Romfilatelia introduces into circulation on Tuesday, August 12th this year, the postage stamps issue National Parks. The Jiului Gorge, featuring elements of the fauna from the natural area of the ‘Jiului Gorge National Park’, which was declared a protected area in 2005. The issue consists of four postage stamps and a First Day Cover.
Covering an area of over 11,000 hectares, the protected zone is located in the south-west of Romania, in Gorj and Hunedoara counties, along the Jiului Gorge. The territory of this area is almost entirely covered by forests (85%): Dacian beech forests, alluvial forests, oak forests mixed with hornbeam and ash, and mixed broadleaf and coniferous forests.
The fauna is richly represented by mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and insects. The List of the European Council Directive on the conservation of wild fauna and flora species mentions seven mammal species: the brown bear, Eurasian lynx, Eurasian otter, greater horseshoe bat, common pipistrelle, greater mouse-eared bat, and long-winged bat. Among the many species recorded in the Jiului Gorge National Park area, one can also find the chamois, roe deer, wildcat, pine marten, hazel dormouse, common dormouse, smooth snake, and others.
The Jiului Gorge, which runs through the Park and is also known as the Surduc Pass, is a mountain pass carved by the river through the rocks of the Retezat, Vâlcan, Parâng, and Șureanu Mountains, connecting Transylvania and Oltenia. The Park’s protected area offers visitors a variety of uniquely beautiful sites and landscapes, an original ensemble of manor houses (authentic traditional homesteads), monuments of spirituality (the Lainici and Vișina Monasteries, and the Locurele Hermitage), and the important Museum of Traditional Gorj Architecture in Bumbești-Jiu, located near the protected natural area. Among the spectacular tourist attractions are the Lainici Sphinx and the Murga Waterfall.
The postage stamps feature images of the area’s fauna: Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) the stamp with the face value of Lei 4.
Ural owl (Strix uralensis, family Strigidae), the stamp with the face value of Lei 8.
Lynx (Lynx lynx, family Lynx), the stamp with the face value of Lei 10.
Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra, family Bovidae), the stamp with the face value of Lei 14.
The graphics of the First Day Cover reproduce the image of the well-known Murga Waterfall in the Vâlcan Mountains.
Images of the scenic landscapes framing the Jiului Gorge are used in the graphic design as a harmonised background for the fauna and bird species featured on the postage stamps.
Romfilatelia extends its thanks to the representatives of the Jiului Gorge National Park for their documentary support in the development of this postage stamps issue.
