Bistrița Gorges

The Bistrița Gorges are a spectacular karst formation on the Bistrița River, a tributary of the Olt, in Costești commune, Vâlcea County, at the south-western edge of the Buila-Vânturarița massif. They are part of the Buila-Vânturarița National Park — the smallest national park in Romania — and are considered the narrowest limestone gorges in the country: along about 1.5 km, the rock walls narrow in places to just a few metres, forming a cool corridor filled with the roar of the water. The river, rising in the Căpățânii Mountains, has carved this gorge over time into the limestone of the Arnota Mountains. At the entrance to the gorges, in the village of Bistrița, stands Bistrița Monastery, one of the most renowned in Vâlcea, founded by the Craiovești boyars around 1490; from the old foundation survives the small Bolnița church (1520–1521), with a valuable interior fresco. From here a path leads to the Bats' Cave (the Cave of St Gregory the Decapolite), at about 850 m altitude, one of the few churches in Romania set inside a cave, which also shelters a bat colony. Downstream opens the Bears' Cave, with an impressive entrance about 35 m high, where cave bear fossils and Neolithic remains have been found; in all, more than 20 caves are found in the gorges. Another highlight is Queen Marie's Bridge, together with the Stone Crosses carved into the rock (one 5 m tall), a historic monument linked to Bibescu Vodă and Queen Marie, who was especially fond of this place. Nearby, along a forest road, stands Arnota Monastery, founded by the ruler Matei Basarab. The Bistrița Gorges are worth visiting for the beauty of the narrow gorge, the wealth of caves and the spiritual and historical ensemble that accompanies them, accessible on marked trails.