Mountains Măcin
The oldest mountains of Romania, 300 million years of resistance.
Back to the Dobruja pageAbout
Mountains Măcin, in full
The Măcin mountains are the oldest mountains in Romania and among the oldest in Europe. They arose in the Hercynian orogeny, more than 300 million years ago, when today's continents had not even separated, and dinosaurs had not yet appeared on Earth.
Weather has dulled them from alpine heights to the stature of bare granite hills: Țuțuiatu, the highest peak, is only 467 meters. But therein lies their lesson. They did not stand because they were the tallest, but because they were made of hard stuff. Endurance without show.
Since 2000, the massif has been protected as a National Park: a unique mosaic of steppe, sub-Mediterranean forests and granite cliffs, where live the Dobrogean turtle, the Dobrogean dragon (the largest lizard in Romania) and over 180 species of birds. At their foot, the city Măcin preserves the memory of the Roman fort Arrubium.
Timeline
Mountains Măcin through time
From the making of the landscape to today, a timeline.
Hercynian orogeny
The collision of tectonic plates raised a dry mountain range while the continents were still forming Pangea.
The great erosion
Wind, water and frost grind mountains from alpine heights to today's granite hills.
Arrubium
The Romans built the Arrubium cavalry camp at the foot of the mountains, on the Danube limes.
National Park
The Măcin mountains become a national park: 11,000 hectares of protected steppe, forests and granite.
The mountain-lesson
Hiking trails among 300 million year old rocks. Resistance without show remains our working model.
To see
Landmarks of the region
Peak Țuțuiatu (467 m)
The highest point of Dobrogea, with a panorama over the Danube and the steppe.
The route to Țuțuiatu climbs from Greci through orchards and cliffs, to the top from which you can see all Dobrogea of the north: the Danube with the Braila marshes, the steppe and, on clear days, even the Buzău mountains across the river.
The peak was part of an alpine-sized mountain range.
The highest point of Dobrogea, accessible in 2-3 hours of climbing.
Crest Pricopanului
Hollow granite ridge with spectacular shapes, like the Sphinx Dobrogean.
The bare ridge above Măcin is a gallery of natural sculptures: the Sphinx Dobrogean, Cocoș, rocks rounded by the wind for hundreds of millions of years. The ridge route is short, but spectacular, with the Danube always on the horizon.
Wind and frost carve the granite into strange shapes.
The most photographed route in the north Dobrogea.
Dragon dobrogean
The largest lizard in Romania, relict of the steppe fauna, lives among the rocks.
The Dobrogean dragon can exceed 40 cm and is completely harmless, despite the name. A relict of the steppes of yore, it lives only in a few places in Dobrogea, and the rockeries of Măcin are its favorite refuge.
Strictly protected species, symbol of the national park.
Monastery Cocoș
Monastery from the 19th century at the foot of the mountains, a place of peace among the forests.
Founded in 1833 by Transylvanian monks returning from Athos, the Cocoș monastery houses the relics of the martyrs of Niculițel, discovered in 1971 in a paleo-Christian crypt from the 4th century, among the oldest Christian testimonies on the territory of Romania.
The monastery is founded at the foot of the mountains.
At Niculițel the crypt of the martyrs from the IV.
Place of pilgrimage and tranquility among the northern Dobrogea woods.
Map
Landmarks on the map
Pins open a short preview. Details are on the place sheet.
Toamna e bună de urcuș, fără arșița de august. Sezon de Măcin: aprilie–iunie și septembrie–octombrie
Explore the region
Further through Dobruja
Sub-regions of Mountains Măcin
Macro-areas
Software rooted in these places
From the region of Mountains Măcin we build four free apps: iShopSync, Gym, iMemory and Daunomania.
See our apps