About Ciumârna Pass
The Ciumârna Pass, also known as the Palma (Palm) Pass, is where the DN17A crosses the crest of the Obcina Mare ridge at about 1,100 m, between the Moldovița and Sucevița valleys. The road between the two painted monasteries of Moldovița and Sucevița is about 32 km long: it climbs from Vatra Moldoviței past the village of Ciumârna, runs through spruce forest and pasture with hairpins below the pass, and drops down the Sucevița valley. From the saddle of the pass you look south and west over the rows of forested ridges ("obcine") that give Bukovina its characteristic landscape.
The Sadova – Rădăuți section of the DN17A took almost two decades to build, finished in 1968, with 19 bridges and 180 culverts; more than 1,600 people worked on it. At the pass the builders put up a monument almost 7 m high, designed by the young engineer Radu Andrei: a palm raised towards the sky, with a road winding around it and ending in a bridge. It marks the spot where the crews working from the two directions met, and is considered the first monument to road builders in Romania. It also gives the pass its other name.
What you can see
At the top, beside the road, the white palm stands on a grassy mound above a small lay-by with a wooden shelter. The plinth carries reliefs of the old Moldavian coat of arms, with its aurochs head, and scenes of road-building work, and a marble plaque records the completion of the road. From beside the monument you look down on the loop of the road among pastures and spruce, with wooden huts on the slopes.
Good to know
The national road is open all year, but above 1,000 m winter brings snow and ice, and fog often settles over the ridges.
- The “Palma” monument at the pass, with the road winding around the palm and ending in a bridge.
- The reliefs on the plinth, with the old Moldavian coat of arms and scenes of road-building work.
- The view from beside the monument over the loop of the road and the rows of forested ridges.
- The hairpins below the pass, seen from above, among pastures and spruce forest.
- The direct link between Moldovița and Sucevița monasteries, easy to combine in one day.
Good to know before you go
- Getting there
By car: from Suceava drive to Rădăuți, then take the DN17A through Marginea and Sucevița up to the pass (~68 km, about an hour and a half). From Câmpulung Moldovenesc, take the DN17A via Sadova and Vatra Moldoviței (~42 km, about 50 minutes). From Gura Humorului you get there via Vama and Vatra Moldoviței (~48 km, about an hour). Moldovița and Sucevița monasteries are about 32 km apart, with the pass roughly halfway.
Public transport: the nearest railway stations are at Rădăuți and Vama; we found no regular services over the pass, so in practice you cross by car, motorbike or bicycle.
- Where to park
At the pass, by the monument, there is a small roadside lay-by with a wooden shelter; it only takes a few cars, and on busy summer days people also stop on the verge. On the hairpins stop only in the wider spots, never on the carriageway.
- Fees & discounts
The road is public and free, with no toll. The road vignette (rovinieta) is compulsory on the DN17A outside built-up areas.
- Rules
In winter drive only on winter tyres. On the hairpins do not stop on the carriageway for photos. At the monasteries at either end of the road dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered.
- Facilities
small lay-by and wooden shelter by the monument · no petrol station on the mountain: fill up in Rădăuți or Câmpulung Moldovenesc · accommodation and restaurants in Sucevița and Vatra Moldoviței
Reviews
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