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Durău is a ski resort located in north-eastern Romania, in Neamţ County, Moldavia near the Ceahlău Massif (to the mountains' north-west side). The location is disadvantaged because of the lack of accessibility, the only access road being DN15 (from Poiana Largului); the regular route from Bicaz is closed as of February 2006 due to landslides.
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the southeast, Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east. It has a predominantly temperate-continental climate. With a total area of 238,397 square kilometres (92,046 sq mi), Romania is the 12th largest country and also the 7th most populous member state of the European Union, having almost 20 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, and other major urban areas include Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Constanța, Craiova, and Brașov.
Moldavia is a historical region and former principality in Central and Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially independent and later autonomous state, it existed from the 14th century to 1859, when it united with Wallachia as the basis of the modern Romanian state; at various times, Moldavia included the regions of Bessarabia, all of Bukovina and Hertza. The region of Pokuttya was also part of it for a period of time.
The Ceahlău Massif is one of the most famous mountains of Romania. It is part of the Bistriţa Mountains range of the Eastern Carpathians division, in Neamţ County, in the Moldavia region. The two most important peaks are Toaca and Ocolaşul Mare. It is bounded to the east by the Bistriţa River and Lake Bicaz, to the south by the Bicaz River. From the south, the main access point is the village of Izvorul Muntelui, located 12 km north from the town of Bicaz. To the north, Mount Ceahlău is also accessible from Durău.
Durau Resort lies in Neamt county, at 780–800 m altitude, 9 km from Izvorul Muntelui Lake on the Bistrita river, in a sunny glade, on the north-west slope of the Ceahlau massif(Oriental Carpathians). The fauna of the surrounding woods is very rich: carpathian stag, brown bear, wild boar, black goat. From here hiking can be organised to the surrounding mountains (Ocolasu Mare Peak-1907 m and Toaca Peak-1904 m), Duruitoarea Waterfall, the Natural Reservation of bison from Ceahlau Mountains and many other trips: visits to nearby monasteries (Secu, Sihastrie, Neamt, Varatec and Agapia), monasteries from the north of Moldavia (Humorului, Sucevita, Moldovita, Putna, Dragomirna, Voronet), Bicaz Gorges, Rosu Lake, Borsec and Vatra Dornei resort. In Durau you'll find a small church painted by the famous Romanian painter Nicolae Tonitza and also a monastery built in 1992.
Durau is a year-round resort.
In town there are four 2- and 3-star hotels, an ancient monastery (Durău Monastery) and a conference center belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church.
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Orthodox Church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian Churches, one of the nine Patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Since 1925, the Church's Primate bears the title of Patriarch. Its jurisdiction covers the territories of Romania and Moldova, with additional dioceses for Romanians living in nearby Serbia and Hungary, as well as for diaspora communities in Central and Western Europe, North America and Oceania.
