“Valea Almăjului (Ţara Almăjului)” is, geographically speaking, an intra-mountain depression, situated in the south-vest part of Romania, in the middle of the Banat mountains. It is defined by the mountain chain of Anina to the west, the Almăj mountains to the south, Semenic (1446 m) – with the highest altitude in the Banat mountains – to the north, and to the east there are a few heights from Almăj mountains: (the Carsa hill 1152m, the Cherbezul hill 1102m, the Vrapşioanea hill 934m – situated on the territory of the Rudăria village, and “Capul Grobanului” 1104 m). Here we also find the highest edge of the Almăj mountains – Sfinecea mare (1224m). The population here, also known as “almăjeni”, counts approximately 16,000 settlers, placed in 15 villages situated between the mountain-side and the depression, forming compact settlements: Bănia, Borlovenii Noi(Breazova), Borlovenii Vechi, Bozovici, Dalboşeţ, Eftimie Murgu(Rudăria), Gârbovăţ(Gârboţ), Lăpuşnicu Mare, Moceriş, Pătaş, Prigor, Prilipeţi, Putna, Şopotu Nou(Buceaua), Şopotu Vechi. Traces of human activity have been recorded since the neolitic period, such as : Cracu Otara (Bănia today), Grădişte (Dalboşeţ today). Until 1552, Almăj was a privileged district, among with other 7 districts, as a part of the Hungarian feudal kingdom. Between 1552 and 1718 it was under Turkish domination, then under Austrian administration (1718 to 1876), and finally austro-hungarian from 1867 to 1918.

Bigăr Waterfall ...