When setting out on another trip to northern Moldova, you always expect something new and unusual. This is despite the fact that you've traveled the length and breadth of northern Moldova and it seems almost impossible to discover anything truly new and interesting.
This time, however, our path led us to a place previously unfamiliar to us, albeit fairly well-known. We'd been near it many times, but only in the vicinity. So, our route led to the Briceni district, to the Lopatnic River valley between the old Moldovan villages of Corjeuți and Caracușenii Vechi.
It's a long journey, 250 km from Chisinau. The last few kilometers were along a barely visible dirt road through fields, sometimes through forests and across a river, fortunately it's quite shallow. And at the end of the journey, we had to reach the final destination, the village of Carucuseni Vechi, along such a winding and winding route through fields and copses that we can't even begin to recall the road.
This trip resulted in two publications instead of one. The first is right here, and the second will be published concurrently and will be dedicated to the Lopatnik River Valley. We'll focus on the protected area in this valley, located approximately midway between the two aforementioned villages.
The Chuntului Ridge on Google Maps, close-up. Here's what renowned naturalist V. Verina writes about this place in her book "Natural Monuments of Moldova": "The Karakushan forest tract, with its southern edge, near the villages of Vechi Karakushan and Corjeutsi, adjoins a group of the republic's most interesting geological formations—reef mounds, atolls, and gorges, many of which are under state protection. The Lopatnik River, cutting through the reef ridge, forms several gorges here.
One of them, the Chuntu Gorge, has been a protected area since 1962. At the base of the gorge lie sandstones up to 2 meters thick, topped by rocks with spherical lithothamnium intergrowths (over 3 meters), followed by Tortonian reefs, reaching 92 meters in thickness here. Numerous caves and grottoes once formed within their depths. A cave with two exits on the right bank of the river was used at various times as a dwelling by humans and is known to readers from the stories, ballads, and fairy tales of Stamati-Churya. The legendary horse Chuntu, whose owner lived in one of the grottoes, leaped across this gorge; ghosts emerged from these caves, cloaked in snowstorms, sweeping away roads, gorges, and houses; hopeless lovers threw themselves from these cliffs and dashed themselves to their deaths.
Our route to this gorge began from the outskirts of the village of Corjeuți and ran upstream along the banks of the Lopatnic River. About 3-4 km from Corjeuți, the road ascended to the summit of the Toltra ridge. But even before we began the climb, the gorge itself began to unfold before us. You'll see photos taken from various distances, and then from the summits of the left slope. At the top of the slope lies a fairly extensive plateau, overgrown with shrubs and oak trees. The peaks of the Toltra ridges are incredibly picturesque, overgrown with moss and lichen, acquiring a truly unique appearance. Many rare and endangered plants can be found here.
But the most impressive view from the top of the Toltra ridge is the view—the gorge itself, the valley of the intricately winding Lopatnic, patches of fields, and the dark forest on the horizon. It's here that you're once again convinced that Moldova's nature is unique, alluring, and full of surprises. And for some reason, I'm tempted to say: Northern Moldova is truly a land of wonders. Once you get to know it better, you'll be drawn back again and again. And we will certainly return and try to tell you about more of this region's wonders.
To give you a more complete picture of this natural wonder, we're also publishing two fragments from Google Maps. Please take a closer look at them, especially the second one, which is a closer shot. We think it's a truly impressive view.
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