Cetatea Colț – Jule Verne’s “Castle of Carpathian”
2018/04/09
It was early spring, the first fresh leaves just started to cover the forest with fresh green tiny dots. We aimed for a short walk in the nature combined with culture – Cetatea Colt seemed a promising target .
Coming from Sibiu, exit the highway at Simeria towards DN66/E79 and drive south. In Hateg turn right and take DN68
In Cârneşti turn left, take road DJ685. After passing Ostrov, turn left and cross the huge Ostrov dam.
After passing the dam, turn right. In Rau de Mori turn left on Road DJ686 and follow the road until Suseni village.
Cetatea Colt is located on a rock above Suseni village overseeing the valley. Part the car on the parking place left side of the road and follow the hiking trail. From the main trail several shortcuts split toward right side. We took the first shortcut and after about 30-40 minutes reached the Cetatea ruins. The access to the fortress is only possible from east side.
The fortress was build in the 14th century, starting with a donjon, up until second half of 17th century.
From the ruins on the one side we see the valley and snow covered mountain, on the other side the valley opens to the wide, flat foreland. This castle became famous after Jule Verne got inspired based his novel “Castle of Carpathian” on this location.
Spending some time in the ruins enjoying the view and scenary, it took us about 2 hours in total – walking slow.
On the other side of the valley, you can visit Biserica Colti church, the Colt – Suseni Monastery. Recommended to drive the road for 3-5 min upstream, you will find a spring with refresh with cool mountain and on the way back have a nice view on Cetatea Colt.
From Simeria we drove 62 km to Deva.