Following Empress Sissi's footsteps
The Red Pavilion - Elisabeth
Among the pavilions of the Cernei Mountains, the Red one is located at the highest point, approximately 500 m above sea level. If the other three pavilions or belvedere points up to here were known and accessible by paths even before 1850, the Red Pavilion was built at the wish of the Empress of Austria-Hungary, Elisabeta (Sissi).
In one of his many mountain trips around the resort (probably in 1887) – not unusual as he is known to be a wild nature lover – accompanied by Countess Charlotta von Majláth, his lady of honor, and with Petru Zarva as guide , forester from Pecinișca, the empress climbed the narrow, arduous and little traveled path that reached the summit from Ciorici Pavillion.
In one of his many mountain trips around the resort (probably in 1887) – not unusual as he is known to be a wild nature lover – accompanied by Countess Charlotta von Majláth, his lady of honor, and with Petru Zarva as guide , forester from Pecinișca, the empress climbed the narrow, arduous and little traveled path that reached the summit from Ciorici Pavillion.
A little above this point, after a few short windings, reaching a bare part of the mountain, the empress was overwhelmed by the grandeur of the view: "How beautiful!" she exclaimed, spellbound, "How I would enjoy lunching here!" It is said that, to fulfill her wish, eighty foresters overnight set up the trail and the pavillion, which has since been named after the sovereign.
Today a path marked with a blue and red triangle that leaves the resort passing by the four pavillions and reaches the top, in Poiana cu Peri, on the summit of Mohornicului, takes us in the footsteps of Elizabeth, on a thematic route that is not very easy, but on which line the most beautiful viewpoints over the resort and the Cerna valley.
