”There is no other mountain more known, sought after and more often mentioned all through the country. Many writers mentioned Ceahlău Massif in their stories, legends or in their wonderful descriptions”, stated one of the most known Romanian geographers Ion Simionescu. This is the beginning of the article that was recently issued in the newspaper ”Mesagerul de Neamț”, an article written by Prof. Daniel Dieaconu as a homage to a mountain with an impressive history visited over time by renowned travelers that remained in the memory of many people by its legends, stories and written testimonies.

Ceahlău Massif, the sacred pagan mountain from the times of the Dacians, the shrine of the god Zalmoxis, became the Holy Mountain of the Eastern Christianity and the place where the Orthodox hermits followed the footsteps of the Dacian ancestors.

The first man to locate Ceahlău Massif on the first Moldavian map was the great scholar Dimitrie Cantemir:”Ceahlău Massif is the tallest mountain, which if it were to be mentioned in the ancient stories, it would have been as famous as the Olympus, Pindus and Pelias. It is located in Neamț County, not far from Brook Tazlău and the middle of Ceahlău Mount is covered in a never ending snow (…) the highest Peak of Ceahlău Mount can be seen especially when the skies are clear, at dusk from the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi or ”White Citadel” (Cetatea Albă) which is 60 hours far”.

The role of Ceahlău Massif of a ”guiding light”, as stated in ”Descriptio Moldaviae” was also mentioned by the successors of the scholar Ruler Dimitrie Cantemir, by foreign travelers or by Moldavian locals. Ceahlău Massif as shown by history and legends was never avoided by people.The history about Ceahlău Massif begins as early as the Stone Age when a Epipalaeolithic settlement was discovered between 1957-1959. New artefacts were discovered last year by the archeologists from Târgoviște, who were in the area. Ceahlău Massif has fascinated over time and still continues to fascinate, many people, from simple travelers and pilgrims, up to writers, rulers, noble men or High Priests of the Church.

Another article from the local newspaper ”The Neamț Monitor” talks about the appearance of a rare phenomenon called the Gloria Effect or the Brocken Specter, recently noticed by a local woman from Piatra Neamț and whose shadow was seen mirrored in the sky.

If you ever find yourself on Ceahlău Massif, you are able to notice other unique phenomena such as the Shadow of the Pyramid and Stair Way to Heaven which happen especially around the celebration of Ceahlău Massif’s Dedication Day, but not only then.

In ”Descriptio Moldaviae”, Dimitrie Cantemir talks about the Sacred Way and some scientists consider that through the Toaca Peak (1.904 m high) passes one of the energetic axes of the Planet Earth.