Bușteni Resort

Bușteni is a town at the north-western tip of Prahova County, on the borders of Brașov and Dâmbovița counties, on both banks of the Prahova at the foot of the Bucegi Mountains. It stretches for about 7 km along the valley, between Vadul Cerbului and the tunnel through the Muchia Lungă spur, at about 875 m altitude and 135 km from Bucharest. Within its territory the Prahova receives the Valea Cerbului, Valea Albă and Urlătoarea streams. The town covers 75.28 km² and consists of Bușteni and Poiana Țapului, with 8,368 inhabitants in 2021. The DN1 road and the Ploiești-Brașov railway, with Bușteni and Poiana Țapului stations, run through it. In 1782 Prince Mihai Șuțu founded here, with 24 families of tax-exempt servants of Sinaia Monastery, the hamlet of Izvorul, from which Bușteni, Poiana Țapului and Azuga developed. The settlement is first documented in 1788, and the first houses were built in 1793 in Valea Albă. In the late nineteenth century Bușteni was a hamlet of the commune of Predeal; the Royal House built a school (1887) and the church (1889), and a paper mill opened in 1882. The commune of Bușteni, comprising Bușteni and Poiana Țapului, was created on 1 July 1908; Poiana Țapului, a separate commune between the wars, was merged into Bușteni for good in 1950. Skiing arrived in 1907-1908, on Valea Albă and Coștila. Four monuments in the town are of national importance: the Commemorative Cross of the Romanian Heroes of the First World War on Caraiman Peak (PH-IV-m-A-16887), the "Last Grenade" statue of Corporal Constantin Mușat (1928) in front of the station (PH-III-m-A-16871), the Cezar Petrescu Memorial House (1914-1918, PH-II-m-A-16385) and the Cantacuzino Castle ensemble (1910, PH-II-a-A-16386). The Royal Church (1889) was founded by King Carol I and Queen Elisabeth, and Caraiman Monastery stands near the Bușteni cable car station. Monuments of local importance include the Paper Mill ensemble (1880), the House of Culture and, in Poiana Țapului, the house of the aesthetician Tudor Vianu. Babele, the Sphinx and Urlătoarea Waterfall are close to the town, and part of the Abruptul prahovean Bucegi nature reserve, within Bucegi Natural Park, lies on its territory. The Bușteni-Babele cable car climbs from the southern part of town to the Bucegi plateau, and in winter there is skiing on the Kalinderu 1 and 2 runs. Marked trails lead from Bușteni and Poiana Țapului to Urlătoarea Waterfall, the Jepi valley and the Bucegi plateau.