The Bucegi Mountains
The Bucegi Mountains (Romanian

Romanian language

Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...

: Munţii Bucegi ˈmunt͡sij buˈt͡ʃed͡ʒʲ, Hungarian

Hungarian language

Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

: Bucsecs-hegység) are located in central Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, south of the city Braşov

Brasov

Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....

. They are part of the Southern Carpathians

Southern Carpathians

The Southern Carpathians or the Transylvanian Alps are a group of mountain ranges which divide central and southern Romania, on one side, and Serbia, on the other side. They cover part of the Carpathian Mountains that is located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and Cerna Rivers...

 group of the Carpathian Mountains

Carpathian Mountains

The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...

.

To the east, the Bucegi Mountains have a very steep slope towards the popular tourist destination Prahova Valley

Prahova Valley

Prahova Valley 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 100 km north of the capital city of Bucharest.Geographically, the Prahova river separates the Eastern...

 (a.o. Buşteni

Busteni

Buşteni is a small mountain town in the north of the county Prahova, in the center of Romania. It is located in the Prahova Valley, at the bottom of the Bucegi mountains, that have a maximum altitude of 2505 m. Its name literally means tree-logs in Romanian. One village, Poiana Ţapului, is...

 and Sinaia

Sinaia

Sinaia is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. The town was named after Sinaia Monastery, around which it was built; the monastery in turn is named after the Biblical Mount Sinai...

). At a higher elevation is the Bucegi Plateau, where wind and rain have turned the rock

Rock (geology)

In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...

s into spectacular figures such as the Sphinx

Sphinx (Romania)

The Sphinx is a natural rock formation in the Bucegi Mountains in Romania. It is placed at an altitude of 2216 m, at a 10 minute walk from the Babele. The first photo of the Great Bucegi Sfinx was probably taken in about the year 1900. This photo was taken from a front position, not from a lateral...

 and Babele

Babele

Babele is a name for an area on the Bucegi Mountains plateau in Romania, within the Southern Carpathians.Babele is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country...

.

The Bucegi is believed to be the Dacia

Dacia

In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...

n holy mountain Kogainon, on which the mythical figure Zalmoxis

Zalmoxis

Zalmoxis , is a divinity of the Getae, mentioned by Herodotus in his Histories IV, 93-96...

 resided in a cave.

Ranges

The mountains are grouped in three ranges

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

:

• Bucegi Mountains (Omul Peak - 2505 meters)
• Leaota Mountains
  Leaota Mountains
  The Leaota Mountains are located in central Romania, north of the city Târgovişte. They are part of the Southern Carpathians group of the Carpathian Mountains, and have as neighbours the Bucegi Mountains to the east and Piatra Craiului to the west....
  
   (Leaota Peak - 2133 meters)
• Piatra Craiului Mountains
  Piatra Craiului Mountains
  The Piatra Craiului Mountains are a mountain range in the Southern Carpathians in Romania. In Romanian "Piatra Craiului" means "Rock of the King".The Piatra Craiului mountains form a narrow and saw-like ridge, which is about 25 km long...
  
   (Baciului Peak - 2238 meters)

The Bran Pass separates the Piatra Craiului and Leaota ranges; it was marked by border crossing

Border Crossing

Border Crossing may refer to:* Border Crossing , an album by saxophonist Mike Osborne.* Border Crossing , a UK hip hop collective musical group.* Border Crossing , a 2001 novel by English author Pat Barker....

s between Wallachia

Wallachia

Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...

 and Transylvania

Transylvania

Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

, and was defended by the Bran Castle

Bran Castle

Bran Castle , situated near Bran and in the immediate vicinity of Braşov, is a national monument and landmark in Romania. The fortress is situated on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia, on DN73...

.

External links

• Bucegi Mountains: Access way, Accommodation, Resorts (Sinaia and Busteni), Photo gallery, Webcam
• Pictures and landscapes from the Bucegi Mountains
• Website with information about the Carpathians Mountains
• Photo gallery of Bucegi Mountains Bucegi Weather Forecast
• Bucegi - Busteni Lodging and Accommodation
• Bucegi Natural Park
• Centrul de informare si promovare turistica Busteni - On line