Râmeț Gorge

The Râmeț Gorge is a defile cut by the Geoagiu river (also called Valea Mănăstirii) in the eastern part of the Trascău Mountains, in Râmeț commune, Alba County. The gorge runs between the hamlet of Cheia and the Râmeț Monastery, which stands at the entrance to the gorge, about 34 km from Alba Iulia and 18 km from Teiuș. The river cuts through two limestone massifs, Uzmezeu to the north and Fundoi to the south. The limestone is mainly Jurassic, and the slopes show cliffs, towers, ridges, sinkholes, caves and scree. For about 1 km the gorge can only be passed along the riverbed. Protected plants here include yew (Taxus baccata) and lady's slipper orchid (Cypripedium calceolus). The area has been protected since 1969, by a decision of the Alba County Executive Committee, and in 1995 Alba County Council declared it a nature reserve. A marked hiking trail starts at the Râmeț Monastery and follows the gorge up to the village of Cheia. The monastery is reached on the local road from Teiuș, while the upper part of the commune (Brădești) can be reached on county road DJ 107 from Aiud. The Râmeț Gorge is a complex nature reserve of national interest (IUCN category IV), listed under code 2.12 in the annex to Law no. 5/2000. Alba County Council gives its area as 40 ha. It lies within the Natura 2000 sites ROSCI0253 Trascău and ROSPA0087 Munții Trascăului. Did you know that the church of the Râmeț Monastery, at the entrance to the gorge, preserves a layer of wall painting made in 1377 by the painter Mihu of Crișul Alb? The monastery ensemble is a category A historic monument (LMI code AB-II-a-A-00386).