Pietrele Doamnei

Pietrele Doamnei ("the Lady's Rocks", Frauenstein in German) is the best-known feature of the Rarău Mountains: a group of limestone rocks reaching 1,634 m, about one kilometre south-west of Vârful Rarău (1,651 m), within the municipality of Câmpulung Moldovenesc. County road DJ175B (the Transrarău) runs nearby. The rocks form a ruin-like landscape: a cluster of towers of Mesozoic limestone encrusted with corals and ammonites, from under 10 m to over 70 m high and surrounded by scree. They formed when a limestone summit was broken up by repeated freezing and thawing. Their walls carry numerous climbing routes. The Pietrele Doamnei nature reserve, a protected area of national interest in IUCN category IV (mixed type), covers 253 hectares on the northern slope of Rarău, next to the Codrul secular Slătioara reserve. It was designated by Law no. 5 of 6 March 2000 and includes rock faces, scree, dolines, coniferous and mixed forest and grassland. Protected plants include edelweiss, lady's slipper orchid, mountain avens and dwarf mountain pine, and the birds include the western capercaillie, Tengmalm's owl and the three-toed woodpecker. The reserve is part of the Rarău-Giumalău site of community importance (ROSCI0212) and the Munții Rarău-Giumalău special protection area for birds (ROSPA0083). About one kilometre north of Pietrele Doamnei lies the Bat Cave (Peștera cu Lilieci), at the bottom of a large sinkhole shaft.