Video Lake Oașa, the “pearl” on the Transalpina. Sadoveanu’s corner of heaven, hidden in the heart of the Șureanu Mountains

Lake Oașa is among the great attractions of the Șureanu Mountains. Its dam, built in the 1970s, is crossed by the Transalpina, and behind it opens the panorama of the reservoir in which the ridges of over 2,000 meters are mirrored.

Transalpina, the mountain road that connects the lands of Sibiu with the south of Romania, crossing the Parâng Mountains, was laid out starting in the 1930s and asphalted along its entire length, about 150 kilometers, only in the 2000s.

The 150-kilometer road climbs from Sebeș municipality (Alba county), along the Sebeș river valley, to the heights of the Șureanu, Cindrel and Parâng mountains, reaching altitudes of over 2,100 meters, then descends to the town of Novaci (Gorj county).

Before reaching the alpine areas around the Urdele Pass (2,145 meters) in the Parâng Mountains, the road crosses huge stretches of forest. These lands were rarely traveled by humans until the last few decades, when the “King’s Road”, as the Transalpina was originally called, became increasingly popular with hiking enthusiasts.

The construction of the Transalpina opened the way for tourists to some of the most spectacular places in the Carpathian Mountains, located at over 2,000 meters and difficult to access in the past due to the distance of tens of kilometers from the villages at the foot of the mountains.

The first tourist resort accessible from the mountain road was established in the 1930s, at Rânca, in Gorj county, at an altitude of 1,600 meters on the ridges of Parâng. In recent years, dozens of cabins have been built at Rânca, and tourists can ski here on several slopes located at altitudes of up to 2,100 meters, equipped with modern facilities.

In the 1970s, another tourist area was to develop about 30 kilometers from Rânca, around the Vidra reservoir, then set up in the Lotrului Mountains.

The recreational area known as the Transalpina Ski Area is located in the vicinity of Obârșia Lotrului, 30 kilometers from Voineasa, the place where Transalpina intersects with the DN 7A mountain road. The resort is located at about 1,350 meters, but from here tourists go up with the gondola up to 1,800 meters and then, with the ski lift, to the slopes at over 2,000 altitude.

In the 2000s, the third accessible mountain resort on the Transalpina was established. The Șureanu Ski Area is located in the vicinity of the highest peaks of the Șureanu Mountains at over 2,000 meters above sea level, above Lake Oașa. The road to the resort starts from the Oașa dam, on the left bank of the lake.

At its end, tourists find several slopes in winter, arranged from 1,700 meters to over 2,000 meters. In the area of ​​the lake, you can visit the Oașa monastery, and several mountain trails start from here to the crests of the Șureanu and Cindrel mountains.

How Lake Oașa was arranged

Comparable to Vidra Lake located about 30 kilometers away, Oașa Lake is among the attractions of Transalpina. The mountain road passes over its dam and then bypasses the accumulation lake, before reaching Obârsia Lotrului.

During the winter, DN 67 C is closed on the section between Obârsia Lotrului and Rânca, but tourists can easily reach the shore of Oașa lake and then go up a forest road to the Șureanu Ski Area.

Developed in the 70s, Lake Oașa in the Șureanu Mountains has preserved the story of one of the most beautiful places in the Carpathian Mountains, swallowed by its waters. In the past, upstream of the dam, the place was called Valea Frumoasă and it would have been the place that would have inspired the writer Mihail Sadoveanu, in his creations: “Valea Frumoasei” (1938) and “Stories from Bradu’ Strâmb” (1941 ).

“There is somewhere in Transylvania, between the lands of Inidoara and Alba, a raging water; the people from the plains call it Sebeşul, the older ones from the heights call it Frumoasa. There is the kingdom of the wilderness, as long as the mountains and hills last”Mihail Sadoveanu described the place in the mountains, where he retired to a cabin, to then roam the land hunting mountain grouse.

The hydropower plants on the Sebeș valley

In the 70s, Valea Frumoasă came under the waters of the Oașa reservoir (video), located at the foot of the Șureanu mountains, about 80 kilometers from the municipality of Sebeș. In 1972, hundreds of people began work on the planned hydropower developments in the Sebeș River valley.

The initial project provided for the construction of six hydropower plants, on the section between Oașa and Sebeș, but in the following years four were built, in Gâlceag, Şugag, Săsciori and Petreşti, with an installed power of about 342 MW, and by the end of the 2000s, they had two microhydropower plants were also built at Obrejii de Căpâlna and Cugir.

“The first and largest of the lakes that form the waterfall arranged along the course of the Sebeș River is the Oașa lake. It concentrates the waters of Sebeș and other watercourses in the area by means of secondary catchments. At the normal retention level (1,255 mdM – meters above sea level), Oașa lake has a volume of 136 million cubic meters and an area of ​​454 hectares. The dam, 91 meters high, is made of rock (no rocks, boulders, earth). The Gilceag underground power plant, commissioned in 1980, harnesses the energy potential stored in Lake Oașa. Equipped with two vertical hydrogen generators driven by Francis turbines, the plant has an installed power of 150 MW“, informs Hidroelectrica.

Downstream from Lake Oașa, there is another imposing dam. The Tău Dam was built of concrete in a double arch and is 78 meters high. Its reservoir has a volume of 21 million meters of water, used by the Șugag hydropower plant, with an installed power of 150 MW.

The accumulation of Obrejia de Căpâlna ensures the production of electricity in the Săsciori plant (42 MW), and the water supply of Alba county, and the plant in the Petrești dam, the closest to Sebeș, was equipped with two aggregates, the installed power being 4, 25 MW.

The Dacian fortress and the Roman forts

Along with the natural monuments discovered by travelers who climb the Transalpina, the Sebeș valley has also preserved some precious historical landmarks.

Here is the Dacian citadel from Căpâlna (Alba county), included in the UNESCO heritage, along with five other Dacian citadels from Hunedoara.

Also, tourists who reach the ridges that are mirrored in Lake Oașa can see the sites of the military marching camps established by the Romans during the wars of conquest of Dacia.

On the Comărnicel peak (1,896 meters), above the Sebeș valley, archaeologists have identified three marching stables, used by the Roman troops when advancing towards Sarmizegetusa Regia. On Vârful lui Pătru (2,133 meters), which dominates the panorama of Lake Oașa, another Roman march camp has been identified by scientists.

How the Transalpina was built

The first developments on the route on the Parâng ridges took place at the beginning of the 20th century, when the Urdele pass was crossed by transhumance shepherds and army troops.

Rocks were then broken to widen the path in the mountains, from which those who ventured often tumbled with their horses down the steep slopes. That’s why Transalpina was also called the Devil’s Path.

The mountain road was laid out in the 1930s, with the establishment of the first cabins in Rânca. King Carol II inaugurated the start of the modernization works of the Transalpina ridge route, which led to the new tourist complex.

“The views are unique due to the enormous distances that are offered to the eye in clear weather, which does not often happen at the peaks, and due to the terrible precipices that border the road without a parapet and threatened by the rock above. In these wild regions, much of the year is impassable because of the heavy snows, which begin to fall in October or November and completely cover the mountains and the road by May.”informs, in 1938, the Curentul newspaper.

In the following decades, the Transalpina gained its name as the King’s Road, and it was most often used by shepherds from the Sibiu region and by hunters. The Transalpina was completely asphalted only at the end of the 2000s, but the modernization works of the mountain road were not completed in some sections.