Azuga is a small

resort town A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

in the mountains of

Prahova County Prahova County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/km². It is Romania's third mos ...

in the historical region of

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in R ...

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 ...

. It is located at the foot of the

Baiu Mountains The Baiu Mountains ( ro, Munții/Muntele Baiu/Baiul/Baiului/Munții Gârbova, hu, Baj-hegység) are mountains in central Romania, a few kilometers south of Brașov. Within traditional Romanian classification the Baiu Mountains belong to the ...

and contains several ski slopes, including the longest ski run in Romania, the Sorica. Once heavily industrialized, Azuga contains a bottled water factory, (a leftover from a notable beer factory that brewed Azuga Beer, now produced elsewhere in Romania under license), a sparkling wine factory,

wine tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...

, and lodging (Cramele Rhein, owned by

Halewood International Halewood Artisanal Spirits is a global distiller and distributor of artisanal spirits. Structure Halewood Artisanal Spirit's head office is in London and the company distills across the UK, at the following locations: London, Edinburgh, Sn ...

). The town offers a view over the

Bucegi Mountains 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 ...

, from street level to the top of the Sorica mountain, where a gondola arrival station is located. Azuga is one of the most famous mountain resorts of

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 ...

. Until the winter of 2002, Azuga was known as an industrial town. After that date, the town was turned into a resort to capitalize on the mountain landscape of the

. Shortly after, the Sorica slope was certified by the

International Ski Federation The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...

. Today, Azuga houses many hotels and hostels that provide accommodation for tourists. Accommodation in local homes can also be found for a lower price. Notable demolished buildings include the beer factory, the glassware factory and the wool cloth factory. The refractory materials factory, while still standing, is closed.

Natives

* Stelică Morcov * Gheorghe Voicu * Ion Zangor *

Simona Păucă Simona Păuca (born 19 September 1969) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast. She competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where she tied for gold with her teammate Ecaterina Szabo on balance beam with a difficult and innovative rou ...

* Alexandru Vagner

Climate

Azuga has a warm-summer

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 is an emerging ski resort, with extensive development in tourism infrastructure. Sorica is a ski slope with a length of over and a vertical drop of . The slope is recommended for both beginners and experienced skiers. There are also two slopes descending the Cazacu mountain, one is 1,920 meters long (with a drop of 530 m) and the other, more suitable for beginners, is 400 meters long, with a drop of 115 m. Slopes are equipped with ski lifts and a Leitner gondola lift, which goes to the top of Sorica slope, allowing skiers to choose between the two main slopes (access to Cazacu slope requires some tens of meters of ascending, possibly by a small ski lift). Because of the almost constant winds on the ridge during winter, the uppermost station is a few meters below the top. A higher station would have likely had icing issues, making morning startups difficult as sometimes the only alternative is the snow groomer - snowmobiles not being able to travel in fresh high snow. In the summer, Azuga is a hiking destination, being a starting point for trips to various mountain destinations in

Predeal Predeal (; hu, Predeál) is a town in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania. Predeal, a mountain resort town, is the highest town in Romania. It is located in the Prahova Valley at an elevation of over . The town administers three villages: ...

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. ...

, or

Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after t ...

. Unpaved

forest road Forest tracks or forest roads are roads or tracks intended to carry motorised vehicles or horse-drawn wagons being used mainly or exclusively for forestry purposes, such as conservation or logging. Forest tracks may be open to ramblers or mounta ...

s attract many bicycle enthusiasts, who can ride along the Azuga River, which is peppered with small wooden

artificial waterfall An artificial waterfall is a water feature or fountain which imitates a natural waterfall. Artificial waterfalls have long been featured in traditional Japanese gardens, where they can serve to highlight a scene or to provide focus. The classic ...

s that oxygenate the water for the many

Trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

s that naturally populate the river.

References

{{Prahova County Towns in Romania Prahova Valley Populated places in Prahova County Ski areas and resorts in Romania Localities in Muntenia