The Olt River is one of the longest watercourses in Romania. Its springs are in the Eastern Carpathians (Mount Hπ║ma║u Mare); after 787 km, the Olt flows into the Danube. Many Roman vestiges dating back to the Roman conquest of Dacia have been preserved on the Olt banks. These include Casta Traiana (the village of SΓmbotin), Lucidava (Drπgπ║ani), Arutela (near the Monastery of Cozia) in the commune of BivolariûCπlimπne║ti, etc. Between 1617 and 1622, the Austrians opened up on the right bank of the Olt River the ôVia Carolinaö, a commercial road connecting Transylvania and Oltenia.
The natural resources of the Olt Valley are varied and much sought after from the Antiquity. They include the fish-rich lakes in the Drπgπ║ani region, the salt mined at Ocnele Mari ever since Dacian times, and the mineral waters in the thermal resorts of Cπlimπne║ti-Cπciulata, Olπne║ti, and Govora.
The Olt Valley is also the site of many monasteries of high artistic value, e.g. Cozia, Horezu, Cornetu, Govora, Bistri■a, Surupatele, Arnota, the RΓmnic Bishopric, and Frπsineni. On the slopes of Mount Cozia, around the celebrated monastery with the same name and the thermal resort of Cπlimπne║ti, a botanical and forestal reservation extends over 5, 000 ha; it provides shelter to a rare endemic flora, endangered animal species, and rocks of particular geological interest.
