of Romania's counties:

Suceava Suceava () is the largest urban settlement and the seat town ( ro, oraș reședință de județ) of Suceava County, situated in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania, and at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. Klaus Pet ...

, Bistrița-Năsăud, Mureș,

, Caraș-Severin, and Mehedinți. The

trail blazing Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A blaz ...

consists of either painted markings on trees and stones, or

handcrafted A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

s, each with a unique design and weighing approximately each, position roughly one kilometer apart. The painted markings always come in the same two colors, orange and white, with the orange arrows pointing south-west, towards

, and the white arrows pointing north-east in the direction of Putna. There are also painted markings of an orange "T" on a white background.

References

{{Reflist Tourist attractions in Romania 2018 establishments in Romania Hiking trails in Romania

History

Route

See also

References