The Ruined Citadel In The Woods - Floresti Citadel - Cetatea Fetei din Florești
The forests near Cluj-Napoca are full of surprises, one of them being ruins from long ago, hidden deep in the quiet woodland.
I wanted for a long time to visit a ruined fortification located on a forested hill top near the village of Floresti, which because of it's location inside Cluj-Napoca's metropolitan area has become almost one of it's neighborhoods.
Cluj-Napoca's location on Eastern Europe's map
Floresti village location relative to Cluj-Napoca
The road to the citadel has no indicators so you have to study the map and navigate the trails in the forest in order to reach it.
The citadel's strategic location overlooking Floresti village and the adjacent valley
The fortification was basically built on top of one of the hills overlooking the Someșul Mic river valley. It's name translates into " The Girl's Citadel" and it's linked to a legend of a girl who was caught during a tartar invasion ( 13th century) and despite being tortured didn't reveal where the other villagers were hidden ( gruesome stuff). The medieval fortification date from the XIII century, and were used for about 150 years before being destroyed in 1437 during a peasant revolt. The few archaeological digs done in the area show signs of habitation dating from the bronze age. Also there was a wooden fortification preceding the one built out of stone.
Me pocking around to see which holes were explorable
The section of the wall that is still visible shows holes that were most likely dug by treasure hunters; the upper hole continues with a tunnel that it's blocked at some point by an iron door. The thickness of the stone wall is around 4.4 meters which is pretty thick for a fortification from that time period.
I didn't go all the way to the end of the tunnel because I was afraid I would get stuck at some point and that would have been extremely embarrassing :)
The upper hole lead to a tunnel spiraling down
The shape of the outer rampart is still visible
The view to the adjacent Tauți valley was enjoyable even though the weather was insisting on being foggy and damp.
Floresti Monastery nestled in the forest of the Tauți valley
Although the feeling of being a sort of Indiana Jones and finding ruins in the forest is exciting, the state of this fortification as well as the multitude of holes dug by treasure hunters saddened me. If restored this would be a very impressive citadel view amazing views, but this is just one of many such examples of fascinating ruins in Romania which unfortunately are left abandoned.
I tried to enjoy the rest of my walk in the forest and not think about these things while contemplating nature.
The view over Floresti village from the edge of the forest marked the end of the trip and the return to hustle of the metropolitan area. Hope you liked this little trip marked by history.
Take care,
Adrian
That is so cool! What an adventure, amazing history like that all forgotten right outside of a thriving human settlement. The contrast reminds us of the swift, permanent passing of time.
I have way more remote and interesting adventures in plan. Romania is full of less known history. Thank you for dropping by and for reading my post :)
dang. that was fantastic. loved the pictures down in the hole. cool history.
In a way I feel bad not exploring the hole tunnel, but I didn't want too call the emergency service to come and get me out if I got stuck :))) Maybe I'll take a rope one day and explore it. Thank you for your support, you guys rock ! :)