Surduc Pass

The Surduc Pass (in Romanian: ''Defileul Jiului'' or ''Pasul Surduc'', in Hungarian ''Szurdok-szoros'') is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

in the

Gorj Gorj County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Oltenia, with its capital city at Târgu Jiu. ''Gorj'' comes from the Slavic ''Gor(no)-'' Jiu (“upper Jiu”), in contrast with Dolj (“lower Jiu”). Demographics In 2011, the county had a ...

and

Hunedoara Hunedoara (; german: Eisenmarkt; hu, Vajdahunyad ) is a municipiu, city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in southwestern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and administers five villages: Boș (''Bós''), Groș ...

counties of Southwestern Romania, connecting the Petroșani Depression with

Oltenia Oltenia (, also called Lesser Wallachia in antiquated versions, with the alternative Latin names ''Wallachia Minor'', ''Wallachia Alutana'', ''Wallachia Caesarea'' between 1718 and 1739) is a historical province and geographical region of Romania ...

. In Surduc Pass, the

Jiu River The Jiu (; hu, Zsil ; german: Schil or Schiel; la, Rabon) is a river in southern Romania. It is formed near Petroșani by the confluence of headwaters Jiul de Vest and Jiul de Est. It flows southward through the Romanian counties Hunedoara, Go ...

divides two mountain ranges that belong to the

Southern Carpathians The Southern Carpathians (also known as the Transylvanian Alps; ro, Carpații Meridionali ; hu, Déli-Kárpátok) are a group of mountain ranges located in southern Romania. They cover the part of the Carpathian Mountains located between the P ...

: the

Vâlcan Mountains The Vâlcan Mountains are a chain of mountains in the Southern Carpathians in Gorj County, Romania. They are part of the Retezat-Godeanu Mountains group. They run for approximately and the highest peak is the Vâlcan Peak at . The mountains run th ...

to the west and the

Parâng Mountains The Parâng Mountains (; hu, Páring-hegység) are one of the highest mountain ridges in Romania and Southern Carpathians, with the highest peak, Parângu Mare, reaching 2,519 m. Description The Parâng Mountains are located in the south-western ...

to the east. In 1947, a road (

national road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the Federal Government of the United States, federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Pot ...

, part of the E-road E79) and a railway line were opened that connect

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 ...

with

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

(the two other passes in region are in the

Timiș-Cerna Gap Timiș-Cerna Gap () is a mountain pass in South-Western Romania, mostly in Caraș-Severin County, dividing the Southern Carpathians and the Banat mountain ranges, both part of the Carpathians. The pass follows the paths of the rivers Timiș (wh ...

and the

Turnu Roșu Pass Turnu Roșu Pass ( ro, Pasul Turnu Roșu, hu, Vöröstoronyi-szoros, german: Roter-Turm-Pass, tr, Kızılkule Geçidi, all of these names meaning ''Red Tower Pass'' in the respective languages) is a mountain pass in the Romanian Carpathians, c ...

). In August 2005, a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

with an area of was created in this pass. The Romanian name of the pass derives from the Hungarian word "szurdok", which means "defile" or "canyon". Mountain passes of Romania Mountain passes of the Carpathians {{Hunedoara-geo-stub