Comandău between the forest railway and mountain landscape

The Planul Înclinat is part of Comandău’s historic image. The facility was inaugurated in 1890 as a completely ecological installation powered by gravity. It is 1,236 metres long and has an elevation difference of 327 metres. This structure combines a special method of propulsion, precise dimensions and a clearly dated chapter of industrial history.

Landscape

Comandău lies on the Bâsca Mare stream, a tributary of the Buzău. The region is characterised by deciduous and fir forests. The valley of the Nagy-Baszka stream near Comandău is picturesque and surrounded by mountains. The peat bogs near Comandău are considered a natural rarity. Watercourses, wooded areas, mountain scenery and bogs therefore form different landscape elements in the area around the village.

Routes and winter

The route from Comandău to Vârful Lăcăuți initially runs for 1.9 kilometres along the forest railway and then crosses the riverbed of the Bâsca Mare. Its course is therefore clearly structured: the section along the railway is followed by the crossing over the riverbed. A well-maintained forest road leads through Valea Zânelor to Comandău. There is also a ski slope on Mount Laur near Comandău.

Industrial history

The narrow-gauge Covasna–Comandău forest railway was connected to Covasna railway station in 1892. It had a track gauge of 760 millimetres and formerly transported timber from the Comandău area to Covasna. The surviving sections of the forest railway between Comandău and Valea Zânelor are used for tourism. Thus, the present-day village landscape includes both the historic route and surviving parts of the railway.

The remains of a funicular railway are visible on Mount Sisak; they are regarded as evidence of industrial history. In the vicinity of Comandău, the remains of a former railway built to transport logs are also visible. Both traces point to technical installations whose original use was connected with timber transport and the industrial past.

Other places: Ilieni, Covasna, Baraolt, Moacşa, Micfalău, Ozun, Bățanii Mici and Întorsura Buzăului.

Culture and local history

Micul Castel was built in 1890 as a residence for the director of the centre and is a historic monument. Since December 2006, it has housed the Comandău village museum, with exhibitions on local history and the natural sciences. The building therefore combines its former residential function with its present-day museum use.

A memorial plaque on the wall of the former office commemorates the workers’ strike in Comandău in 1936. In the former border settlement of Comandău, the remains of a former customs office are still visible. Two monuments stand in Comandău’s central park: one to the heroes of the 1848–1849 Revolution and one to those who fell in the First World War. The historical traces therefore range from labour and border history to the political upheavals of the 19th and 20th centuries.

To the higher-level travel overview: Covasna.