Oltenia Region

History of Oltenia region:

Visit Oltenia from Romania and find out that in the past was a part from Muntenia of which is closely related today and together they compose the Romanian Country. Along the tumultuous history, the region was occupied by Dacians ruled by Burebista and Decebal, by Romans ruled by Aurelian and after it was part from the well known region known as Dacia. Here, Dacian and Roman tracks are very clear, because they left many citadels behind, but today unfortunately most of them are ruins. About all these you will learn in your journey in Oltenia. The Nomad people also left their tracks here on Oltenia‘s territory, the  most being of Slavs, Tatars and Saxons and small communities of their descendants still exist today in the region. For a short period of time, Oltenia was part of Habsburg Empire and after became part of the Romanian Country.

Relief of Oltenia region:

Geographically, the high peaks of Southern and Western Carpathians guard the region with holiness forming a border that hides some of the most gorgeous natural objectives in Oltenia. On their south part, the relief continues with the Getic Sub Carpathians and Mehedinți and Getic Plateaus which make the connection with the stretched Romanian Plain (Oltenia Plain), an extended and fertile land where people work in agriculture or go with their animals to graze. The complexity of relief forms attracts in the area thousands of tourists each year, who come here to admire the gorgeous landscapes or to practice different activities depending the season, but also to visit the tourist objectives from the region.

Climate and waters of Oltenia region:

Oltenia‘s climate is temperate, but with big influences coming from the Mediterranean Sea. Due to its position, the weather is beautiful for most of the time in a year, with very hot summers and milder winters. Spring and fall are the richest seasons in rainfall and the temperature and rainfall vary depending on the elevation. The dominant winds are the northern and austral winds. The main rivers from the region are Jiu, Motru, Cerna, Olt, Vedea, Lotru and most important the Danube River which offers by its presence another air in the south of the region. The most beautiful and important lakes are Fântâna Banului, Ciuperceni, Motru, Rovinari, Porţile de Fier I and II (Iron Gates I and II), Slatina, Ipoteşti, Drăgăneşti, Vidra, Călimăneşti and Râureni.

People from Oltenia region:

Oltenians are known as hospitable people, so tourists can expect anytime to be greeted and hosted as on their homes. Besides this characteristic of the region, tourists are attracted in the area by the gorgeous landscapes and by Romania’s real rural life. Even if today the most part of the mines from the region are not functionable anymore, Oltenia is known for its underground richness. Large deposits of coal and other minerals have been extracted from these mountains in the last decades. Coming back to tourism, it seems to develop more and more after the communism fall.

National Parks and Reservations from Oltenia:

If the mountain area doesn’t lack of natural objectives in Oltenia as national parks and reservations like Cernei Valley Natural Reservation, Botorogi Natural Reservation, Danube Gorge, Iron Gates National Park, Cernei Valley National Park or Cozia National Park and also of spectacular keys, valleys and gorges, in the plateau and plain areas appear the ruins of some settlements from the Daco-Roman time (Sucidava and Buridava Citadels), but also a lot of churches, monasteries and other places of worship, because it is well known Romania’s religious character. (Find more journeys on blog.worldlifetimejourneys.com)

Churches, monasteries, tourist objectives and attractions from Oltenia:

These, are everywhere in this region and the most important and beautiful are: Bucovăţ, Maglavit, Tismana, Lainici, Sfânta Ana, Brâncoveni, Cozia, Govora or Hurezi Monasteries. Other tourist objectives from the area are Târgu Jiu City with the masterpieces of the great Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi (Poarta Sărutului – The Kiss Gate, Masa Tăcerii – The Silent Table, Coloana Infinitului – The Endless Column and others), Decebal’s face sculpted in rock, the ruins of Trajan’s bridge, the ceramics center from Oboga-Calui and the relaxation and therapy resorts from the mountain area. By coming in a journey in Oltenia, all the Dacian and Roman tracks will be felt by you and you will be at least for a moment in the past. Visit Oltenia!

View from Transalpina Road that runs through
the Southern Carpathians, Vâlcea County, Oltenia Region