RESERVE RUDI-ARIONEŞTI

This reserve includes three gorges: Rudi, Arionești and Tătărăuca. The Rudi gorge is 5 km long and 250 m deep. You can find Văgăuna Lupilor (the ravine of the Wolves), Văgăuna Vânturilor (the ravine of the Winds), Stânca Balaurului (the Dragon's Rock), Harpa Eoliană (the Harp of the Wind), Peştera Răposaţilor (the Cave of the Dead). Near Rudi Monastery there is a citadel of Thracian origin (possibly the ancient city of Maetorium), a citadel ghetto and a medieval site called the Turk's Plate.

The Cave of the Dead: the entrance is an angular fissure 80 centimeters wide. It is a cave formed in Sarmatian limestone. It is located behind the village church, under the cemetery. Before entering the forest, take a path on the left that leads to the church. It is 1 kilometre long and consists of six rooms, 12.50 metres deep.

The Turk's Plate: this earthen fortress is ring-shaped. On a promontory, the inner courtyard of the fortress is 50 metres in diameter, surrounded by an earthen bastion 6 metres to the north and 4 metres to the south, with a moat 2 metres deep and 12-14 metres wide. Traces of it are still visible. According to archaeologists, these were two towns called "Turkish Plate" and "Germanariu", present between the 10th and 12th centuries. The fortress was built around the 10th century. The inhabitants lived in huts, practising agriculture, animal husbandry and handicrafts (pottery, blacksmith's work, bone objects, etc.)