Poiana Stampei () is a commune located in

Suceava County Suceava County () is a county (') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper. The county seat and the ...

, in the

historical region History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

, northeastern

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It is composed of seven villages: Căsoi, Dornișoara, Pilugani, Poiana Stampei, Prăleni, Tătaru, and Teșna. The commune is situated in the

Bukovinian Subcarpathians Bukovinian Subcarpathians (, ''Obcinele Bucovinei'') is a geographic area in the NNE of Romania (Suceava County) and SWW of Ukraine (Chernivtsi Oblast), situated to the east and north-east of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains. It is a subunit of t ...

, at an altitude of , on the banks of the river Dorna and its left tributary, the

Dornișoara The Dornișoara is a left tributary of the river Dorna in Romania. It flows into the Dorna in Poiana Stampei Poiana Stampei () is a Communes of Romania, commune located in Suceava County, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region ...

. It is located at the southeastern extremity of Suceava County, on the old border between

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

and

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, on the southern ridges of the historical region of

. The city of

Vatra Dornei Vatra Dornei (; ; ; ) is a city in Suceava County, north-eastern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Bukovina. Vatra Dornei is the fifth largest urban settlement in the county, with a population of 12,578 inhabitants, according to ...

is to the east, while the county seat,

Suceava Suceava () is a Municipiu, city in northeastern Romania. The seat of Suceava County, it is situated in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Bukovina and Western Moldavia, Moldavia, northeastern Romania. It is the largest urban ...

, is to the northeast. Poiana Stampei is crossed east to west by

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. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

(part of

European route E58 European route E 58 is a road part of the International E-road network. It begins in Vienna, Austria, and passing through Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania and Moldova, ends in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. It is approximately long. Since 2014, a pa ...

), which starts in Suceava, crosses the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

at the nearby

Tihuța Pass Tihuța Pass (, also called ''Pasul Bârgău''; or ''Burgó'') is a high mountain pass in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains of Romania, between the Bârgău Mountains to the north and the Călimani Mountains to the south. The -high pass connect ...

into

Harghita County Harghita County (, and , ) is a county () in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a population density of ...

, and ends in Dej,

Cluj County Cluj County () is a county () of Romania, in Transylvania. Its seat is Cluj-Napoca. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian it is known as ''Kolozs megye''. Under the Kingdom of Hungary, a county with an identical name (Kolozs County, ) existed s ...

. In addition, the commune is part of the

Via Transilvanica Via Transilvanica 'The Transylvanian Trail' is a hiking trail that crosses the Transylvania, Bukovina and Banat regions of Romania, and is meant to promote their cultural, ethnic, historical and natural diversity. It was built between 2018 and ...

long-distance trail A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

. Poiana Stampei was first mentioned in documents in 1593, during the reign of Moldavian Prince

Aaron the Tyrant Aaron the Tyrant () or Aron Vodă ("Aron the Voivode"; ), sometimes credited as Aron Emanoil or Emanuel Aaron (, , Maxim (1994), p. 23 or ''Zalim'';Kohen, p. 103 before 1560 – May 1597), was twice the Prince of Moldavia: between September 1591 an ...

. In the past, the commune was inhabited by a small

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

minority, more specifically by

Bukovina Germans The Bukovina Germans ( or ''Buchenlanddeutsche'', ), also known and referred to as Buchenland Germans, or Bukovinian Germans, are a German diaspora, German Ethnicity, ethnic group which settled in Bukovina, a historical region situated at the cro ...

. At the 1930 Romanian census, the Bukovina German minority of Poiana Stampei accounted for 4.15% of the total population of the commune.

References

Communes in Suceava County Localities in Southern Bukovina {{Suceava-geo-stub