Piatra Teiului

Piatra Teiului stands in Poiana Teiului commune, at the upstream end of the Izvorul Muntelui reservoir on the Bistrița river, about 35 km from the Bicaz dam. The rock lies a short way upstream of the confluence of the Largu stream with the Bistrița, next to the Poiana Largului viaduct, where national roads DN15, DN15B and DN17B meet. The protected area covers 0.2 ha at an altitude of about 508 m. The rock was declared a nature monument in 1951. Its management plan attributes its survival as a solitary tower to its limestone composition, which differs from the rocks through which the Bistrița valley is cut in this area. The limestone has a grainy texture with no detrital material and contains the remains of marine organisms (foraminifera of the Miliolidae, Textulariidae and Globigerinidae families, echinoderms and bryozoans), indicating conditions similar to those of present-day tropical coastal waters. Locals also call it Piatra Dracului (the Devil's Rock), and the legend of its origin is mentioned by Mihail Sadoveanu in his novel "Baltagul" (1930). The rock is almost 23 m high and can be seen from the Poiana Largului viaduct on the way to Vatra Dornei, Toplița or Târgu Neamț. Depending on the lake level, its base is surrounded by dry ground or stands in the water, as it does for most of the year. Poiana Teiului can be reached by car or by the minibuses and buses that serve these routes. The management plan lists cracking of the rock, caused by changes in the lake level and by freeze-thaw cycles, as a threat. Piatra Teiului is a geological nature reserve (IUCN category III, code RONPA0663). Its management plan was drawn up under custody agreement no. 6023 of 7 August 2008 with the Neamț Environmental Protection Agency. To see it, it is enough to cross the viaduct.