Today we planned to visit Ravensca – one of six Czech-inhabited villages in Romania’s Banat. We have parked near the gasoline station at Liubcova, where according to Google starts the unpaved road to the village. We took our scooter, the first few kilometers we drove on an unpaved road, but then the road changed into a narrow footpath with stones, deep sand, and streams, it was nearly impossible to drive our scooter over it. Well, once we arrived in the village, we have realized, that there is a newly built wide road from Gornea and Sichevița, but Google doesn’t know it. Ravensca has the most scenic location of the Banat’s Czech villages, of the six Czech villages in the Banat, it is located at the highest altitude of 750 meters, just 7 km southeast of Șopotu Nou village. As a result of its considerable isolation, the best-preserved Czech language is spoken there. The village was founded in 1827. In 1922, a Roman Catholic church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was built, being consecrated to St. Martin. However, as locals told us in a small shop, where we bought some drinks and homemade chocolate, life on the mountain range is very hard, particularly in winter, when the village is almost completely cut off from the rest of the world. This is perhaps the reason for the rapid decrease in residents. In 1925 the village had 586 inhabitants; by 1991 the population had fallen to 235, dropping to slightly over 120 in 2002. The village is linked with the closest Czech villages of Gârnic (15 km away) and Bigăr (30 km away) by the marked path.
Parking location – Liubcova: 44.657910N 21.885267E
Parking location – Coronini: 44.671633N 21.680858E