Wild Carpathia

Charlie Ottley takes you deep into the breath-taking but little known mountains and forests of Carpathia: Transylvania. Charlie provides a unique insight into the scenic beauty and rich culture of the region.

Join us for a cultural odyssey through little known parts of the southern Carpathians starting at the majestic Iron Gates and the ancient Roman Spa town of Baile Herculane. Writer and presenter Charlie Ottley explores the remote Cerna Mountains finding historic working mills, and legendary rock formations. On our journey east we stop at a boutique winery and the stunning Cosia National Park with its grottos and picturesque monasteries. Crossing Saxon Transylvania Charlie visits the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler and meets a Romanian Princess at her ancestral home, majestic Peles Castle. In the second part we leave the mountains behind and meander down to the Danube where it branches to form the largest wetland in Europe. Here Charlie explores tiny fishing communities, fragile forests and labyrinthine waterways teeming with rare birdlife. We also see why this vital ecosystem is under threat and look at what is being done to preserve it.

Episode 3 takes us to Northern Romania and the Maramures - one of the most picturesque regions in Romania. Here we experience festivals and weddings and learn about the evolution of traditional folk music with renowned singer Grigore Lese and pop idol Loredana Groza. We visit historic wooden churches and villages, which have been preserved, despite the march to modernise. Presenter Charlie Ottley explores the wilderness by steam train and on foot through Caliman National Park and the mysterious Twelve Apostles. Further east we drop in on a scheme to rewild Buffalo and visit the incredible painted monasteries of Bucovina before heading south to see whatís being done to protect the ancient forests of Transylvania. En route Charlie meets a number of local and internationally acclaimed characters and looks at ways tourism is helping to preserve natural habitats.

The final episode of Wild Carpathia follows the changing seasons from the ripe glory of autumn through the depths of winter to the first flush of spring and witnesses a landscape of unparalleled beauty, a world of vivid colours and timeless tradition. From villages and communities prospering thanks to conservation and eco-tourism to ancient neolithic cave houses, from remote snow-clad mountain peaks to churches of ice the show will present a side of of Romania never seen before. Featuring stunning wildlife footage and moving interviews with a firmament of experts, his stunning 55 minute film will once again reveal the devastation caused by illegal logging. Wild Carpathia Seasons of Change will also examine how and why this needs to be stopped to avoid the wholesale destruction of Europe’s last great wilderness and its most priceless treasures.