Valea Mare Pravăț - Argeş gastronomic traditions

Take fresh trout, boil it and chop it finely so that the meat remains sweet and velvety. It gives a special flavor to the zacusca. You keep the water in which it boiled, because you stew the vegetables in the fish-flavored broth. The mixture between them, well seasoned, is poured into jars so as not to lose the layers of perfect taste.

The taste of Nămăiesti trout zacusca doesn't disappear, but you can take it with you anywhere. Either way, it will remain in your memory, because Valea Mare Pravăț and Argeş, so diverse, are impressive places. They welcome you with many surprises, be they culinary or cultural.

On the streets of Valea Mare Pravăț, you will also discover some old Muscel houses, which delight the eye with their simplicity and harmony. Such a house with its elevated and vaulted basement, floor with porch and thin columns, is the  George Topârceanu Memorial House. The poet lived for a while in this quiet area on the course of the Argesel river, at the foot of the Iezer mountains. Visit his house, which includes a museum collection that tells about the life and creation of Topârceanu. There are books from his personal library, letters, manuscripts, photographs, hunting weapons, walking sticks.

Further up, on the same street, you can also find the Nămăiești Monastery. It is said that, together with two other cave monasteries in Argeş – Corbii de Piatră and Cetătăuia, they form a magical triangle that gives the place sacred energy. Whoever visits the "Triangle of Cave Monasteries" is filled with optimism and good emotion.

At the Nămăești Nunnery is the cave hermitage dug into the rock, which is believed to have been a pagan temple dedicated to the god Zalmoxis. The legend says that the Apostle Andrew, on his way, with the mission of propagating the Gospel, arrived here and found a temple. When he looked inside in search of a priest to Christianize him, he saw no one. It is said that he then turned to his companions and said: "NEMO EST", hence the name Nămăiesti.

Today, in the cave church, there is a miracle-working icon of the Mother of God, which seems to have been painted by the Holy Apostle himself. It is one of the oldest icons in Romania and attracts many pilgrims.

Nămăiesti Monastery also has an ethnographic museum collection gathered by Mother Ana Lucia Nedelea. There are popular muscle costumes over 150 years old, from the area of Argeş and Târgovişte, some very special. Their story, but also a monastery shop where you can find preparations made by nuns, delicious jams, syrups, fruit and plant compotes, await you, dear traveler.

Another place worth stopping to taste special dairy products is Ferma Musceleană Lițoi. They have their own cows and produce telemea, curd, smoked curd, cascaval, cheese, cream, whipped milk. Also, there you can find fresh meat products, tenderloin, neck, sloi, sausages, leber and many others.

If you ask the locals, they will recommend the Nămăești trout farm, a secluded place between the hills, in the quiet of the forest. It is a trout farm with tradition, with lakes full of trout, a sport fishing lake with three types of fish: brook trout, rainbow and indigenous. And if you want to eat something memorable, choose from their menu something with good and fresh trout, as they have many recipes to delight all tastes, such as trout zacusca, trout in corn flour, trout brine, trout plate, fish balls, trout soup and many others.

And if you are fond of experiences in nature, also in the area you can choose to take a trip on horseback with a Haiduk lunch, to taste the traditional bulz. This way you can enjoy everything that Valea Mare Pravăț and its surroundings mean. And don't miss a visit to the Mateiaș Mausoleum, an iconic place that remembers those who fought here in the First World War. It is an impressive monument built by the Italian builder De Niccolo from Albești limestone.

As you can see, there is a lot to do in Valea Mare Pravăț, the locality on the old commercial road between Brașov and the old royal residence, Câmpulung. Surprises await you and places will always stay with you.

Contact person Roxana Vintilă 0744-21.33.20

email: contact@pastravarianamaiesti.ro

Address: Nămăieşti village, Valea Mare-Pravăţ commune, 117811, Argeş County 

Contact person Dan Mosescu (0743) 190 992

Contact person Alexandru Pahonțu (0741) 458 900