Săruleşti Lake

Săruleşti Lake is one of the most famous lakes in Romania, and one of the best carp fishing trail in the world. It is located 55 km from Bucharest, in Săruleşti-Sănduliţa village, Călăraşi County. The lake was created in 1980, by the communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu in an attempt to transform Bucharest in port by building the Dâmboviţa-Danube Canal . Three villages were flooded, after which the project was abandoned, but fishermen have benefited from the union of some famous fish farms. The lake covers an area of about 500 hectares, has a maximum depth of only 16m, with an average of 5-6m. The bottom of the lake varies from very muddy to very hard.

Image from here

The Săruleşti Lake is populated with carp, bream, cteno, zander, bass, perch, pike, catfish, roach and other secondary species, but it is a real heaven for carp fishermen, being named “Jurassic Carp” or “Big Fish Mecca”, frequently being captured specimens over 30 kg. In the World Top Ten carp catches, eight are from Săruleşti. Here is organized the Carp Fishing World Cup and were established several world records.



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Lăpuşna Castle

Lăpuşna is a village belonging to Ibăneşti commune, Mureş County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in Gurghiu Mountains, 45 km far for Reghin, in an area of outstanding beauty.

The story of the Lăpuşna Hunting Castle (or the Royal Hunting House) starts in 1923, when King Ferdinand I of Romania (1914-1927) had visited for the first time the area of Gurghiu Mountains. Charmed by the picturesque beauty of the landscapes, he decided to build in Lăpuşna a hunting lodge. The castle was built between 1925-1926.

The ensemble is composed of of 7 buildings with 35 rooms and a park of 4 hectares. It seems that the firs planted around the buildings form the contour of Romania. Not far is the wooden Lăpuşna Monastery (1779), brought here from Comori village by King Carol II, church that served as a place of worship for the Royal House. Once the relocation of the church, were brought here icons which proves the strong links between Moldavia and Transylvania during the 18th century.

The Hunting Castle was owned by the Royal House of Romania. King Ferdinand I, King Carol II (1930-1940) and King Michael I (1927-1930 and 1940-1947) often came here to hunt. It was nationalized in 1947, and was administrated by the commune of Ibăneşti.

Then, the castle became the favorite hunting place of the Ceauşescu family, the dictator bringing here numerous heads of state as Nikita Khrushchev, Todor Jivkov or Josip Broz Tito. Ceauşescu used the castle at least three times a year.

After the fall of Communism in 1990, the castle was used as a hunting base by Ion Ţiriac, Prince Dimitrie Sturdza, and many American and European hunters. Here were established several world records for trophies of Carpathian brown bear, black goat and deer. In total, there were obtained more than 300 gold medals for hunting trophies. Here is also a good place for trout fishing in Gurghiu River.

Images from here.