The Făgăraș Mountains, due to their alpine characteristics, were named by the French geographer Emmanuel de Martonne as the "Transylvanian Alps", a label that was then extended to the entire chain of the Southern Carpathians. Resembling the Tatra Mountains in general, they show similar alpine relief, including pyramidal peaks linked by narrow, jagged ridges and ridges.
The alpine relief of these mountains is carved on hard rocks of metamorphic origin. The main ridge, oriented west-east, reaches altitudes of over 2,000 m, including notable peaks such as Moldoveanu (2,544 m), Colții Vârtei (2,527 m), Gălășescu (2,470 m), Urlea (2,472 m), Izvorului (2,272 m), and other. This height allows the formation of mountain glaciation, with cirques and U-shaped valleys, as well as moraine deposition and rock grinding. Glacial lakes such as Podragu, Urlea and Bâlea were formed in these cirques.
With a length of 70 km, the ridge of the Făgăraș Mountains exceeds the ridge of the Tatra Mountains by 20 km. The ridge maintains an altitude of over 2000 m along almost its entire length, offering those who traverse it (on a marked path along it) the opportunity to climb 6 peaks over 2500 m and about 30 peaks over 2400 m.
The lower slopes are covered with extensive deciduous and coniferous forests, which reach altitudes of 1600-1800 m, representing the main economic source of these mountains.
The massif, covered by extensive forests that go down the slopes to an altitude of 1700 meters, is distinguished by the diversity of the landscape, with meadows and meadows, including the famous daffodils from Dumbrava Vadului. Here we find a rich variety of floral and faunal species. Along the coasts are found trees such as fir, spruce, larch, pine, yew, juniper, hemlock, while gentians, campanulas, mountain carnation, emery, white ivy and dogwood cover these territories. Animals such as wild boar, lynx, deer, Carpathian bear and black goat roam the forests and ridges, and in the heights the grouse and the eagle can be seen. In the clear waters of the streams and lakes, there is sometimes trout activity.
One of the defining aspects of this massif is represented by the numerous glacial cirques and alpine lakes, also called lakes, with a special charm. There are more than 70 glacial lakes here.
In our country, mountain tourism began to be organized since 1880, before other European countries with a tradition in this field (French Turing Club 1890, Italian Turing Club 1894, German Turing Club 1895, Swiss Turing Club 1896). During that period, the first shelter houses, paths and access roads were built, and the first tourist cabin in the Făgărașului Mountains, in Negoiu, was built in 1881.
On the ridges of M. Făgăraș, M. Lotrului and M. Cindrelului, in the alpine area, lives the black goat (Rupicabra rupicapra) and small birds such as the mountain finch, the blackbird, the collared blackbird, the stone thrush, the mountain lark
Among the impressive animals that live in this area is the black goat. No other animal dares to venture to the heights of the rocky peaks it possesses.
With extraordinary agility and sureness in movements, the black goat reacts to the slightest noise, and the once large and vigorous population has been gradually reduced due to the abuses of hunters. The adopted conservation measures were aimed at saving and restoring the national herd.
The black goat from the Romanian Carpathians surpasses all regional breeds in the world in size and horn size. At the Hunting Exhibition in Leipzig (1930), the longest horns belonged to a goat shot in Romania. In 1957, at the International Exhibition in Berlin, where Romania presented only pieces harvested after 1920, the black goats from the Romanian Carpathians won 96 prizes. In the hall of honor of the exhibition, dedicated to pieces of exceptional value, Romania obtained 42 awards, including 11 for black goats. It was a world record that our Carpathian black goats can easily repeat.
"The Helvetians, millennial archers of the Romans, keep in the silence of the mountain between the lakes, the old inhabitant and companion of the height and avoid meeting him. The goat comes rushing from behind or from the front, right into the man, unexpectedly. he pokes his forehead with his club and throws him into the void, as with a single punch the boxing master. As the trultons did not eat him, the amateur of such hunting, who rattled the secret nymphs with the trigger and faced them, was able to return home in a coffin. He could learn something from the mountain and in another, probably future life, he will be more informed" (T. Arghezi, "Black Goat").
The forests are populated by bears, deer, roe deer, lynxes, tree martens, grouse, black grouse, wood larks, etc.
Source: Tourist itinerary Brașov - Sibiu - Alba Iulia (Ministry of Tourism, 1982)
