Poiana cu Schit Reserve and Nature Trail

The Poiana cu Schit reserve lies in Grajduri commune, in southern Iași County, west of the village of Poiana cu Cetate, on the banks of the Cocoarei stream in the Boroșești forest. It is the largest clearing in the Bârnova-Repedea forest massif and is part of the Natura 2000 site ROSAC0135 Pădurea Bârnova-Repedea. The clearing holds the ruins of a former monks' hermitage, which sources date to the fourteenth century. It also holds stone sculptures made at the three editions of the Scânteia sculpture camp in 1986, 1987 and 1988 by artists including Dan Covătaru, Alexandru Ciutureanu, Mihai Istudor, Dumitru Căileanu and Romeo Pervolovici, which form the clearing's open-air museum. In April 2023 the Iași Forestry Directorate (Romsilva) and the National Agency for Protected Natural Areas, Iași Territorial Service, opened the themed trail "Poiana cu Schit, nature, culture, spirituality". The trail is 2.5 km long, easy, and has 18 panels with QR codes and interactive modules on tree species, forest animals and their tracks, life in a pond and in a clearing, and the role of dead wood. It starts near the village entrance, on the first road to the right, and ends in the clearing, where centuries-old oaks grow. The clearing has more than 200 species of vascular plants, including forest-steppe species such as wall germander (Teucrium chamaedrys), Dorycnium herbaceum and several fescues. Poiana cu Schit is a botanical nature reserve (IUCN category IV, no. 2.543), designated by Law 5/2000. The trail is managed by the Iași Forestry Directorate through the Pădureni forest district, is open all year except during heavy snow, and access is free; guided visits can be requested from the forest district.