At the Top of Covasna County

It is not easy to get up to Comandău. Not only because the village, which “inherited” its name from the former border guards, is the highest municipality in the region of Transylvania, at 1017 metres, but also because of the difficult road conditions, especially in winter. Although the Szekler Border Guard was abolished in 1848, from 1867 onwards a customs guard accommodation was established in the former border settlement. Traces of the former functions and the Transylvanian Forest Industry Co., founded by Dávid Horn, a businessman from Pest, originally from Upper Hungary (present-day Slovakia), are still apparent today. Among them is what remains of the railway built to transport logs, a true monument to Hungary’s industrial history of the past. A construction that also included a 1260-metre-long sloping section with a 400-metre level difference. 

This railway curiosity – which arrived in Valea Zânelor leading to Covasna located 13 kilometres from Comandău – is still waiting for its “rebirth”, but today’s visitors are guaranteed to be captivated by the panorama that welcomes them. Around the village, which is slowly being transformed into a holiday resort, nature has healed most of the old wounds. In winter, it’s a great place for skiing, in summer, it’s a lush green world that offers relief in the heat, with hurrying streams, mushrooms of all kinds, and the air that entices you to bite into it. 

It is not easy to get up to Comandău. But it’s worth it.

Samu Csinta