Muntenia or "Wallachia" as it was known for centuries, is Romania's
heartland, the "Ţara Romānească", and home to the seat of
government since the 1300s.
Romania's capital city, Bucharest, is situated in the Muntenia
Region, with other important cities including nearby
Piteşti,
Tārgovişte
and Ploieşti,
as well as Brăila
and Buzău to the
north-east.
The Best of Everything in Muntenia
Muntenia is in the enviable position of having the largest city with
all the great sites and attractions a national capital can offer, with
nearby mountains for hiking
and skiing, and some
wonders in the old capital cities of
Curtea de Argeş
and Cāmpulung Muscel.
Whilst indeed the far reaches of Romania in the mountains beyond
Muntenia do have their attractions, Muntenia is lucky with a little bit
of everything. "Pelişor", Romania's most
fabulous Royal residence, is at
Sinaia with all the
turrets and wonderfully Romanian architecture a camera can absorb!
The church at
Curtea de Argeşis
arguably the finest example of its kind, and the marvellous produce of
the fertile plains, from plums to grapes, tomatoes to sour cherries,
keep Romanian cuisine
fresh and zesty.
Might Rivers from Mighty Mountains
The lofty Carpathian Mountains yield their many rivers to
the wide Wallachian plain in Muntenia, before emptying into the mighty
Danube River to the south and east, including the the Olt River to the west.
Across the Danube is Bulgaria, and across the Olt is the Oltenia Region
("Lesser Wallachia" historically).
Do Not Look for Beaches!
Even though the youth of Bucharest sometimes take the
20km trek south-west of Bucharest to laze on the smooth mud-flat banks
of the Argeş river, and a few residents of
Brăila can indeed be seen on the banks of the
Danube, Muntenia is better known for it's name-sake feature: the
Mountains!
The Prahova
River valley just over an hour north of
Bucharest is a
natural wonderland, a fertile valley that slowly closes in to form a
wide gorge between Europe's largest cliff system to the west and more
mountains to the east.
Muntenia is both bread-basket and commercial centre for
the nation, with all rail and road lines leading to mighty Bucharest,
which rivals America's fourth largest city of Houston in size.
Some people contentedly live their whole lives within Muntenia, with
perhaps only a short trip up to
Braşovor over to Mamaia
outside of the region.
Mountains to the Rivers
Many miss the fact that Muntenia has the most Danube river frontage
of any of the Regions, with five counties bordering on the Danube, and
almost all counties bordering on or containing major rivers.
Perched eerily in it's aerie atop a strategic
crest, it was built by the "real" Dracula, Vlad
Ţepeş using forced Turk labour. The views from the
battlements are stunning.
The Arcul de Triumf in Little Paris
The crown of King Carol II just visible above
this side portico to the great monument
Muntenia Highlights
Bucharest: The City of Joy
Look at any map of Muntenia,
and you'll see one BIG city sitting in the middle of the wide
Wallachian plains: Bucharest! The name Bucur means "Joy",
the mythical shepherd who founded Bucharest.
Called "Paris of the East" during it's Golden Age between the world
wars, Bucharest today retains it's gems of architecture and spirit,
as big as Houston and with the third largest transportation network
in Europe.
The Old Capital City
Curtea de Argeş had the notable advantage of being nestled in
the Carpathian foothills on the route through the pass to Transilvania.
This was important in the days that Vlad Ţepeş
(the closest historical figure to the "Dracula" legend) had his
fortifications there, ready to defend against the ambitious Turks.
The town is on the railway
and on the road
from Piteşti to the Turnu Roşu Pass to the north, making
Curtea de Argeş the de facto gateway to
the beautiful Făgăraş mountains to the north. Holding treasures like the
real Dracula
castle at Poienari, the deep emerald waters of Lake Vidraru and it's
dam, and of course, perched high atop the mountains, Bālea
Lake, frozen through the summer months at over 2000 metres high!
The Royal Castle
Whilst Romanian Royalty today has a more reserved role than in days
past, the splendour of the past and present combine at
Peliş castle, and the nearby Pelişor castle.
Sinaia is the first
major resort town going north from
Bucharest, and leads
a procession of towns leading up the beautiful
Prahova Valley, which
culminates in a pass going over into
Transilvania.
Skiing is the big industry in this area, and the chalets and little
guesthouses are countless.
Ski Heaven
We like to mention one major fact about Romania fairly often:
It's Cheap! And this applies to some world-class slopes in
the mountains of the Muntenia region north of Bucharest too!
Buşteni is one of
the best-known names for Romanians heading for the slope, as it has a
range of grades and is the closest "proper" ski resort to the capital
city. You can go further up to Azuga, and even over into
Transilvania to
Predeal and
Poiana Braşov, but
for most, Buşteniand Sinaia
offer plenty and with wider range and capacity too.
The River Country
Try not to believe that you understand Muntenia until you spend a
few glorious lazy spring days down by the Danube River! If
you think the Mississippi has it's charms, wait until you find the right
fishing spot along Europe's longest river, most of which is in Romania.
The river port towns along the Danube in the Muntenia Region service
cargo and passenger boats, including a handful of "luxury" excursion and
tour boats which ply the route between Vienna and
Bucharest, much as
the Orient Express did on rail years ago. Australian and
American newspapers alike are full of tours which stop at
Giurgiu, the port town
for Bucharest and the mountains beyond.
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The parts of the counties
Vālcea and
Olt which are to the
east of the River Olt are technically considered part of Muntenia, but
for simplicity's sake, we have included all of those counties within the
Oltenia Region to the
west. Vrancea
also has a southern part which is geographically considered more
Muntenia than Moldova (the historical border between Wallachia and
Moldova was formed by the Sireţ and Milcov
rivers) but it's a very minor distinction to the English-speaking
traveller.
This website is a
general tourist guide, designed to help English-speaking tourists
understand Romania, and as such, provides historical
information for the interest of our traveller readers. History
can be a contentious issue, and we welcome input where readers think
clarification or correction is advisable. Please
e-mail us here
if you have questions or comments about anything in this history
section.
Muntenia
is the recent invention for naming this region, and for centuries it was
simply known as "Greater Wallachia", part of Wallachia in general
(including Oltenia), the land of the Wallach (also variously Vlach,
Valach) people.
The history of Muntenia is very much the history of that Wallahia of
old, until it was united with Moldova in 1862 to start the first wholly
Romanian nation. What is today's Muntenia Region was independant
to some extent in the 1200s and 1300s, but accepted the suzerainty of
the Ottoman Empire in the early 1400s, lasting until around 1850, albeit
with brief periods of Russian occupation between 1768 and 1854.
Unlike the principalities to the west, including the Banat and
Oltenia, the Muntenia Region was never part of the Habsburg Empire.
The Muntenia region was reunited with Oltenia in 1739 after the
Russian-Austrian-Turkish war to resume Greater Wallachia. Then in
1862, Wallachia united with Moldavia to form the state of Romania.
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Muntenia
is the recent invention for naming this region, and for centuries it was
simply known as "Greater Wallachia", part of Wallachia in general
(including Oltenia), the land of the Wallach (also variously Vlach,
Valach) people. 
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