Turnu Roșu Pass

Watercolor by Miklós Barabas, 1831

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The Red Tower Pass ( also pass the Red Tower, Red Tower Pass, Roth Thurm Pass and Red Tower Pass, formerly Trajanspforte, Romanian Turnu Rosu Pasul, Hungarian Vöröstoronyi - szoros ) is a valley which a Talpass in the central part of the Southern Carpathians.

Geography

The running from North to South Pass, south of Sibiu ( Sibiu Romanian, Hungarian Nagyszeben ). At the north end of the pass met already in the Middle Ages, the most important trade routes in Transylvania. The pass was used as a connection to Wallachia. Thus, the pass road connects the Transylvanian Plateau with the Danubian Lowland. Its exceptionally low pass height of only 352 m, despite the near- summit Moldoveanu ( 2544m ) lies in the fact that the Red Tower Pass the breakthrough of the river Olt (German Alt) used. Valley and pass separate the Cindrel Mountains in the west of Fagaras Mountains in the east.

History

The pass came earlier to a high strategic importance. In ancient times, lay on the southern Matching the Roman military camp Castra Trajana. During the Ottoman wars broke at this point, the Ottoman armies several times from the south in Transylvania. The Ottoman armies were here in the years 1442 by John Hunyadi and defeated in 1493 by Stephan von Thalegd. In 1849 took place during the Hungarian Revolution 1848/1849 at the Red Tower Pass the Russian invasion into Transylvania. During the First World War in 1916, heavy fighting took place around the pass to 24 November from 26 September.

Prince Georg wrote about this place the piece of music Red Turmpaß March.

Today climbs over the Pass the European route 81 from Sibiu to Bucharest via Râmnicu Vâlcea. This busy road ( National Road DN 7) is to be replaced in the near future (2014) by the A1 motorway.

The remains of the Red Tower, a painted red fixing, formerly housed a customs office, are still present today.

Gallery

Remains of the fortifications Red Tower

Plaque of the Alpine Corps before 1919