Transfăgărășan

National Road 7C
Drumul Naţional 7C
Transfăgărășan
Route information
Maintained by Compania Națională de Autostrăzi și Drumuri Naționale din România
Length:	90 km (60 mi)
Existed:	1974 – present
Major junctions
From:	Pitești
To:	Arpașu de Jos
Location
Major cities:	Căpățâneni, Bâlea Lake, Arpașu de Jos, Arefu, Pitești, Curtea de Argeș
Highway system
National roads in Romania

The Transfăgărășan (trans [over, across] + Făgăraș) or DN7C, also known as Ceaușescu's Folly, is a paved mountain road crossing the southern section of the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. It has national-road ranking and is the second-highest paved road in the country after the Transalpina. It starts near the village of Bascov, near Pitești, and stretches 90 kilometres (56 mi) to the crossroad between the DN1 and Sibiu, between the highest peaks in the country, Moldoveanu and Negoiu. The road, built in the early 1970s as a strategic military route, connects the historic regions of Transylvania and Wallachia.

The Transfăgărășan was constructed between 1970 and 1974 during the rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu as a response to the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union. Ceaușescu wanted to ensure quick military access across the mountains in case of a Soviet invasion. At the time, Romania already had several strategic mountain passes through the Southern Carpathians, whether inherited from the pre-communist era (the DN1 and the high-pass DN67C) or built during the initial years of the Communist regime (the DN66). These passes, however, were mainly through river valleys, and would be easy for the Soviets to block and attack. Ceauşescu therefore ordered the construction of a road across the Făgăraş Mountains, which divide northwestern and southern Romania.

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Wikipedia