The "Mihail Sadoveanu" memorial house

The Şerbești Inn is a former tourist inn, built in the 17th-18th centuries in the village of Şerbești (today the village of Ștefan cel Mare in Neamț County). The Şerbești inn was included in the List of Historical Monuments in Neamț County in 2004. According to tradition, this place was built in the 17th century, during the reign of Vasile Lupu (1634-1653). By marrying Mrs. Tudosca, the daughter of the great nobleman Costea Bucioc, Vasile Lupu had become the owner of half of the village of Şerbești. In 1637 he built a church there.   The inn was built in the center of the village, halfway between Tupilați (where the Ancuței Inn is located) and Piatra Neamț, on the right side of the county road. It served as a stopping place for merchants' shacks and vagrants. The inn building had thick walls of unhewn stone and two monumental entrances with heavy, pointed gates. In order to protect the inn from the nocturnal attacks of robbers, the windows were reduced to the size of a simple rampart, and the gates were fenced from the inside with bars or beams.   During the First World War, the roof of the inn burned down, but it was rebuilt afterwards. The inn in Şerbești operated until the establishment of the communist regime and the nationalization of the properties. After the nationalization, the inn was transformed into a warehouse, it was later abandoned and left to ruin. In 1989, the authors of the monographic work "Traditions of Romanian Hospitality. Through the Inns of Iași" (Ed. Sport-Turism, Bucharest, 1989) found that the stone walls were kept intact, and the inn could be renovated without too much expense. Currently, the inn is in a process of restoration and enhancement, through a project of European funds.

Cantacuzino Manor in Şerbești is a manor house, built in the middle of the 17th century by the treasurer Iordache Cantacuzino, in the village of Şerbești (today the village of Ștefan cel Mare in Neamț County). It underwent additions in the 19th century. The mansion is located in the immediate vicinity of the "St. Gheorghe" church, towards the southeast. The Iordache Cantacuzino House, today a school, was included on the List of Historical Monuments in Neamț County in 2004, having LMI code NT-II-m-B-10704. Currently, the Cantacuzino Manor in Şerbești houses an educational unit for children with physical disabilities and is adjacent to the village School of Arts and Crafts.

The "St. Gheorghe" church in Ștefan cel Mare is an Orthodox church, founded in 1636 by the ruler Vasile Lupu, in the village of Şerbești (today the village of Ștefan cel Mare in Neamț county). It underwent changes in 1922. The place of worship stands on a plateau dominating the eastern part of the village, surrounded by a comprehensive enclosure, surrounded by strong stone walls. The church was included on the List of Historical Monuments in Neamț County in 2004. Along time, the Church of "St. George" in Ștefan cel Mare benefited from donations of cult objects or other odors from the owners of the estate, mainly the Cantacuzine boyars. Among the precious scents that are in the parish's heritage, the following should be mentioned: "a gold-polished silver chalice, engraved with the following inscription: "Io Cantacuzino vel Spătar, leat 1767" In the churchyard, near the southern wall of the place of worship, there are two old tombs, with funerary monuments of remarkable artistic value above them. One of the graves is that of Prince Alexandru Ilie Cantacuzino, who died in Karlsbad (today the city of Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic) in 1859 and was reburied in Şerbești ten years later, by his wife, Princess Elena Cantacuzino. And the second tomb has above it an obelisk with an iron cross on top; an almost illegible inscription is engraved on the plinth and above it, the double-headed eagle (the coat of arms of the Cantacuzino family), carved in high relief.

What is known today as the Nechit Monastery was, at the beginning, a place of retreat for monks who wanted to perfect their union with Christ. As the name suggests, the first inhabitant of these lands was Nichita the Hermit. He was followed by a host of other hermits whose names inspired the entire toponymy of the place: Samson's stream, Jacob's river, the springs of Saint Chiriac. Almost 800 years later, God's providence fulfills with the old Zenovie Ghidescu the prophecy of his great-grandmother: "If something happens to you, go to the foundation of our nation, to Nechit." And so we get a little closer to the way the monastery looks today...

Nicolae Popa (1919-2010) was a folk craftsman and poet, recognized for his efforts to build a small folk museum in the yard of his house in Târpești (Neamț), recognized today throughout the world for his unique creations. His collections, open to the public since 1977 include: archaeological objects, numismatics, ethnography, religious objects, icons, naïve painting, but also creations of Neculai and Elena Popa: masks, costumes for winter performances, wood and stone carvings.  "Since my youth, I have liked the traditions and customs of my ancestors. That's why I made the museum. I realized that only by preserving tradition can we prove that we existed as a people. I regret that young people are ashamed of our traditional costume. A more beautiful folk costume than in Romania does not exist anywhere in the world. Young people have begun to embrace what comes from abroad. Instead, foreigners appreciate what we have here more than we do", said the craftsman Neculai Popa. The unique exhibits can be viewed in the 12 rooms allocated the museum and in the beautiful courtyard with sculptures of the Popa family. The first museum - it functioned from 1964 to 1977 in the old service building of the village teacher, which N. Popa repaired it and remodeled it to be able to house his collection of objects The House of Masks - This building was built by Vasile and Elena Popa in the second part of the 19th century and is composed of four rooms: entrance hall, centrally located, two rooms located on one side and the other of the hallway and a fourth room (which served as a warehouse, later enlarged), located in the back of the building. Currently, the building houses most of Neculai and Elena Popa's creations (masks and costumes for Christmas and New Year performances, naive wood and stone sculptures, made over the years) and a collection of vests embroidered with traditional decorative motifs, from the Neamț area .   House of collections - With the entry of the Târpeşti museum into the tourist circuit, at the beginning of the seventies, Neculai Popa realized that there was a need for the construction of a building dedicated to the collections of this museum, especially since the number of collected objects had greatly increased . And because it was a new construction, he thought that it should be placed in the courtyard of his home, the place where he carried out his creative activity and where he had already begun to think about the creation of a complex of sculptures for the exterior (the gate and the courtyard with sculptures). The collection house was started in 1974, and three years later, in 1977, it will be opened to the public. The building houses most of the collections of the Popa Museum: > archaeology, > numismatics, > ethnography, > religious objects, > naive painting. Sculpture courtyard - The museum courtyard has been decorated since the beginning of the 70s with the wood and stone creations of Neculai Popa, works whose dimensions vary between 1 and 2.5 m. Access to this ensemble of sculptures is through a monumental gate, carved in oak wood, a kind of "family tree", which includes about 23 human figures. Foto Video & Info Credit: www.muzeulpopa.ro

In Neamț County, in the Șugaului-Munticelu Gorges, there is the Via Ferrata "Astragalus", with the longest Via Ferrata route in the country. By climbing rocks, you enjoy both nature and adventure without being a professional mountaineer. The ascent is done safely, with 5 routes available with varying degrees of difficulty. The easy trails are also accessible to children over 8 years of age. Via Ferrata Astragalus is a Romanian Mountain Club project, led by Constantin Lăcătușu, the first Romanian atop Mount Everest. This project is powered by HeidelbergCement. 

During more than 150 years since the establishment of the monarchy in Romania, Neamţ county has been host to members of the royal family on numerous occasions, the first "royal" visit to Neamţ taking place only a few months after the arrival of Prince Carol I in the country, in August 1866. In a less pleasant context, Charles II arrived on the German throne. In 1918, while he was in Târgu Neamţ in command of the Mountain Hunter Regiment, Prince Carol II fled to Odessa to secretly marry Zizi Lambrino. Because he deserted, he was arrested for 75 days at the Horaița Monastery, an isolated and difficult place to access at that time. At the monastery, there are still some furniture items that were brought from Bucharest specifically to make the prince's stay more comfortable. It is about a sofa with two armchairs and a table with six chairs that can be found today in the guest room intended for important visitors of the monastery. The Horaița Monastery is located in the village of Poiana in the commune of Dobreni, in a particularly picturesque place, conducive to monastic life, but also to the meeting of pilgrims with God and nature alike. Today's church is a foundation of Archimandrite Ermoghen Buhuși from the 19th century (built between 1848-1867), in an old monastic hearth. A first wooden shelter would have existed here since the 15th century. In a document from July 1428, the ruler of Moldavia Alexandru cel Bun mentioned a church in Horaița in a row of 52 places, given to the care of the Bistrița Monastery. The name of the monastery comes from the name of the family that owned many properties in the area, Goraeti. The only one in Moldova that is dedicated to the Baptism of the Lord, the church is also unique in its architecture that combines Romano-Byzantine elements with Russian influences, but also in its neo-Byzantine style painting, on a brick background made only in the period 1988-1993 by the painter Mihai Chiuariu. Of particular beauty is the tapestry, carved in baroque style, from linden wood, hair and thuja, decorated with gold and rich embroidery. The pulpit is 4 m above the royal doors, a fact that is no longer found in any Orthodox church in the country or in the world. The church of the monastery houses the icon of the miracle-working Mother of God "the deliverer from drought", considered the most precious smell of the place. The people of the monastery say that the icon has saved the surrounding villages many times in times of drought by bringing, following processions organized by priests and believers, the long-awaited rains. It seems that this comes from the old wooden church, being made in the first half of the 18th century. The monastic complex also includes the "Saint Hierarch Nicholas" Chapel, the "Descent of the Holy Spirit" Chapel from the Bell Tower, but also other more recent constructions, some intended for the monastery community, others for pilgrims or guests from among the high hierarchs of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

IMPORTANT: The museum building, particularly spectacular from an architectural point of view, is currently in a rehabilitation process. However, you can contact the museum hosts by phone to check the status of the museum in advance.     Iulia Hălăucescu was born on March 31, 1924, in Tarcău commune in Neamț county, in the family of the priest Gheorghe Verșescu. She only stayed here for 2 years, until her father moved with the parish to Piatra-Neamț, in the Valea Viei slum. Even though she stayed so little in her native village, the artist wanted to give the locality a part of her creation. Thus, in 2003, the Tarcău Museum was born, organized in a building of the village school that today bears the artist's name.   "Where mountain twines with mountain, fir tree with fir tree, where the stream cuts a path in the rock in waterfalls over sandstone steps, where the sky is visible like a ribbon and whose color and light are reflected in the bubbles where the trout of Tarcău play, I saw the light of day for the first time. In the memory of my parents and for the legacy and beauty of the inhabitants of Tarcău, I give to my hometown, part of the goods that have enriched my soul and creation, cultural and folk art values, representative Romanian ceramics from different areas of the country, old Romanian icons, furniture and even my own creative workshop," said the artist at the opening of the museum.   The Tarcău Museum is structured in 4 exhibition halls, which house over 100 works by the artist. Most of the works are watercolors, with the exception of a self-portrait and some paintings of family members. The main themes of the paintings in the museum are flowers, images of the old Tarcău, but also images captured by the artist during her travels abroad. Among the works dedicated to the native village are the Old Mill from Tarcău, Field Flowers from the Glades of Tarcău and Old Farm from Tarcău. In the paintings painted during trips outside the country, the artist immortalized images from Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and France.   Nicknamed "Lady of Romanian Watercolors", the artist was a member of the Union of Plastic Artists from Romania, an honorary member of the Romanian Academy of Scientists, a Knight of the National Order "For Merit" and an honorary citizen of the cities of Piatra-Neamț and Bicaz. Throughout her life, she opened more than 60 personal exhibitions at home and abroad and participated in more than 30 exhibitions organized by the Ministry of Culture in 25 countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa, the artist's works reaching as far as Japan and the Philippines. In Neamț, with the exception of this dedicated museum, the artist's works can also be found in the Museum of History in Bicaz and the Art Museum in Piatra-Neamț.

"The wind blew through the fir forest, the scent of wildflowers rose and wafted through the air, fawns and deer alike headed for the lake that loomed at the edge of the forest, raw green hills loomed through the branches, and below at the foot on the hills you could see the chimneys smoking from the hearths of the houses. Passing the blue lake in which the rays of the sun were reflected, making it look like crystal, you entered a village with small houses barely sticking out of the thick grass, with plowed fields full of fruit, with happy children running in the drops empty after the dandelion flowers, with women in festive clothes and talking loudly creating a buzz in the whole valley, with the vines that scented the whole village.'' And so our story begins! This is a village after a superb story, to help us disconnect from the mundane, a place where everyone who comes for a day or a week, can dream. A place that reminds us or takes us back in time when happiness came from small things. We welcome you to visit us, even if only to try our dishes or relax in the sauna and steam room, to sleep in a unique house made of earth and wood or just to participate in our voluntary outdoor work! Visiting hours: Daily from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The terrace is open until 10:00 pm. The visiting fee is 15 RON/per person (regardless of whether it is an adult or a child) and is paid on the basis of the ticket issued by all those who wish to visit the location. The meal can be taken with prior reservation and is not combined with the visit ticket. Those who dine but want to visit, pay the full visiting ticket. There are craft workshops during organized events.   Due to limited places, a reservation is needed. Reservations can be made by phone at the following numbers: 0728143169 / 0741120012