Home > Terms > English, UK (UE) > Transfagarasan

Transfagarasan

The Transfăgărășan (that's the exact spelling) is the highest and most dramatic paved road from Romania. Built as a strategic military route by the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu between 1970 and 1974, this road connects the historic regions of Transylvania and Wallachia, and the cities of Sibiu and Pitesti. The Transfagarasan represents 90 km of twists and turns run North to South across the tallest sections of the Carpathian Mountains between the highest peaks of the mountain in this country.

On top of the mountains this road provides access to Balea Lake, a glacier lake which has been here for thousands of years and it also has an almost 1 km long tunnel straight through the mountain's top. The road was built at a high cost both financially and from a human standpoint with more than 6 million kilogrammes of explosive being used on the northern face and official records of 40 soldiers who lost their lives while building it. Unofficial records however mention that only the tunnel took about 400 lives.

The north end of the road is the most spectacular and it's dotted with steep hairpin turns, long S curves and sharp descents combined with an absolutely stunning view! Between October and June this road is under the snow and usually closed so… that means only a couple of months in the summer it's available to enjoy a pure driving pleasure. Top Gear also named this road as the best road in the world.

This is auto-generated content. You can help to improve it.
0
Collect to Blossary

Member comments

You have to log in to post to discussions.

Terms in the News

Featured Terms

Thuy Do
  • 0

    Terms

  • 0

    Blossaries

  • 0

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Zoology Category: Zoological terms

phylum placozoa

Macroscopic, flattened marine animals, composed of ventral and dorsal epithelial layers enclosing ...

Thuy Do
  • 0

    Terms

  • 0

    Blossaries

  • 0

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Zoology Category: Zoological terms

phylum cnidaria

Cnidarians. Hydras, hydroids, jellyfish, sea anemones, and corals. Free-swimming or sessile, with ...

qys1978
  • 0

    Terms

  • 1

    Blossaries

  • 0

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Accounting Category: Auditing

share a term with millions

Share a term with millions of users around the world and increase your online visibility.Share a ...

Bob
  • 0

    Terms

  • 1

    Blossaries

  • 5

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Plants Category: Trees

oak

Genus native to the Northern Hemisphere with spirally arranged leaves, catkins for flowers and ...

Bagar
  • 0

    Terms

  • 64

    Blossaries

  • 6

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Geography Category: Geography

Everest

The last but not least mount Everest. The Earth's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,848 metres ...

David Parkin
  • 0

    Terms

  • 1

    Blossaries

  • 36

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Plants Category: General plants

aglaonema

Genus of about 20 species of usually rhizomatous, evergreen perennials from tropical forest in Asia. ...

Aidan Teare
  • 0

    Terms

  • 0

    Blossaries

  • 6

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Science Category: General science

Robojelly

Robojelly is a hydrogen-powered robot desgined in the United States that moves through the water ...

  • 0

    Terms

  • 0

    Blossaries

  • 1

    Followers

Industry/Domain: People Category: Entrepreneurs

Ferdinand Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was an Austrian-German automotive engineer ...

  • 0

    Terms

  • 40

    Blossaries

  • 4

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Broadcasting & receiving Category: News

Marzieh Afkham

Marzieh Afkham, who is the country’s first foreign ministry spokeswoman, will head a mission in east ...

  • 0

    Terms

  • 0

    Blossaries

  • 1

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Accounting Category: Auditing

define1

Share a term with millions of users around the world and increase your online visibility.Share a ...