"Off The Beaten Path in Prahova Valley" Cimpina by josephescu

Cimpina Travel Guide: 29 reviews and 116 photos

in a few words

A small town 90km north of Bucharest located on the hills preceding the Carpathians, between Ploiesti and Sinaia.

Its economic development was closely related to the discovery and exploitation of oil in mid XIX century. Today, the very little oil remaining in is not enough to reviggorate the region.

Being close to several other tourist destinations on Prahova Valley, such as Sinaia or Predeal, with which Campina cannot rivalise in terms of “to do’s”, the town keeps its off-beaten path character. However, I would strongly recommend Campina as a place to go search for an authentic Romanian town…..some sights…..and nice & friendly people.

some historic facts...

Prahova river - way to the city from train station

1503 - first document mentioning Campina

1593 – customs point on the trade route linking Valachia with Transylvania (today, the village of Vama Campina, near the railways station)

1663 – the locality recognised as “târg” (romanian for medieval small town)

1834 – Ion Campineanu is the first aristocrat to free from slavery all the gypsy population on his domains (gypsies in Romania were freed a few decades later)

1840 – fashionable place for artists, painters and writers at that time

1864 – construction of first oil well in Romania, followed by the “oil boom”

1879 – rail road opened

1890 – the locality is officially recognised as town

1895 – largest oil refinery in Europe at that time (?)

1943/1944 – heavy allied bombings and air strikes, to destroy oil capacities

mid 1980’s – demolition of a number of downtown houses to make way for the communist “civic centre”

Gryphons House

Pros and Cons

Pros:no mass - tourism agression
Cons:no pictures in Grigorescu's cottage
In a nutshell:love, spiritism, paintings and landscape

Last visit to Cimpina: Aug 2006
Intro Updated Aug 9, 2006
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Reviews (11)

Trrain to Campina Transportation (1)

Cimpina is on the rail route between Bucharest and Brasov, 20 km south of Sinaia. Travel by train from Bucharest takes... more travel advice

if you need an espresso.... Restaurants (1)

standard italian espresso, nothing fancy. good to strech legs for a while, before continuing. There is a restaurant... more travel advice

Nice villa Things to Do (8)

nice villa combining elements of neo-romanian style with oltenian cula ones. more travel advice

Church of Fir Trees Things to Do (8)

The church was built in 1883 and is most typical for the orthodox churches in the country. As suggested by its' name,... more travel advice

Favorites (1)
Civic centre

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Comments (3)

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adema29 Sep 11, 2007 at 1:35 PM

Multumesc pentru ca mi-ai deschis un pic cheful de documentare. Imi place pagina ta despre Campina. Imi pare rau insa ca va trebui sa te combat un pic la capitolul Capela. O poti vedea pe pagina mea(noastra). In poza ta este Biserica Catolica din Campina.
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himalia11 Apr 15, 2007 at 4:27 AM

Interesting page! There seem to be lots of nice buildings!
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hunterV Aug 5, 2006 at 11:27 PM

Hi, mate, those are interesting places to visit and to describe! I like that too.