Vânători-Neamț Natural Park

This park is unusual in combining a serious conservation project with one of the densest concentrations of monastic life in the country. The conservation half is the European bison: the species vanished from Romania in the eighteenth century - the last bison in Moldavia was killed in 1762 - and a reintroduction programme here has built a population that now includes free-ranging animals in the forest as well as those in the large acclimatisation enclosure, where visitors can see them from a trail and observation points. The cultural half is the monasteries: Neamț, Secu, Sihăstria, Sihla and Agapia lie within or just outside the park boundaries, several of them among the oldest and most important in Moldavia, set in beech and fir forest with hermitages scattered between them. The Neamț citadel stands above Târgu Neamț nearby. Walking routes link the monasteries through the woods, which is by far the best way to understand how the landscape and the religious life fit together.

Highlights

• The bison enclosure - a large acclimatisation area with observation points.
• Monastery cluster - Neamț, Secu, Sihăstria, Sihla and Agapia in the forested hills.
• Forest trails - waymarked routes linking the monasteries.
• Sihla hermitage - a small church built against a rock overhang in the woods.

When to go

April to October for walking; autumn is exceptional here for colour in the beech forest. Bison are easier to see in the enclosure in the cooler parts of the day. Monasteries keep their own visiting hours and are busiest on feast days.

Things to know

Free-ranging bison are rarely seen by casual visitors; the reliable sightings are in the enclosure, and even there the animals may be distant among the trees. Monasteries are working communities and expect modest dress and quiet, and photography is often restricted inside. Roads between the sites are narrow and busy with pilgrim traffic in summer.

Nearby

Neamț Citadel is above Târgu Neamț; Ceahlău and the Bicaz reservoir lie west.

Key facts