Semenic-Cheile Carașului

Semenic-Cheile Carașului National Park was declared in 1990 in Caraș-Severin county, in south-western Romania, and protects some 366 km². It combines two settings: the plateau of the Semenic massif, of rounded, gentle forms, and the karst of the Aninei mountains, deeply cut by the rivers.

The Caraș gorges are the most spectacular feature: a defile some twenty kilometres long with vertical limestone walls, resurgences and caves, among them Comarnic, one of the longest and most richly decorated in Romania. The massif is riddled with dozens of cavities and shows the complete repertoire of karst forms, with dolines, ponors and underground rivers.

Its beech woods are among the most extensive and best preserved in the country, and in the Izvoarele Nerei sector, adjoining the park to the south, lies one of the most valuable primeval forests in Europe. Several important rivers of the Banat also rise in Semenic, and the massif receives one of the highest rainfalls in Romania. The wildlife is the complete Carpathian set, with the three great European carnivores and a notable bat community in the caves.