Predeal (; hu, Predeál) is a town in

Brașov County Brașov County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in Transylvania. Its capital city is Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" (''țări'') Burzenland and Făgăraș. Name In Hungarian, it is known ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Predeal, a

mountain resort A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in an elevated and typically at least relatively isolated area. The term resort implies integral hotel or inn accommodations, restaurants, and either or both sports facilities or scen ...

town, is the highest town in Romania. It is located in the

Prahova Valley Prahova Valley (Romanian: ''Valea Prahovei'') is the valley where the Prahova river makes its way between the Bucegi and the Baiu Mountains, in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. It is a tourist region, situated about north of the capital cit ...

at an elevation of over . The town administers three villages: Pârâul Rece, Timișu de Jos and Timișu de Sus. Predeal is twinned with

Macugnaga Macugnaga ( Walser German: ''Z'Makana'') is a mountain village and a comune at elevation, in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the north of the Piedmont region of Italy. It is located at the base of Monte Rosa (), the second-tallest moun ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Beginning in the 2000s, the area experienced a boom in construction, and now many wealthy families own mountain retreats in Predeal. During the

2013 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival The 2013 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival was an international multi-sport event held between 17 and 22 February 2013, in Braşov, Romania, with some of the events also held in Râșnov, Predeal and Fundata. It was the 11th edition of the ...

, it hosted the

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

competitions.

Name

The name Predeal is derived from the Slavic word '' predel'', which means "border".

History

The town was severely damaged during the

Battle of Predeal Pass The Battle of Predeal Pass ( hu, Tömösi-szorosi csata) was a military engagement during the Romanian Campaign of World War I. It consisted in an attempt by the Central Powers (German Empire, Germany and Austria-Hungary) to cross the mountains ...

in World War I. Although the town itself was lost to the attacking Central Powers' forces, the battle ultimately resulted in a Romanian defensive victory.

Geography

Predeal is situated in the Centru development region of Romania, in the Prahova Valley, in the southern part of Brașov County. Neighboring towns include

Azuga Azuga is a small resort town in the mountains of Prahova County in the historical region of Muntenia, Romania. It is located at the foot of the Baiu Mountains and contains several ski slopes, including the longest ski run in Romania, the Soric ...

to the south,

Bușteni Bușteni () is a small mountain town in the north of Prahova County, Muntenia, Romania. It is located in the Prahova Valley, at the bottom of the Bucegi Mountains, that have a maximum altitude of . Its name literally means tree-logs in Romanian. ...

to the southwest,

Râșnov Râșnov (; german: Rosenau; hu, Barcarozsnyó; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Ruusenåå''; Latin: ''Rosnovia'') is a town in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 15,022. It is located at about from the city of Brașov ...

to the northwest and

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

to the north. The town is mountainous, with the

Piatra Mare mountains {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) The Piatra Mare Mountains (Hungarian: ''Nagykőhavas'', German: ''Hohensteingebirge'') is a small mountain range in Brașov County, southeast of Brașov, Romania, and also close to the resort ...

to the north, the

Bucegi The Bucegi Mountains (Romanian: ''Munții Bucegi'' ) are located in central Romania, south of the city of Brașov. They are part of the Southern Carpathians group of the Carpathian Mountains. At , '' Omu'' is its highest point. To the east, the ...

mountains to the southwest and the

Postăvarul Massif The Postăvarul massif ( Transylvanian German ''Schuler'' and ''Schulerberg'') is a massif in Romania; it is part of the Romanian Carpathians, which in turn are part of the Carpathian Mountains range. The altitude of the highest peak, also name ...

to the northwest. The woods around Predeal have a rich and diversified

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

, including a high number of

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

European pine marten The European pine marten (''Martes martes''), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and parts of Iran, Iraq and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List ...

s, bears, foxes,

gray wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

s, rabbits,

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united b ...

s and heather cocks.

Climate

Predeal has a warm-summer and cold în winter (with a lot of snow)

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Dfb'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

Tourism

The town of Predeal is a well-known

tourist destination A tourist attraction is a place of interest that Tourism, tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of ...

in Romania, especially in winter. Predeal has five major

ski runs A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French

, each with a difficulty grade. Most of them have

snowmaking Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun", also known as a "snow cannon". Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliabilit ...

guns, and some are fitted with floodlights and ski lifts. The slopes range from (Clăbucet variantă) to (Cocoșul). Some of the town's tourist attractions include the 3 Brazi Chalet, The Susai Chalet and The Poiana Secuilor Chalet. In close proximity to Predeal are several tourist destinations, including the Peleş Castle,

Râșnov Citadel Râșnov (; german: Rosenau; hu, Barcarozsnyó; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Ruusenåå''; Latin: ''Rosnovia'') is a town in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 15,022. It is located at about from the city of Brașov a ...

Bran Castle Bran Castle ( ro, Castelul Bran; german: Schloss Bran; hu, Törcsvári kastély) is a castle in Bran, southwest of Brașov. It is a national monument and landmark in Transylvania. The fortress is on the Transylvanian side of the historical b ...

, The Old Town of Brașov,

Biserica Neagră The Black Church, Biserica Neagră in Romanian (german: Schwarze Kirche, hu, Fekete templom), stands in the city of Brașov in south-eastern Transylvania, Romania. It was built by the Saxon (German) community of the city and represents the mai ...

and the

Seven Ladders Canyon The Seven Ladders Canyon ( ro, Canionul Șapte Scări) is a mountainous canyon carved by the Șapte Scări Brook in Romania in the county of Brașov, south of Dâmbul Morii village. It is considered to be one of the main tourist attractions fro ...

. The town has been certified as a climate resort by government decree (H.G. 226/1992) due to the strongly

ionized Ionization, or Ionisation is the process by which an atom or a molecule acquires a negative or positive charge by gaining or losing electrons, often in conjunction with other chemical changes. The resulting electrically charged atom or molecule ...

air rich in

ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

and the low

atmospheric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...

. Because of this, Predeal is popular within the holistic healing community.

Infrastructure

The town is crossed by two national roads (DN73A and DN1) and one national railway ( Line 300, one of the main lines in Romania). Predeal is one of the cities which will be crossed by the future Bucharest – Brașov motorway.

Gallery

File:Manastirea Predeal Biserica.jpg, Predeal Monastery File:Predeal 2009.jpg, Street in Predeal File:RO BV Predeal train station.jpg, Predeal railway station File:Peisaj Timisul de Jos.jpg, Timișu de Jos village

Notes

References

Strategia de dezvoltare a orașului Predeal

External links

Town map

Pictures and landscapes from the Carpathian Mountains

{{Authority control Populated places in Brașov County Localities in Transylvania Towns in Romania Prahova Valley Ski areas and resorts in Romania Place names of Slavic origin in Romania