Facts or stories?
Many stories have been told about Focșani city as well as other locations scatered around the county.
How we use to say that every storie has a hidden truth, who knows if the story represents a fact or just a simple story?
Nistorești - a special place, full of energy. Whoever wants to reach the wonders found in Vrancea Country, must leave the roads full of cars and noise, to choose the modest and dusty paths, which are lost on the hills and in the forests.
"Nature is brother with the Romanian", once you arrive in this location, you will feel the clean mountain air and the tranquility that you hear less and less due to the daily agitation.
Nistoreşti commune is located in the western part of Vrancea county, at the contact of the Curvature Subcarpathians with the Vrancea Depression. The commune is located at a distance of 60 kilometers from Focșani and you do not need more than an hour to reach the destination, the road being very good. The area is full of tourist attractions. These include the "Valea Neagră" Monastery, the "Sfântul Nicolae" Wooden Church, the Mişina Waterfall, the Nărujei I and II Gorges, the Black Lake, unique in South-Eastern Europe, the "Verdele" Forest Nature Reserve and the "Pietrosu" Peak. The special picturesqueness of the area, the natural reservations and the mountain tourist routes make Nistoreşti an area with multiple tourist possibilities.
The "Valea Neagră" monastery is located on the road that connects the city of Focșani with Vidra, Tulnici, Târgu Secuiesc and Brașov. At kilometer 44 after Focșani, respectively at Valea Sării, turn left until Năruja, then continue the road through the villages of Podul Nărujei, Nistorești, Românești and Herăstrău. Herăstrău village is located 62 kilometers North-West of Focșani, and from here to the courtyard of Valea Neagră Monastery are about 3 kilometers. The road to the Monastery is good, and the landscapes are fairytale.
The nuns who live in the monastery claim that the name of the monastery "Valea Neagră" is given by the village of Valea Neagră, located north of the church. It is possible that both the village and the monastery took their name from the valley that borders the road from the monastery to the village. In 1757, the priest of Maftei from Spinești, together with two monks from the Poiana Mărului Monastery, decided to establish the settlement that was called, for a long time, in documents, "Schitul Vrancea". The locals know that Valea Neagră Monastery was abolished in 1960, the church passing to the parish in Herăstrau village, as a myrrh church. Only after 8 years, in 1968, Mother Petronia Ciornea returned here. The community continued to grow, and the abbess became Mother Petronia, who, due to her advanced age, resigned after 1993. The monastery church is dedicated to the "Assumption" and the "Descent of the Holy Spirit". The church is a wooden construction on a foundation of stone boulders connected with cement. It is shaped like a ship, without a tower. The interior space is divided into Altar, nave, narthex and closed porch.
The miraculous icon of the "Mother of God" is an attraction for believers. The locals say that the miracles performed by her have made and make this icon the object of the constant veneration of the people of Vrancea.
Also in the commune of Nistoreşti is the wooden Church "Saint Nicholas", built in the eighteenth century, a historical monument. The church has gone through three centuries of troubled existence. The turning points have not been avoided in recent years. The construction of a new wall church and the fact that it is no longer used for worship led, as in the case of many other wooden churches, to its degradation at an accelerated pace. Two other unfortunate events affected the small wooden church in Nistoreşti. The locals told us that during a storm, the secular oak in the immediate vicinity of the church broke into four pieces. The largest collapsed over the church, tearing down the tower, which was later rebuilt. People told us that some time ago, thieves broke into the church and stole, with only two exceptions, all the old, valuable icons painted on plum wood, which have not been recovered.
In the county of Vrancea, miracles do not like asphalt roads. Whoever wants to reach them must leave the roads full of cars and noise, to choose the modest and dusty paths, which are lost on the hills and in the forests. Along with the asphalt, the ugly lags behind. The villages are getting nicer, the houses getting simpler and more beautiful, the human occupations - getting older.
Mişina Waterfall, the pride of the locals. You can reach this point by taking the county road DJ 205D Valea Sării –Naruja, which separates from DN2D, continued with DC 78 to Valea Neagră. The forest road from the valleys of the Bălosu streams and further on, Mişina, leads to the protected area. This is a mixed nature reserve, and the water falls from about 12 meters. The protected area is dominated by Mişinei Peak and Înţărcătoarea Plain, located to the East and Făgetu Rotund Peak to the West. They are connected to the South on the Red Lake Peak, arranged on the East and West direction. From a floristic point of view, 122 plant species have been identified.
Also in the mountains that surround Nistoreşti commune are the Nărujei Gorges. They offer the opportunity for a foray into the geological history of the earth through sections in the rock on a vertical of up to 150 meters, as well as the struggle for survival carried out by some plants in the rocky cracks at high altitudes. At the end of this rocky area, the water that dug the gorge storms in a foamy waterfall with a level difference of about 5 meters.
O altă minunăţie a naturii este Lacul Negru. Pentru a ajunge aici, de la Herăstrău se continuă drumul forestier din lungul Văii Nărujei, până în zona bazinului „Izvoarele Narujei“. Din vecinătatea cabanelor forestiere se desprinde pe versantul stâng al Nărujei, traseul turistic marcat care conduce la Lacul Negru. Şi în continuare în Culmea Dealului Negru unde intersectează marcajul turistic „banda roşie“ ce urmăreşte Creasta Vrancei. Lacul este situat la o înălţime de 1.250 metri, are o suprafaţă de 1 hectar şi o adâncime maximă de 7,5 metri. Flora din acest loc a făcut ca Lacul Negru să fie unicat în Europa de Sud Est. Denumirea de Lacul Negru provine de la întunecimea molidiţurilor care-l înconjoară şi care se reflectă în apele limpezi ale lacului.
Another natural wonder is the Black Lake. To get here, from Herăstrău continue the forest road along the Nărujei Valley, to the area of the "Izvoarele Narujei" basin. From the vicinity of the forest huts, the marked tourist route that leads to the Black Lake detaches on the left slope of Năruja. And further on in the Black Hill Peak where the "red band" tourist marking that follows the Vrancea Ridge intersects. The lake is located at an altitude of 1,250 meters, has an area of 1 hectare and a maximum depth of 7.5 meters. The flora of this place made the Black Lake unique in Southeast Europe. The name Black Lake comes from the darkness of the spruces that surround it and is reflected in the clear waters of the lake.
Another special place is the "Verdele" Forest Nature Reserve. It is located in the upper course sector of the Zabala, in the confluence area with the Mişina Stream. Approximately 200 species of higher plateau plants with various phytogeographical origins have been identified in the grassy carpet. Of particular interest is the forest habitats specific to this floor, which house, in addition to the numerous species of flora and fauna, representative populations of large carnivores, respectively bear, wolf and lynx. The routes to all these places are marked and all are in Nistorești commune. If you get here, everyone can guide you to the sights in the commune. These are not the only wonders of the communce. Talking to people, always willing to talk, you can find out a lot of new things. They gladly tell you about how the rugs are made, but also about other traditions that they carry with holiness.
Tourists who want to spend a night in the mountains, have a place to stay. At Mişina there is a guesthouse where tourists can stay. Also in Mişina there is a hunting lodge with quite a lot of space. Also, lately the communities have built special spaces for tourists. It is about a cottage of the Nistoreşti Community built in the Bursucărie area and a cottage that belongs to the Vrâncioaia Community also built in the Mişina area. Here people do not have to pay. That's about hospitality.
The people are friendly and kind. Even if they have work to do, they stop from watering the cows or gathering garbage from the gates and telling you exactly which paths you need to take to get to the wonders of the place. They are also willing to accommodate tourists. "If someone comes and knocks on my door, I will not let that person on the road. You don't trust anyone much now, but people in good faith know each other. Here in the area there are not many places to sleep for those who come to see the village and its surroundings. People come, see and leave. If someone came, owners would receive him and do their best to make him feel good. We find food. A polenta with cheese, a piece of ham, because we old people keep it, we cut a chicken, we still have milk from cows. We manage, the person doesn't starve to death ", said a local.
Young people are more restrained. They say it's not good to receive strangers in the house.
"So far no one was able to send in the perfect solution, which is not strange. You have no way of knowing what kind of people they are and prefer not to risk it. Usually those who come are nearby and have time to come, see and then leave. "
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