Zarnesti has opened the visitor center at Parcului Naţional Piatra Craiului (Piatra Craiului National Park). The mountain and the visitor center are about 30 km from Brasov. I saw them building the center back when I visited the mountain last July, and I remember thinking – what is that? During construction, it looked like a big black blob. I was intrigued.

The architecture of the building is distinctive because it mimics the topography of the mountain. I’m glad it looks more like a big mountain now. Especially since it cost 6 million lei (although it seems that this is a postmodern interpretation of “mountain”).

The windows kind of creep me out a little…does no one else see these as eyes? This also freaked me out in Sibiu – the sleepy way the windows are shaped made me feel like the buildings had eyes.

Photo Credits: Adevarul

From the pictures, the center looks open and spacious with several exhibits. Everything is meant to be interactive. You can learn all about the flora and fauna of Piatra Craiului, the mountain that I am going to climb this summer.

The visitor center is free (yay!) and was paid for with a combination of funds from the Romanian government and the European Development Fund. The center is part of an initiative to preserve the biodiversity of the mountain and to develop tourism in the region.

Watch a cool news clip about the center on Digi24’s website (Romanian)

Piatra Craiului at dusk (July 2015)

Read more at Adevarul (Romanian) or Romania Libera (also in Romanian)

Visit Zărnești– Website (English)