Things to do
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Curtea de Argeș Cathedral
The monastery church of 1517, in a Wallachian style with twisted stone drums and Ottoman and Armenian detail, holding the tombs of the modern kings and queens. The ballad of Master Manole, who is said to have walled his wife in to make it stand, attaches to this building.
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Lake Vidraru
A reservoir of about 870 hectares in the Făgăraș, held by an arch dam of 1966 that was among the highest in Europe when built, with the Transfăgărășan running along its western shore. A statue of Prometheus stands above the crest, the dam is walked across, and boats run on the water in summer.
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Poenari Castle
The fortress on a spur above the Argeș gorge that Vlad the Impaler rebuilt in 1462 using boyars he had taken prisoner, reached by 1,480 concrete steps through the forest. The stair closes when bears are active, which is often. The car park is on the Transfăgărășan below and the climb takes about forty minutes.
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Princely Church of Saint Nicholas
The court church of about 1352, the oldest building in the country still standing complete and in use, with fresco cycles of the 1360s that have no equal in Wallachia. It stands in the old princely court a short walk from the cathedral, and the painting is lit on request.
