Photo credit: (c) Oana POPESCU / AGERPRES PHOTO

Nature, tranquility, beauty and adventure lovers have the opportunity to live here unique moments and to see life … from the clouds. A unique sensation, which few people had the chance to experience in their lives, is the reflection of the shadow on the clouds, when Transalpina, the highest road in the country, takes you to an altitude of 2,250 meters.

The best-known tourist settlement on Transalpina, Ranca, is situated at an altitude that starts at 1,500 meters and reaches 1,750 meters, at the foot of the Papusa Massif, one of the plateaus of the Parang Mountains.

Photo credit: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

”It is the tourist settlement located at the highest altitude in Romania, it starts at 1,500 meters and ends at 1,750 meters, expands both horizontally and vertically. Its internal road network from the first house to the last one, with all side roads, reaches somewhere 18km. It is huge, it is a really little town on the mountain’s top. It has a very good access by road, on Transalpina, which for more than half a year is passable also from the north, leading to Transylvania. It is the most beautiful road that comes from Transylvania to us, it passes through Alba and Valcea through Valea Frumoasa [Beautiful Valley], then it enters Gorj, where the landscape is special. Many say it is the most beautiful landscape in the country and it is so, in my opinion, because the other road, Transfagarasanul, goes in the valley a long way and your view to left and right is limited,” the Gorj Mountain Rescue Service’s chief Sabin Cornoiu told AGERPRES.

The idea to build the resort of Ranca surfaced in 1930, when the People’s Bank ”Gilortul” of Novaci materialized Dumitru Brezulescu’s project to build a resort. Six cabins were built at the beginning, with five rooms each. In 1937, the central cabin in Ranca was commissioned. By December 1989, other two cabins were built in Ranca, one of OJT Gorj, administered by the University of Craiova, and the other one — by the mining unions in the coal basin of Oltenia.

Photo credit: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

”At the beginning of last century, Novaci locals set fire to the mountain juniper and cleared it off the mountain, to make room for pasture, and this happened including on the current location of Ranca. Probably the first houses of the people of that time were made in that period, because they were interested to stay there with the animals. The beautiful landscape triggered in the 1930s the building of the first cabins there, which developed slowly but surely, having reached a maximum of 20 I think, each with a different purpose: forestry sector, milk collection station, hunting house, tourist cabins and so on,” says Sabin Cornoiu.

Over the past few years, Ranca has developed surprisingly. Some 600 hotels, guesthouses, cabins and private houses have been built there. Thus, the tourist offer is very varied, and tourists can opt for either 3—or 4-star hotels or for a cabin or guesthouse. They are equipped with kitchen and dining rooms and the guests can prepare their food on their own.

Photo credit: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

”At the Revolution [in 1989], 5-6 cabins were functional: the old one, the cooperative’s one, a bar of the cooperative, a research cabin of the University of Craiova and a former weather station. After the Revolution, some cabins were taken over by some institutions that prepared them for tourism purposes. An example is Ciuperca Cabin, which was taken over by Thermal Power Plant Rovinari. As these cabins started to degrade, they invested in them, not much. After 1990, some cabins collapsed, some burnt down, and those that remained began to be taken over by institutions and individuals who started to arrange them. By 1995—1996, applications started to be submitted for building holiday houses in the area and perhaps the present situation stemmed from that. All these application came from people living in the area, in Novaci, in Targu-Jiu, who wanted a plot of land on which to build a small house to come to fresh air. Nobody predicted such an extension. It was then when those plots of 250 and 300 sqm were given, initially on the side towards Gilort, which was the only side with cabins in Ranca. Nobody predicted what would happen there, there was an explosion and thus Ranca was filled with homes. That process lasted permanently for a decade. Power supply and water supply were extended, to cope with the demands,” says the Mountain Rescue Service’s chief.

Thousands of tourists come every weekend during the winter season to this area, where, more than 20 years ago, only a few skiers had come, recalls Sabin Cornoiu, who participated in the building of the first ski-lift in Ranca.

Photo credit: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

”In 1987 there was an idea to build a ski-lift in Lainici. It was not a good idea because there was no snow, and it was decided to build one in Ranca instead. This ski-lift was built with a lot of patriotic work by mountain rescuers, people from the power plant, waiters from a hotel and each dug one hole for the next pole. There and now the lift in the resort center. After the Revolution, four more ski-lifts were built, plus a chairlift. Before the ski-lift, we were up to 20 skiers in Gorj, organized even four contests per day, we often climbed on foot from Gilortului Valley, about 15 km. Those phases are memorable, it was another life, we climbed with the food on our back, we cooked for ourselves. It was nice, we were young, we love it,” he says.

Ranca now has four ski slopes equipped with a ski-lift, a slope for initiation in winter sports and one arranged for tubing.

”After the Revolution, the road from Cerbu was built and then a lot of people came to Ranca as they could get here more easily. It was later paved and then it became Transalpina. Now there are four ski slopes equipped with lifts, with lengths of 200 to 900 meters, of mild difficulty up to average, forming the ski area in the resort’s centre. In north of the resort, there is a slope equipped with a chairlift that will serve all slopes to be made high, because there another 10 sloped can be made, which can be even linked to the ski area of Vidra and then it will be one of the largest ski areas in the country and even in Europe. We have also the advantage of tourism structures of high capacity. One slope is equipped with floodlighting and perhaps the other ones will be fitted as well, ” he adds.

In Ranca, a wonderful winter area, one can go skiing and snowboarding, drive snowmobiles, there are areas for paragliding and hang gliding flights, one can also go mountain biking or cycling in the resort.

Photo credit: (c) Nicolae BADEA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

From here out to all the mountain area of Gorj, tourists can go climbing canyoning, rafting and caving. Tour skiing and off-track skiing can also be done there. There are two variants: the off-track skiing is done with a single bond, as the alpine skiing, and the tour one is done with a bond that slides on the ski, and on the sole of the skies a cloth is applied, which is called generically sealskin and by which hill climbing can be done. This sport is practiced on a smaller scale, but increasingly more tourists are buying such equipment because it offers much more powerful sensations.

”With departure from Ranca there are 4-5 mountain trails, two descend to Gilortului Valley and Galbenului Valley to Muierii Cave, from Ranca the road continues on Transalpina to Parangului ridge, to the left to Petrosani or to the right to Capatanii Mountains, a very attractive ridge, with peaks of over 2,000 meters to 2,500 meters. It is very attractive, very accessible for tourists with glacial lakes on the north side, which offers a special landscape, rather attractive for tourists, especially in recent years when the access is very easy on Transpalpina,” adds Sabin Cornoiu.

Transalpina (DN 67C), known also as the ‘King’s Road’ or ‘Devil’s Path,’ road is the highest road in Romania. Located in the Parang Mountains, Southern Carpathians, the 150 km-long road connects Oltenia (a southern region) to Transylvania (centre-west), between the towns of Novaci in Gorj County and Sebes in Alba County. The road crosses the Parang Mountains from north to south and draws a parallel with the Olt Valley and the Jiu Valley.

Photo credit: (c) Oana POPESCU / AGERPRES PHOTO

At Sibiu, the alpine road starts from Jina, from whe it descends on a distance of 7 km to Sugag . From here, the ascent begins. After a few km, the Tau dam is reached and then the Oasa dam. Transalpina continues by crossing the left side of the Oasa dam going to Obarsia Lotrului.

From Obarsia Lotrului, located in a valley with an extremely beautiful opening, there are several possibilities: one can go left to Brezoi, which lies about 60 kilometers away, passing by Lake Vidra and then through the resort of Voineasa, or right to Petrila — 28 km away. To continue to Transalpina, one have to go forward to Novaci. In fact, from now begins the most spectacular part of the Royal Road, the road through the alpine area. The winding road reaches increasingly high places: Stefanu, Carbunele, Muntinu and Urdele. Suddenly, the mountain disappears, and in front there is the plateau on Papusa peak, from where it descends into the resort of Ranca and then to Novaci, where Transalpina ends.

In the Transalpina area there are a few glacial lakes, including Lake Galcescu, the largest such lake in Gorj County. It is 230 meters long, 165 meters wide and stretches on an area of 3.2 hectares. Its maximum depth is 10 meters. It lies at an altitude of 1,950 meters and is naturally populated with fish. The area around the lake, declared a natural reserve, and glacial lake Galcescu are protected monuments of nature.

Photo credit: (c) Simion MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

According to some sources, the first road there was built by the Roman legions during the Dacian wars (101-102 and 105-106 AD), which is why the historic maps it is entered as the strategic Roman Corridor IV. Later, the route began to be used by shepherds in Sibiu area that moved their flocks to Oltenia, being not more than a little path with precipices, suggestively called ‘Devil’s Path.’ Besides all these, there is also a local legend, which says that at the end of the eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, each local family participated in the construction of portions of this road, depending on their physical and financial possibilities.

In 1930, the road paving works were started and the inauguration was made in 1938, in Poiana Sibiu, in the presence of King Carol II. The road was considered, at that time, a great technical breakthrough, with an economic, strategic and military role.

”Before the Transalpina was built, it was a pastoral road, used by shepherds. Indeed, it is said that in the 1930s the king went there, it is said that 2,000 years ago the Romans came here too, so the history is great. The fact is that at some point this choice to modernize the road was taken, it was known that the two roads that pass from south to north on Valley Jiu and Olt Valley are permanently exposed to falling rocks or landslides, and for a long time a variation to cross the mountains had been sought. And all this lobbying which we did to modernize the road at least to Ranca made authorities to do it all. In Dengheru peak, the road climbs up to 2,250 meters, is the highest peak with a road in the country. It is a special landscape, with springs, and those lucky enough can meet chamois, deer or find edelweiss flowers. Those who come to Ranca go in love with this place. There are those moments when you pass through the clouds, there is that optical phenomenon that few have the chance to meet, maybe once in a life time, where you are above the clouds and your shadow is reflected on the cloud, it is a special phenomenon,” believes Sabin Cornoiu. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Irina POENARU / AGERPRES PHOTO

The father of modern sculpture, as he is considered worldwide, Constantin Brancusi gifted the Targu-Jiu municipality, a few decades ago, when he decided to place here three of his works, with a very rare cultural destiny among the Romanian cities, and not only, succeeding thus in propelling it to the list of the localities with important tourism objectives, which is also proven by the large number of tourists interested in admiring and knowing the work of the famous sculptor.

Constantin Brancusi was born on February 19, 1876, in the Hobita village, near Perstisani and also not so far from the Tismana Monastery, a place which he used to visit very often together with his mother to attend the religious service.

As shown in Zenovie Carlugea’s documentary about the famous sculptor, Brancusi spent his childhood years surrounded by his father and the other fellow villagers who were used to making the objects that they needed in the household with their own hands. People made furniture, chairs and carved decorative elements into the wood and even houses, house pillars, which might be the source of inspiration for his famous work the Endless Column. His childhood was marked by a very close and beautiful relation he had with his mother, Maria, who was also the single one able to control him after the death of his father. After he graduated only three years of formal education, he ran away from home and went to Slatina, where he worked as a shop boy and later, in 1889 more precisely, he moved to Craiova, where he remained for several years, working as a waiter in various restaurants. One day, while he was working in a small public house near the Madonna Dudu Church, he took his clients completely by surprise when he showed up with a violin made by his own hands. The musicians working in the pub tried it to see how it sounded and, to the astonishment of all, the violin started to make harmonious sounds. The regulars of the pub, among whom a vestryman working at the church, sent him to the School of Arts and Crafts.

Brancusi was a hardworking student, and he finished the five years in just four. Already showing great skills as a woodcarver, he made painting frames and furniture. In 1898, he presented his first sculpture — the bust of Gheorghe Chitu — and two painting frames that can still be seen today at the first exhibition of the School of Arts and Crafts in the Dolj County, organised in the Bibescu Park in Craiova. In the same year he enrolled in the Bucharest School of Fine Arts, where he learnt from the best craftsmen of the beginning of the century in Romania, which gained him a lot of courage. He received mentions for his first works and he even got a medal, receiving many encouragements during the school year from his teacher Dimitrie Gerota, with whom he studied anatomy. He made a beautiful sculpture for which he received a prize — Ecorseul (ecorche — statue of a man with skin removed to reveal the muscles underneath), together with Gerota, PhD. In September 1902 he graduated from the School of Fine Arts. He travelled to Munich, but he didn’t feel good here and in 1904 he moved to Paris. A year later he was accepted at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Beginning with 1907, the great Romanian artist chose the nonfigurative art instead, becoming thus a familiar figure among the avant-garde artists in Paris.

It was his work the Kiss (1907) that finally individualized him from the other artists. The work came out as a huge surprise, since the technique was very innovative compared with Rodin’s art (Rodin was Brancusi’s former teacher). Through this work Brancusi managed to detach himself from the pattern of funerary monuments and such works that any of the amateur artists could make in fact at that time. His love affairs with Margit Pogany proved to be of great inspiration to him. The two had an exhibition together at the French Official Salon, and he made her, without her knowing, a portrait. Later he made a series of four variants to Mademoiselle Pogany. He gave one to her, he exhibited another one for the first time in 1913 at the Armony Show, from where an American citizen bought it immediately with 300 dollars, marking thus his entry to the art market in the United States and he brought another one to Bucharest, where he found no buyer, so that he gave it to the Storck family.

Photo credit: (c) Lucian TUDOSE / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

In 1926 he was involved in an unprecedented court battle with the US customs, when his work the Bird was subjected to customs duties. The law said that the works of art were exempted from paying the tax, but the customs officials refused to believe that the tall, thin piece of polished bronze was art and so imposed the tariff for manufactured metal objects. In the end, under pressure from the press and artists, the customs agreed that The Bird was a true work of art. Brancusi was 33 of age at the time, having his first personal exhibition in New York.

The important themes that captured his attention over the many decades of his career were — the Kiss, the Sleeping Muse, Mademoiselle Pogany, the Bird in Space, the Endless Column, the Danaide and the Cock.

In 1935, Arethia Tatarescu, the President of the National League of Women from Gorj, asked him to build a monument in Targu-Jiu in the memory of the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the country. It was something that he had been wanting to do for many years, as he confessed in a later to his former student, Milita Petrascu, who was in fact the very one who recommended him to Mrs. Tatarescu — ‘I cannot tell you how happy I am to make something at home.’ The artist didn’t accept any money for his work.

According to Sorin Lory Buliga, the representative of the Brancusi Cultural Centre, it seems that the initial name Brancusi gave to his ensemble was the Avenue Heroes’ Souls. The monumental ensemble the Avenue of Heroes is the modern name of the triptic made by the sculptor over 1937-1938. The ensemble was meant to praise the memory of the heroes from the Gorj County, who sacrificed themselves during the war, as the last of a series of works of art devoted to the memory of the heroes from Targu Jiu.

Professor Zenovie Carlugea also mentioned in his documentary that the years 1936, 1937 and 1938 were ones of great effervescence in Targu Jiu. In May 1936, the city was ranked as a tourist attraction, so that to be able to draw funds from the ministries for building the monuments. In 1937, Gheorghe Tatarescu obtained 5 million lei from the Ministry of Public Works for building the Avenue of Heroes, following a straight line, from the Jiu River floodplain, through the Public Garden, to a haymarket at the edge of the town.

They soon began to make the modules for the Column in the central workshop of Petrosani (Atelierele Centrale Petrosani), assembled by Brancusi’s friend engineer Stefan Georgescu-Gorjan. The travertine blocks brought from Banpotoc, Deva, were cut and put together under the direct guidance of Brancusi, who placed the Gate of the Kiss within the Public Garden, while the League of Women from Gorj County made available 750,000 lei for expropriations along the Avenue of Heroes and also for the construction of the St Apostles Church. In the same year’s autumn, under the coordination of engineer Stefan Georgescu-Gorjan, they laid the foundation for the Column, mounted the central pillar and then put together the elements: Brancusi attended the mounting of the first elements of the column.

Photo credit: (c) Mihai POZIUMSCHI / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Next year, he covered the Endless Column in metal; he sculpted and finished the Gate of the Kiss and the two banks which he placed on each side of the Gate. He also mounted the Table of Silence from two elements he previously ordered, the twelve round chairs around the table and the thirty square chairs along the alley between the Gate and the Table, specified Professor Zenovie Carlugea.

Sorin Buliga also mentioned that the sculptures in the Public Garden were made from travertine brought from Banpotoc, while the Column was made from 16 rhomboidal brass-clad, cast-iron modules, measuring 29.33 metres in height. Each module measures 1.80 metres in its height. The Gate of the Kiss measures 2.15 metres in its diameter and 0.88 metres in its height. The distance between The Table and The Gate is of 121 metres and that between The Gate and The Column is of 1,154 metres.

Photo credit: (c) Zeno TUFEGA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

‘As regards the signification of the enigmatic elements of the Brancusian works, we know that they were the result of long and very profound meditations over the modality of reflecting (often symbolical) of the sacred in art. Although most of them have as deep source of inspiration the Romanian folklore art, they maintain at the same time a universal value, attracting artists, philosophers, scientists or simple admirers from all corners of our world,’ Sorin Buliga also said.

In the years that followed the completion of the monumental ensemble, Constatin Brancusi created just a few works, motivating that his work was already completed. Beginning with 1946, his health began to deteriorate; he retired in the loneliness of his workshop, among the sculptors that he liked to watch, as they remembered him about his life. His last exhibition while he was still alive was organised in New York, in 1955. Very ill, he refused to go to the hospital: ‘Well, I just prefer to wait for the Good God in my workshop.’ He died on March 16, 1957.

The manager of the ‘Constantin Brancusi’ Municipal Culture Centre, Doru Strambulescu, appreciated that the monumental ensemble had a sacred signification, all its elements representing a sacred cycle. ‘First of all, the monumental triptic ensemble the Avenue of Heroes has a sacred signification. It was made in the memory of the heroes from Gorj, who sacrificed their lives on the battlefield neat the Jiu River Bridge in the World War One, as an homage paid to these heroes. Of course, the symbolism of the ensemble as a whole is a vast one, if we consider all the studies that were made over the time related to it. We are talking about thousands of books, interpretations, but in its essence the Brancusian ensemble has a sacred signification. If we were to look into the water of the Jiu River, if we watch the Table of Silence, the Alley of the Chairs, the Gate of the Kiss, the St Apostles Church and the Endless Column, they all represent a sacred cycle,’ said Doru Strambulescu.

Photo credit: (c) Irina POENARU / AGERPRES PHOTO

He also said that in 1950 there was an attempt to dismount the Endless Column and use the material for other purposes, but the project failed. ‘In the 1950s the communist authorities were thinking to dismantle the Column and to use the material for user purposes. However, the project failed,’ Strambulescu said.

The Gorj county and local authorities wish that all the works related to Constantin Brancusi’s activity in the County could enjoy a better promotion. Te manager of the Municipal Culture Centre also said that, besides the idea of creating a museum to bear the name of the famous sculptor, there exist another plan to create a national institute and a big library to be dedicated to the sculptor’s memory. ‘So far, we have been discussing the plans related to the creation of the Constantin Brancusi museum. We want very much that all that we have in our country that is related to Constantin Brancusi to gain more visibility. Both at national and international level. Besides the museum we are thinking of creating a national institute and a big library where to bring documents about the great artist. I have nourished big hopes that the City Hall as well as the Ministry of Culture and the other institutes, such as the Romanian Academy, the Art Institute, will help us to think of a larger project. Besides the fact that Brancusi is a great personality, we need cultural marketing, we need to learn how to sell this image to the world,’ said Doru Strambulescu.

Photo credit: (c) Irina POENARU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

About the memorial house of the sculptor in Hobita, the manager of the Culture Centre said that, unfortunately, it was left to ruin by the local and county authorities, from unknown reasons. Another construction close to the true memorial houses was presented to tourists as being the memorial house and the authorities left it like this. ‘The memorial house in Hobita is representative for the style of the peasants’ houses that were built at that time in the areas. The one that was left to ruin is the ruin and, unfortunately, time left its mark on what was left from the house [….] However, we still hope that we will be able to do something for the true house. Either we will try to rebuild it or just to stop the deterioration process and save what it’s left of it. I believe that the Romanian state, through its authorized bodies, should take more care of everything that is related to the life and work of the great sculptor. The Romanian state has a duty to honour the genius of Brancusi and all that he left to us as inheritance,’ Strambulescu also said.

In 2007, once Romania joined the European Union, the Avenue of Heroes monumental ensemble was included in the UNESCO’s European heritage. Subsequently, the relevant authorities have initiated the procedures to include the masterpieces on the list of the monuments that belong to the world heritage, following this to actually happen in 2025.

‘We already started the procedure to include the ensemble on the UNESCO list and we hope that in 2015 this will finally happen. The files are already following its course, we just received the approval after they passed the verification stage, but we don’t know exactly when the next stage will be. I don’t believe that we will encounter any problems, since the year 2015 is already announced as one when UNESCO will add new monuments to its list,’ Doru Strambulescu said.

The French say ‘Noblesse oblige’ and Romanians should learn to say ‘Brancusi oblige!’ And I don’t mean an effort of perception or interpretation of the sculptor’s work, but the greatness of it, in its entirety. Constantin Brancusi returned the Romanian spirituality to the universal one and left us a priceless inheritance: he made us citizens of this world. We own him not because he is Romania or French, but because, due to the greatness of his work, his huge value cannot be denied. Which is something that we cannot say about many Romanians today: Brancusi is a citizen of the universe and we have the duty to follow into his steps and to cherish him. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Oana POPESCU / AGERPRES PHOTO

Heart beating faster and faster, when you think this is the place Iovan Iorgovan,a hero from the olden times, passed by here, his legend saying he slew a five-headed dragon. You can take in all the wilderness of the place in the northwest extreme of Gorj County, where the mountains are peppered with founts, fast streams and clear lakes, worthy of mention being the founts of the Cerna River, the Iovan’s Valley Lake, and the Grand Valley lake. The Corcoaia Gorges are also of note with their circular cross-section and strong links to the story of Iovan Iorgovan.

In the north-west of Gorj County the Cerna flows from its source in the Mehedinti Mountains towards the village of Cerna Sat and receives numerous tributaries from its right bank, most flowing from their source in the Godeanu Mountains: Maneasa, Paraul Carbunelui, Radochioasa, Iovan’s Valley River, Balmez, Craiova. Iovan’s Valley Lake, with a volume of nearly 120 million cubic metres of water, formed through the actions of the dam built where the Cerna meets Iovan’s Valley River, swallows the waters of the Cerna River and the right-bank tributaries. The Grand Valley Lake on the Motru River has a volume of 2.8 million cubic metres and was formed through the building of a dam on the river, but also through culverts draining water from Iovan’s Valley Lake, as noted by writer Petru Radulea in his volume “The Geography of Gorj County.”

According to the head of the Mountain Rescue Service Gorj (SSG) Sabin Cornoiu the Cerna Valley, its Gorj part, is formed in its northern part by the Mehedinti and Godeanu Mountains. It allows easy access from the valley to the peaks of the Godeanu Mountains, an extremely interesting area, particularly beautiful, with mountainside settlements and mansions, characteristic of the area, and settlements as high as 1,400-1,500 metres, some of them inhabited in the winter as well. The mountain trails reach the high altitudes of the Godeanu Mountains, an area with peaks of over 2,000 metres. “Very interesting are the Cerna’s source and intermittent springs, the area where the Cerna flows from, an area in which there are several very effervescent and very powerful sources. Further on, they feed into Iovan’s Valley Lake, one of the largest hydroelectric dams in Romania that fits well in the landscape,” Sabin Cornoiu told Agerpres.

Photo credit: (c) Oana POPESCU / AGERPRES PHOTO

After Iovan’s Valley Lake, near Cerna Sat a very interesting phenomenon can be found, the Corcoaia Gorges, with their circular cross-section, a major tourist objective on the Cerna Valley, described by many as one of the wildest places in Romania. The Corcoaia Gorges have been protected since 1982 as part of the Corcoaia Gorges Reservation that is part of the Domogled-Cerna Valley National Park.

According to the Banatul Montan blog, the Gorges appeared through the carving action of the Cerna River upon the limestone-rich river bed. Although only 300 metres in length, the Corcoaia Gorges are impressive through the walls of the gorges that span over 100 metres in height and are 5 metres apart at the base. The river’s tumultuous waters have carved a winding river bed, ovoid in shape.

“Local legend says that it was through this place that the dragon followed by Iovan Iorgovan has passed. Practically, the legend finds its elements in the area, it’s clear that people seeing this area thousands of years ago started from these natural elements and those in Retezat, from Iorgovan’s Stones, where they say that Iorgovan first threw stones at the dragon, then on the Tismana hillside, where natural cut stone appears, stones on which the dragon rested and which Iovan Iorgovan cut with his sword, then the Corcoaia Gorges where Iovan slipped through, followed by the dragon that could not pass, from whence the circular shape, and with all the known elements until the confluence with the Danube, where at the Danube’s Cauldrons, legend says the dragon is still struggles,” Sabin Cornoiu says.

The Mediterranean influence in the area made a specific fauna and flora develop here, the sweet chestnut tree being widespread here while through the calcareous stones scorpions, black vipers and horned vipers can be seen. “The landscape is remarkable, it is under a Mediterranean influence and this allowed for a distinct vegetation to develop in the area, we are talking about sweet chestnuts, lilac, all sort of bushes that create a very good impression. A remarkable fauna, bears, boars, deer, of note among birds are vultures, eagles, sparrowhawks, falcons, owls and wood grouses. Chamois can be seen in the alpine region of the Godeanu Mountains. The area being under Mediterranean influence and with a lot of limestone, often times horned vipers, black vipers and scorpions can be met. The mountainside settlements that can be found in the area are also very interesting, those can also be seen in the Mehedinti and Godeanu Mountains, and further below on the Cerna Valley and near Tismana as well, with houses hundreds of years old, where people live like 200 years ago, with no lights or other facilities. Cerna Sat is the last village in Gorj, it is part of Pades commune, it is a village with a small population, without high possibilities of economic development, but the people stay there because they can work their lands without disturbance,” says the SSG head.

According to him, access in the area by car can only be done through the Cerna Valley, coming from Herculane, access from Pades being possible, but the road, in principle, is not always very good and access by off-road vehicle, bike or motorbike is recommended. From Pades the road near the Grand Valley Lake can be taken and from there towards the Cerna’s source with the return trip taking the road that borders Iovan’s Valley Lake, or by off-road vehicle by crossing the Capra Peak, where there is a road that crosses the Mehedinti Mountains and leads to the Cerna Valley.

Photo credit: (c) Oana POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Also in the area is the Piatra Closani reserve, situated near the Motru River and its affluent, Motru Sec. Piatra Closani is a limestone peak, with nearly vertical walls on its northern face, with an altitude of 1,427 metres, with numerous dry valleys, caves, ravines, areas of limestone pavement and gorges. The reserve is also of particular flora interest, species of the wild lilac, rowan, dianthus spiculifolius, alpine saxifrage, campanula alpine, linum extraaxillare, spring gentian, daffodil, yellow iris, and ivy can be found in the reserve as well as trees such as beech, hornbeam, Turkish hazel, elm, sycamore maple and flowering ash. The Piatra Closani reserve, together with the Ciucevele Cernei and the Corcoaia Gorges are part of the Domogled-Cerna Valley National Park, situated in three counties, the largest extent being in Gorj County, as noted by Petre Radulea in his book “The Geography of Gorj County.”

Furthermore, he talks about the Closani Cave, also known as the Great Cave of Closani, which means that other caves are in the area too, or Tudor Vladimirescu’s Cave. The first descriptions of the cave were done in 1913. In 1959, a second tunnel of the cave was discovered, far larger and more impressive. The description of the two tunnels, accompanied by a sketch, was published in 1967 by V Decu and Marcian Bleahu. The cave is formed of two tunnels with a length of 1,100 metres: The Matei Ghica tunnel and the Watered Tunnel. In the tunnels one can find stalactites, stalagmites, pools of water or dry pools. It is a warm cave, with a temperature of 11.3 degrees Celsius, moist and lacking in air currents. The cave was formed through the dissolution of limestone by the waters of the Motru Mare River. It is considered, due to the richness and variety of its calcite deposits, its crystallography and bio-speleological potential as the most interesting cave in this country.

In the Closani village in the commune of Pades lies, according to the volume “Itineraries in Northern Oltenia,” the pit cave of Cioaca Brebeneilor, a monument of nature, at 518 metres altitude on the Cornetu Satului Mountain, that is from a speleological point of view the most important of the caves in Oltenia and among the most interesting ones in this country due to the fact that it features, in a span of only 100 metres, a wide variety of calcareous formations exceptional due to the purity of the vermiform calcite crystals, transparent, unique in their finesse and conservation state, to which a cave fauna similar to that in the Closani Cave is added, more impressive given the large number of species crowded in the cave’s very tight space. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Marius AVRAM / AGERPRES PHOTO

The Mociu meteorite, which is also the best known in Romania, fell from the sky more than 130 years ago, on February 3, 1882, with pieces resulting after its entry into the Earth’s atmosphere having scattered over 15 km. The largest piece, which weighs 35.7 kilograms, is now on display at the Museum of Mineralogy of Cluj-Napoca, while smaller pieces were sent to more than 100 museums worldwide.

It is estimated that the Mociu meteorite debris weighed more than 300 kilograms, of which several pieces weighing about 42 kilograms in total are on display at the museum in Cluj-Napoca.

But according to specialists, the Mociu meteorite should have weighed at least 30,000 kilograms before entering the atmosphere, but, as happens in almost all cases, air friction makes meteorites lose most of their mass and arrive on Earth at only about 8-10% of their original weight.

Geology Ph.D and meteorite specialist Razvan Andrei told Agerpres that the Mociu meteorite had exploded two or three times after it entered the atmosphere and that only a small part of it reached Earth. ‘When it entered the atmosphere, its mass was much higher, at least 30 tonnes. It lost 90-92% of its mass,’ said Razvan Andrei.

He added that the largest known meteorite fell at Hoba in Namibia. It weighs about 60 tonnes, it is metallic and it punched a crater that is 50 metres in diameter and 10 metres deep.

It is said that the Mociu meteorite generated some panic among the population, but no human casualties were reported.

Curator of the Museum of Mineralogy of Cluj-Napoca Luminita Zaharia told Agerpres that there are testimonies according to which the noise made by the Mociu meteorite was heard as far away as Budapest.

Photo credit: (c) Marius AVRAM / AGERPRES PHOTO

‘It was fantastic, from what I understand, especially as it happened somewhere in the evening and the meteorite left those burning paths in the atmosphere. There are testimonials, from what I read, that the noise was heard as far away as Budapest and the light was seen even farther. It must have been something of a doomsday for those people,’ says Zaharia. It is also said that the meteorite was shining very brightly in the night skies, like a big ball of purple fire that left behind a greyish—white trail after the fall.

It is also said that the noblemen of the area would send peasants to look for pieces of the meteorite in the fields, for money, and that the largest of them were found, especially because it was winter and the traces left in the snow were evident.

Razvan Andrei says the Mociu meteorite is a primitive piece from the protosolar nebula, which has remained relatively unchanged since the birth of the solar system and which can be up to five billion years older than the Sun.

He also tells about the meteorite market where such heavenly pieces can be more expensive than any precious metal, even up to 5,000 US dollars a gram.

‘The market for meteorites is a very big market. It depends on type and analysis. One gram can reach up to several thousand dollars, like 5.000. The market was very high until about 2000, prices were very high. But discoveries began in Sahara, the place where very many meteorites originate, and prices dropped. Meteorites are very rich in iron that in a climate like that in Romania can waste away, whereas in Sahara, with a very arid climate, they can be preserved much longer,’ explains Razvan Andrei.

Eight meteorites have so far been officially registered in Romania, with the last of them being the meteorite of Plescoi, Buzau County. It weighs 6.9 kg and it fell into the courtyard of a local.

Razvan Andrei told Agerpres that a new meteorite was found in Romania currently undergoing scientific certification. The meteorite had lain for decades in the courtyard of a villager from Gresia, Teleorman County.

Along with pieces of the Mociu and Plescoi meteorites, there are more than 220 other samples of meteorites having fallen all over the world on display at the Museum of Mineralogy of the Babes-Bolyai University. In fact, the museum houses the only collection of meteorites in Romania. AGERPRES

Photo credit: (c) Marius POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Considered Transylvania’s Versailles, the Banffy Castle turned from a venue hosting glamorous balls and dinner parties, attended by high-ranking figures of those times from the Imperial Court in Vienna, into the perfect place for holding music concerts attracting the interest of more people than ever.

The event with the largest influx of participants was Electric Castle, on its second edition this year at end-June, which brought together nearly 80,000 people, a record for the relevant concerts in Romania.

“For the second time electronic music was played at the Banffy Castle, on occasion of the Electric Castle Festival 2014, breaking all records ever registered in Romania in similar events. Over 79,000 participants from Romania and abroad made the castle vibrate for four days (…) and 50,000 unique visitors accessed the website of the festival,” the organizers informed in a release after this year’s edition.

Performing this year were Die Antwoords, Thievery Corporation, Bonobo, Suie Paparude.

“All the over 130 artists gave birth to a unique experience the audience felt the need to share via social networks. The festival’s Facebook account reached 41,000 fans, and the Instagram network #electriccastle gathered 50,000 photos. The mobile application especially designed to help the audience follow the schedule and all novelties was downloaded by 7,500 people. The website www.electriccastle.ro recorded a peak of 50,000 unique visitors. (…) Electric Castle Festival 2014 became a reality thanks to the effort of the entire team that numbered about 800 people. They were joined by 200 national and foreign volunteers,” the release reads.

The Festival took place over June 19-22; the camping area arranged for the participants was filled to the brim by over 11,000 national and foreign youth. As for the garbage left behind by participants, the organizers collected over 12,500 plastic cups under a recycling program.

The first edition held last year brought together a record number of participants for a debut, about 32,000 people. Among the performers were Morcheeba, Telepopmusik, Stanton Warriors, Feed Me and Dope D.O.D.

Historian Lucian Nastasa Kovacs told AGERPRES that the gatherings held nowadays are much different compared to those once hosted by the castle. According to Kovacs, cultural meetings, official dinner parties and formal dress code parties, attended by high-ranking figures, were nothing out of the ordinary for the Banffy family.

“The owner was a family who lived in the 17th-18th century, with princely roots, the castle itself was considered the Versailles of Transylvania. There’s no doubt that receptions were organized, as revealed by memoires, other documents. Banffy Miklos has done a lot as far as culture is concerned, he is in fact the founder of Erdely Helikon newspaper, the castle was used as a venue for these meetings with writers, his friends at that time, from architect Kos Karoly and baron Kemeny Lajos to other founders and journalists writing for the Erdely Helikon. When the Nazis burned his library at Bontida in 1944, it numbered over 25,000 volumes, meaning at least two rooms packed with books. The library served as home to these meetings,’ the historian relates.

He also revealed that besides these cultural and literary meetings, high society guests were invited to attend balls, on various occasions.

“On the other hand, as any other family with princely roots, they also held balls. In those times, these events were very well organized, with all guests belonging to the high society. Various shows took place to mark certain moments of the year. We must not forget that the Banffy family was committed to the reformed faith, therefore there were very few restriction periods, only two per year in religious terms. For instance, during the winter holidays, Christmas was celebrated in big style. Or other occasions such as the birthday of a Banffy family member, for instance the father of Nicolae Banffy. All these events required receptions,” explains Kovacs.

Photo credit: (c) Marius POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

But glamorous formal parties were also held in honour of great figures of those times, especially the representatives of the Imperial Court in Vienna.

“Receptions were also held in honour of princely convoys, namely of Vienna envoys for example, who came to inspect, they were governors. If I’m not mistaken, a crown prince went to Gherla in the 19th century, and he stopped over at Bontida. When we received the visit of such people, a reception was automatically organized and attended by all aristocrats in the region,” the historian argues.

In his opinion, in the meantime, the meetings at the Banffy Castle have achieved a democratic nature, as anyone has access to the building.

“Nowadays, the music played at Bontida is too modern, everything is electronic, but music means more than synthesizers,” he reckons.

The last princely owner of the castle was Miklos Banffy, a culture figure and former foreign minister of Hungary. Miklos Banffy (1873-1950) was count of Losoncz, politician, writer, lawyer, graphic designer, screenwriter, a complex personality, who has advocated for the good relations between Romanians and Hungarians. He has served as Cluj prefect between 1906 and 1910, Liberal deputy, and between April 14, 1921 and Dec. 19, 1922 he has held the position of Hungary’s foreign affairs minister. He also worked as chief editor for two Cluj-based publications, Erdely Lapok and Erdely Helikon; between 1934 and 1940 he wrote his most famous work named the Transylvanian Trilogy, translated into several languages, a first part in Romanian included.

In 1943, being commissioned by Hungarian Prime Minister Istvan Bethlen, he attended secret talks with Iulia Maniu in Bucharest, with a view to forging a Romanian-Hungarian agreement. Miklos Banffy’s demarche to bring Romanian and Hungarian forces closer cost him dearly, because on Oct. 13, 1944, the SS Nazi troops burned the Bontida castle, with the flames destroying works of art and the library full of 26,000 volumes.

Historian Lucian Nastasa Kovacs also says that the relation between the Romanians and Hungarians meant everything to Miklos Banffy.

After ending his term as Hungarian foreign minister, Miklos Banffy moved to Transylvania in 1926; the condition for being given Romanian citizenship was not to engage in political activity for ten years. According to historic documents, right after the far-right parties seized power in October 1944, Banffy sent a letter to Governor Miklos Horthy, announcing his resignation as parliamentarian.

On the other hand, Miklos Banffy was in very good terms with Miklos Horthy, and it is said that thanks to this relationship, Cluj escaped the fighting in the autumn of 1944.

“Banffy Miklos took advantage of his relationship with Miklos Horthy, They were on friendly terms and Banffy’s friends asked him to get in contact with Horthy for Cluj to be declared a free city, precisely not to be bombed. No defence strategy was put in place for the city of Cluj. We found out that a couple of bombs fell in the area nearby the train station; but the bombs were launched before September by the British and US aviation. Because of the fact that Banffy curried favour with Miklos Horthy, the city was declared a free area and escaped bomb attacks. Then, in retaliation, when they had to withdraw, because the Banffy Palace was used for a while as military hospital by the retreating German troops, they dynamited a good part of the palace and they burned his entire library. In addition, they stole a lot of things. Banffy found some stolen paintings in a used bookstore in Budapest,” Kovacs relates.

In 1945, left without a bit of fortune, Miklos Banffy returned for the second time to Transylvania and took part actively in the cultural events in Cluj; in 1947 he asked to be repatriated to Hungary, being given green light two years later. Tholdalagi Korda, the palace of his family, located in Cluj-Napoca, was turned on the state’s hands; he decides to retire in one of the castle’s rooms. He died on June 5, 1950 in Budapest, after spending the last year of his life in poor health. In 1976, the remains of Miklos Banffy were brought to Transylvania, being placed, according to his last wish, in the family vault in the Cluj-based Hajongard cemetery.

The Banffy Castle is built in Baroque style, being the largest castle in Transylvania. Mentioned for the first time in documents in the 14th century, the domain was purchased by the Banffy family in 1387. Throughout all these years, the castle has undergone several changes and over the past decades, a part of the building was destroyed. The castle served as the headquarters of a C.A.P. unit (agricultural production cooperative during the Communist regime), driving school, as well as setting for the movie “Forest of the Hanged”.

Photo credit: (c) Endina ROATIS / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Photo credit: (c) Marius POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Photo credit: (c) Endina ROATIS / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The palace is undergoing a complex restoration process, under the aegis of Prince Charles, heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.AGERPRES

Photos taken by Marius POPESCU / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Lately, the number of tourists who visit it has increased exponentially — some 370,000 annually — and, at least in the past year, the number of foreign visitors has exceeded that of Romanian tourists. Since its modernization, in 2010, and until today, Turda Salt Mine has been visited by almost two million tourists.

Turda’s Mayor Tudor Stefanie told AGERPRES that the success has been unexpected and now, thanks to Turda Salt Mine, the town is re-orienting economically, going from a bankrupt and polluting industry to a thriving tourist activity.

“The salt mine, as a tourist attraction, has existed since 1992, but back then it was visited by very few tourists. But it has become an attractive project because there were also sources of external funding, European funds. Also, after a study made by us and by specialists in tourism promotion, as well by our strategy promoted in 2004, the salt mine was the main objective to focus on in order to develop Turda from a tourism viewpoint. We aimed at a project to capitalize on the salt and all areas in Turda with spa potential, but we have never thought this project dear to our heart of a group of people, started in 2005 and completed in 2010, will get such a tourist importance,” Tudor Stefanie underscored.

The investment made so far in Turda Salt Mine amounts to six million euros. Of the six million euros, only one million euros was from the local budget, an amount recouped from the profit made in only the first two years of operation, 2010-2011. More important is the fact that the town and its economy have a successful development direction, after the big factories of yesteryear have left Turda with high unemployment.

“It is a project that has re-launched Turda among national towns—and, as you can see, also among international ones. It is a project around which many economic activities, tourist services, public food services are developing, which means that Turda has created its future on this objective, which was not even very expensive — only six million euros, through which we draw at least 370,000 visitors annually, with a year-on-year increase. One million euros was from the local budget and in 2010-2011 that one million euros was made from the profit. Before, Turda accounted for 30% of the GDP of the county, due to the industry developed here: chemical, glass, cement, Electroceramica etc. After the 1990s, the very high shrinkage of the industrial activity and because it was a polluting, inhospitable industry, prompted us to re-focus on other strategic elements to promote the town of Turda. God gave us this natural wealth at Turda. From a spa standpoint, the mud, the saline water and the air in the salt mine can be used. Forced also by the undeveloped industry, we have found other promotion sources, and we have managed to keep this town also from an economic and social standpoint,” explains Mayor Tudor Stefanie.

Currently, Turda Salt Mine has become a model for other salt mines in the country and abroad, and it also collaborates with other salt mines in other countries. The main purpose of these collaborations is the drawing, through joint projects, of other European funds.

“There is a European association of salt mines in which we have a representative in the management of this associative form, with Turda being one of the main associated members. We have joined also to gain experience, but we also want to do joint projects on the new sources of EU funding in 2014-2020, so that we have greater opportunities to get funding and promote each other in terms of what we think it is necessary. We collaboration projects with salt mines in Ukraine, Poland, Germany, and even in Turkey. The salt mine is appreciated, given that, at least in the past year, the number of foreign visitors has exceeded that of Romanian ones. I recommend that all who have such natural riches given by God capitalise on them. Many salt mines have taken from our experience and currently also Praid has developed certain activities, Slanic Moldova as well,” says Tudor Stefanie.

But the efforts made by the municipality and the salt mine’s management do not stop strictly at the tourism and leisure tourism part, but target also another very important direction — spa tourism, because, in some respects, the air here has unique therapeutic qualities in Romania.

“We have had a project on which specialists from Poland collaborated. We have worked with several specialists from the field of salt mines in Europe, and that is why I think it is a well-promoted objective. You can see that, also in terms of the spa treatment, the salt mine can become a potential competitor on the market for spa treatment for respiratory ways. We have the results of the tests made by several specialists and, it seems that in terms of the wet air, the salt mine is unique in the country, and it will be promoted also in terms of balneology,” mentions Tudor Stefanie.

Under the 2014-2020 Regional Development Plan of Turda, the investments in the Turda Salt Mine area would continue in order to diversify services and increase economic activity.

According to the document, the plans so far include designing a spa complex in the area of Lake Durgau, designing Rudolf Mine, in which an amphitheater with 80 seats was built, installing some modern elevators for visitors, designing Terezia Mine, where boat rides can be taken on the underground salt lake. Also built have been a treatment room, a church, miniature golf and bowling courses, a sports ground and a large wheel that takes tourists to the ceiling of the salt mine. The same document around the salt mine there are development plans for a luxury spa resort, with 3-, 4—and 5-star hotels, but also with a skating rink, a horse track and a golf course. A hotel resort, called “Salt Flower” would be intended for the luxury category, and other accommodation units in the area would be for the general public.

Turda Salt Mine has been explicitly attested since 1271, in a document issued by the Hungarian Chancellery, although it seems that salt exploitation in the area had been done long before.

The salt mine is placed in a salt deposit covering an area of around 45 square kilometers, and the average thickness of the salt is some 250 metres. It is composed of several galleries.

The Franz Iozef Gallery, built between 1853 and 1870, is a horizontal gallery designed to ease and cheapen the cost of transporting the salt to the surface. At its end, it had 780 meters, but at the end of the 19th century it was extended by another 137 metres. From 1948 to 1992, it was used as a cheese storage place.

The Rudolf Mine is a trapezoidal extraction hall begun in 1867. On the north wall, stalactites of salt formed over the years, due to water infiltration, and when these reach a length of around three metres, they break because of their own the weight. On the walls of the mine one can see traces of manual cutting of salt, left by chisel, ax or pickaxe.

The Terezia Mine is a bell mine with a depth of 90 metres from the balcony and 112 metres from the surface. On its bed there is an underground lake of 4 to 8-metre deep and 70 meters in diameter, and a 5-metre tall salt island. Also, on the north wall there is a cascade of salt.

In 1857, a new mine was opened that was to be similar to the Rudolf Mine. The mine was named Ghizela. Until stopping the exploitation in Turda Salt Mine, only preparatory works were performed in Ghizela Mine and since 1932, when Turda Salt Mine was closed, Ghizela Mine has remained in the state it is today.

After salt extraction was stopped in 1932, Turda Salt Mine was aimed to various activities. Among other things, during the World War II, it was used by the population as a bomb shelter, and during 1948-1992, a part of it was used as a cheese storage place.AGERPRES

Photo credit (c): DANIEL STOENCIU / AGERPRES STREAM

According to Chairwoman of the Seaside — Danube Delta Association (ALDD) Corina Martin, the number of foreign tourists who spend their holidays on the Romanian seaside has started to grow, with the resort of Mamaia generally being the number one option.

‘As much as 95 per cent of our customers are still Romanian holidaymakers. Now we’re growing the segment of foreign tourists, after very many years of attempts, and the increase is mainly due to the success of the resort of Mamaia, which became an international brand increasingly better known,’ says the ALDD representative.

After a decline of the resort in the early 1990s, Mamaia began to make extensive investments in infrastructure, accommodations and service quality, as well as in diversifying possibilities of fun, with the exclusive clubs built in the northern part of the resort becoming a powerful magnet for tourists.

From one year to another, Mamaia welcomes its visitors to more accommodation places, despite criticism that this way green spaces are disappearing. There are 80 hotels up to five stars, with a total capacity of over 20,000 beds. In addition, the resort welcomes tourists to chic restaurants and terraces, walkways, recreation centres, a gondola lift, as well as a water park that can accommodate almost 2,500 people and host many social events and performances. One of the events is the Mamaia Carnival, with parades of floats and themed shows whose protagonist is eccentric mayor of Constanta Radu Mazare.

In summer season 2014, three footbridges were inaugurated at Mamaia, built by the local administration on EU funds, with the total amount of investments amounting to about 11 million lei. The investment was made in order to both increase the road traffic flow, and also to attract tourists by their special look.

Photo credit (c): CRISTIAN NISTOR / AGERPRES STREAM

Called ‘Iaht’ (Yacht),’ ‘Navod si pescarusi’ (Fishing net and Gulls) and ‘Val retro’ (Retro Wave) after their shapes, the footbridges are located at the entrance to the resort of Mamaia coming from Constanta, in the Casino and the Rex Hotel areas, respectively, having been built above the avenue of the resort.

The footbridges seem more imposing at night when illuminated, and there are few tourists departing from Mamaia without take pictures on these new structures.

Another investment made in the last year is the rehabilitation of the esplanade of Mamaia, including the Casino and Perla squares, by paving them in granite, improving lighting, replacing old street furniture and planting more than 800 trees, with the project having been conducted on EU funds of 50 million lei. A bicycle lane runs along the entire seafront.

At the same time, the number of parking lots along the tourist promenade has increased.

According to representatives of the Constanta City Hall, the esplanade of the resort of Mamaia has so far been 70 per cent rehabilitated, and works will continue and be completed after the end of summer season 2014.

Another project on European funding totalling 24 million euros regards the construction of a seven-storey car park near the Casino Square at the resort of Mamaia.

The park will be able to hold 400 cars, to be completed by April 2015. Subsequently, according to the mayor of Constanta, parking can be used for free by travellers for at least five years.

With the upgrading of the esplanade, beach conditions improved and operators increased quality of their services to attract tourists.

Photo credit (c): SIMION MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVES

The resort of Mamaia has one of the largest resort beaches in Europe, as it is about ten kilometres long and 200 metres broad in some areas. The sand is fine, without too many shells and pebbles. Most of the beach is equipped with benches, umbrellas, bars and terraces. AGERPRES

Inside the Casian Cave
Photo creidt (c): SIMION MECHNO / AGERPRES ARCHIVES

Dobrogea, the realm between the Danube and the Black Sea, is so full of contrasts; equally harsh and dry, fecund and fertile, desert-like, deltaic and rocky, aquatic and terrestrial, all that paradoxically imbues Plato’s allegory of the cave with the valences of a temporary synergy that marriages past, present and future, for what other significance can the ancient legend of the Ciris Cave have?

The past is recorded in the annals. Dio Cassius, in his ‘Roman History’ mentions the people of an entire fortress that allegedly sought salvation from Romans by losing their traces in a mythical cave called Ciris, somewhere in Schithya Minor.

In 29-28 BC, Roman proconsul Marcus Licinius Crassus started an expedition as head of an army to Moesia Inferior to punish and conquer the Dacians led by Dapyx, a brave king and the successor of Burebista. The claim was that a local tribal chieftain named Roles, subjected to Rome but in conflict with Dapyx had to be helped. In fact, Marcus Licinius wanted to recover the lost battle flags of Caius Antonius in the battle of the Genucla Fortress, near Histria, and thus to wash away some older shame, because Zyraxes, the military leader who defeated the Romans at Genucla, was an ally of King Dapyx. In fact, the Roman Empire was trying to win full control over the Dacians south of the Danube, their riches, gold, cattle, grain and slaves. Dio Cassius says clearly that Licinius spared no one, irrespective of personal attitudes towards the empire. There was no forgiveness or leniency, and ‘the barbarians,’ as Dacians were labelled, had to be killed and burned down. Dapyx died a hero battling against the ‘civilising’ Romans, and the city of Zyraxes was itself conquered after a betrayal. Scared of the wrath that came upon them, the Dacians, the Roman historian says, gathered what they could and fled underground, along with women, children and their elders through the mouth of a cave also designed as a place of worship complete with totems at the entrance. They took the grain away with them into the depths of the cave, according to historian Dio Cassius, along with sheep, goats, cows, gold and jewels, as they made the dark galleries of the Ciris Cave their home. Crassus is said to have sought out all the entrances to the cave, which were tortuous and difficult to discover and walled them up, thus turning the saving haven into a huge tomb for the people who sought their salvation underground. Historians also mention that in order to recover the riches the Dacians had hidden in the cave and to catch as many slaves as possible the Romans would have opened the cave to smoke out the survivors. None of the refugees would be found . So, the legend of the mythical Ciris Cave has survived in today’s Dobrogea telling of how the oppressed found salvation, walking all the way to another realm, like through a two-way passageway. Some claim the Ciris Cave had secret exits to today’s Bulgaria, others claim the cave had galleries extending all the way to Byzantium. Paradoxically or not, the same story is found in Bulgaria as well, in settlements at the border between Romania and Bulgaria, where treasure hunters, archaeologists, tourists and adventure enthusiasts are seen intermingling. Local legends have it that the cave is a gateway to the world beyond death.

Archaeologist Vasile Boroneant, one of the historians fascinated by this mystery, has located the Ciris Cave at Limanu, which labyrinthine cave was aptly called ‘at the icons,’ after the discovery there of incisions, charcoal drawings and carved idols as well as traces of life forms dating back to the Neolithic and some possibly to the times of the Dacians. The Limanu Cave is an underground labyrinth, whose exact length is not known yet, as only 3.2 km of its galleries and corridors have been mapped. Traces of human living, carved walls and ceilings, furnished rooms, alcoves for rush lights have been discovered here, and there is evidence of the early inhabitants of the cave having used a marking system to avoid getting lost. Drawings and inscriptions in Roman and Cyrillic alphabets on the walls prove the cave was inhabited between 1st century BC and 10th century AD. Of special interest are the drawings of horse riders; horses seen from one side are drawn galloping, and the faces of the riders are seen from the front. Their silhouette and presentation strikingly resemble those of Dacian riders depicted on pottery discovered in many settlements in the area inhabited by Thraco-Dacians. The earliest drawings are very likely from the apex of the Geto-Dacian culture, the time when archaeologists also say the cave was furnished as well. Other drawings — Christian religious symbols, letters or words in the Cyrillic alphabet — belong to the Roman-Byzantine period and the subsequent times, and they are evidence that the Limanu Cave was a shelter for the local population until later, 10th-11th centuries AD — as Ph.D. Boroneant mentions in his works.

‘Of all the caves of Dobrogea, the Limanu is the only one that comes closest to Dio Cassius’ description of the legendary Ciris. It is the only one able to justify the deployment of a Roman army to besiege a place of refuge. Surveys have revealed archaeological material proving that the cave was inhabited by local Dacians even in that era. Existing evidence allows us to assume that the maze of Limanu was ordered by a local Geto-Dacian authority as a defence measure against the Roman danger. The account of Dio Cassius shows that the cave was a place of refuge, purposefully chosen and furbished, not some adventitious cavern,’ Ph.D. Boroneant writes in his ‘Labirintul subteran de la Limanu’ (The Underground Labyrinth of Limanu).

Local stories mention strange and frightening wails coming from the depths of the earth, with those who hear them becoming mesmerised and starting looking for the voice. It is said that the voice would be the voice of the entrance guardian who wants to lure in the profane and make them blasphemously tread on the sacred earth of Zamolxis. Moreover, a mystery was woven concerning the interpretation of images displayed by fallen boulders at the entrance to the cave, which should be the faces carved in stone of Zamolxis, whose spirit guards the entrance to the sacred realm until the Dacian ancestors come back from the abyss.

A scientific explanation for these strange sounds provided by speleologists is that the eerie wails are produced by the wind that sweeps through many underground galleries at Limanu, a noise that apparently affects the human psyche.

From a geological point of view, the Limanu Cave, 4,000 metres long, is the longest cave in Dobrogea. It has a dizzying branching of galleries, like the street network of an unorganised ancient city chaotically developed. Hence the impression of an underground city. Some galleries that have a rectangular, very regular section, seem to have been carved by humans. Some sectors of the galleries were indeed carved by humans, as signs of chiselling are visible. In order to avoid the collapse of ceilings, supporting walls and pillars were built in limestone slabs. The cave’s morphology is specific of caves with a horizontal stratification developed in Sarmatian limestone in the form of tabular structures. In an easily accessible area, Hellenistic pottery and rush lights were discovered, indicating that residents of Callatis nearly two millennia ago carved altars here, where they would come to worship god Mithras. It is clear however that with the spread of Christianity in the 10th century attempts were made for the conversion of the Limanu Cave into a Christian place of worship.

In his turn, historian Constantin Daicoviciu says the mythical Ciris Cave should be in the Dobrogea Mouth reserve, on the Casimcea Plateau, a hypothesis also shared by Vasile Parvan. There, in the Cave of Bats, also called the Mouth of Dobrogea, covering 5 hectares, an arrangement of several galleries with three access holes, various evidence of human presence has been certified including Paleolithic and Neolithic flint tools, Neolithic pottery shards, as well as more recent objects of metal belonging to the Iron Age. Most galleries and rooms of the cave are inhabited by colonies of bats roosting in summer and hibernating in winter that belong to the Mediterranean species Rhinolophus mehelyi and Myotis mistacinus. Also in the area are the caves At Adam’s and St. Ioan Casian.

Local legends have created a special aura for the cave Canaraua Fetei, the Girl’s Canyon, bestowing on it all the attributes worthy of the Ciris Cave’s fame as an underground realm for escaping to another world in time of tribulation. Considered by geologists as the quintessential Romanian canyon, with walls of limestone up to 40 meters tall, peppered with cracks, niches, grottoes and caves, the Girl’s Canyon fauna and flora reserve covers 170 hectares at the south-western border of Constanta County.

At every step, tourists amazingly discover xerophilous oak forests, silver limes, mahaleb cherries, lilac bushes, dwarf Russian almond trees, yellow bedstraws, red and white-azure saffron, bluish irises, peonies and shrub broom. Keen eyes can easily distinguish on cliff tops white Egyptian vultures peacefully nesting there or sneaking up on foxes in the evening. In the coolness of the evening, in the quiet and generous valley of the canyon, fallow deer majestically appear moving at a cadence that can scare away even the horned viper. Elders from the neighbour villages of Dumbraveni and Olteni still mention stories from their parents, such as the one according to which an ancient branch of the Danube River would have crossed the area and the rushing water would have dug the local caves with many galleries and exits. Locals are said to have hidden their wives and virgin girls in the Girl’s Canyon Cave when the Ottomans invaded the province.

The hiding place was allegedly discovered in the end, and in order to avoid being kidnapped several of the girls allegedly hurled themselves down from the rocks, thus paying with their lives their spotless honour.

Also at the Girl’s Canyon, a paleo-Christian monastery was carved in the vertical chalky walls, of an unreal beauty, far from prying eyes. The monastic settlement in the cave was inhabited in two stages: a first stage in the 4th-7th centuries AD and the second stage in the early Middle Ages (the 9th-10th centuries), with the site very much resembling the monastic place of Basarabi. The relics of two unknown monks have been discovered here, along with three tombs long ago plundered.

Locals say that in the bleak past there used to be drawings and inscriptions in unknown languages (probably proto-Bulgarian runes) carved in the limestone walls of the two small churches inside the cave. Even coins from the times of Roman Emperor Constance (4th century AD), son of Constantine the Great, were discovered here.

The caves of Dumbraveni in the Girl’s Canyon, near the plateau where the battle between Dacians and Romans was fought at Adamclisi used to be places of heathen worship long before the coming of the first Christian monks and the even housed an altar to god Zamolxis.

Another story about the monastic complex here talk about a long corridor, dug under the rocks all the way to the Fortress Tropaeum Traianifortress of Adamclisi, or that by night, the local monks of the Girl’s Canyon would turn into outlaws pillaging the households of Turks and kidnapping their wives and daughters. AGERPRES

Photo credit (c): LUISIANA BIGEA / AGERPRES STREAM

But as of summer next year, the underwater forays into archaeological sites on the Black Sea continental shelf off Dobrogea, as it stretches along the Romanian and Bulgarian coastline, will be accessible to tourists, sea and history lovers, thanks to the HERAS project—”The Submarine Archaeological Heritage of the Western Black Sea Shelf”, initiated by the National Institute for Research and Development of Marine Geology and Geoecology (GeoEcoMar) in collaboration with the Constanta National Museum of History and Archaeology, the Respiro Underwater Dive Center, the Kavarna History Museum and the Varna Institute of Oceanology, under the Cross-border cooperation programme Romania — Bulgaria 2007-2013, funded with more than 1.4 million euros.

Coordinator of the HERAS project, PhD Associate Professor Glicherie Caraivan, says that we actually witness the fulfillment of the dream of the early ?60s nurtured by the pioneer of Romanian underwater archaeology, commander Constantin Scarlat, to whom we also owe the first map of the submarine relief and of the resources of the Black Sea continental shelf. ‘HERAS is an interdisciplinary geo-archaeological project aimed at the study of archaeological sites in the western basin of the Black Sea that will be introduced in the cultural heritage. As a matter of fact, its main objective is the identification of targets that have so far been located based on primary, even empirical observations of witnesses like fishermen, for instance; they will next be charted and promoted as objectives of interest of the underwater heritage, to be offered to the seekers of adventure tourism or divers. Visiting these sites can have both a scientific and a recreational purpose, for the track record — in the case of certain divers, or for viewing these heritage assets,” says Glicherie Caraivan.

The greatest part of the project consists of the conduct of on-site campaigns, which entail about 90 percent of the work of the Bulgarian and Romanian researchers. And for a better understanding of the scope of such work, it should be mentioned that until the start of this initiative, archaeologists and marine researchers were unanimous on the fact that the underwater cultural heritage is known, located and researched to an extent of merely 5 percent, in the area of the Romanian-Bulgarian seaside.

In turn Dr. Constantin Chera, researcher at the Museum of National History and Archaeology in Constanta says that in the first stage, the work of the HERAS team — that of collecting information, inventory-making and mapping — began in the northernmost areas of the Romanian seaside, which are known to have been home to human settlements from ancient times.

‘This is the case of the Histria Fortress — where there’s a genuine submerged city, off the Corbu beach, where magnetometric and electrometric investigations reveal the continuity of the sites along the shoreline, of Navodari, the Ostrov Island on the Tasaul Lake, where there is a prehistoric submerged settlement, of Tomis — where quarters of the fortress lie below the sea level, just as at Callatis, Tuzla, 23 August, Eforie and beyond the Romanian border, beginning from Durankulak, the site of the biggest prehistoric necropolis in the world,’ Chera underscores.

But how deep will research on the Black Sea continental shelf go anyway? “Down to the 40-metre isobath, that is to the limit where experienced scuba divers can reach. “We do electromagnetic and magnetographic investigations with geophysical equipment, with remotely operated vehicle (ROV) side scan sonar, and even with a submarine — used by our Bulgarian colleagues. We start from approximately 1,000 possible targets reported by fishermen as so-called ‘hooks’ — these are the first indications that these areas could hide potential objects of interest for underwater archeology, wrecks of ships, aircraft or ancient habitation areas. Then there are the cave areas, fewer on the Romanian territory, more numerous at the Bulgarians, and these too could arouse the interest of diving fans, as they are a perfect goal for adventure tourism,” concluded Dr. Glicherie Caraivan.

And as researchers are generally far-sighted people whose main work commandment is that of shining the best light on these awesome heritage treasures and particularly the preservation of the identified sites, the HERAS project also has an important training component for the guides who will be authorized to work with the future “map of submarine treasures which are now being charted. “In Romania, some 20 diving clubs are entered in the official records and as the magic of underwater treasures always inflames passions — sometimes even dangerous ones — we also conceived this project with a formative dimension under which we train and certify divers who will have access to the map of the submerged heritage sites and who will be solely authorized to assist adventure tourism enthusiasts during the dives to the sites. They also complete a module of training in underwater archeology, legislation on protected national heritage, in-depth study of a best practice guide, so that after the certification exam they will be the only ones making sure that visits to these objectives in the company of underwater wanderlusters unfold according to the book,’ explained Caraivan.

The authorities’ intention is that in the end the HERAS project — “Submarine Archaeological Heritage of the Western Black Sea Shelf” be interconnected with a leisure tourism circuit on the Black Sea littoral that combines events or objectives of cultural, religious, folklore relevance, festivals, terrestrial archeological sites or museums in Romania and Bulgaria, including the organisation of a permanent exhibition of archaeological discoveries, artefacts acquired under this project and the relevant investigation methods.

This is also highlighted by president of the Respiro Underwater Research Society Mircea Popa, who opines that the most important aspect of this project resides in the preservation, restoration, cataloguing of artefacts and the analysis of the results by experts; the data obtained will be presented to scientific and informative research journals as well as in thematic exhibitions displaying the material collected from each archeological site (eg the Tomis area) or from several archaeological sites in a themed display — such as commercial maritime routes in the Black Sea, for example. “HERAS is a joint project between the Romanian and Bulgarian scientists, whereby we intend to investigate the western plateau of the Black Sea from the Danube to Cape Kaliakra. The goals of the project are to discover, preserve and promote the underwater archaeological heritage of this region. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of shipwrecks and archaeological sites are waiting to be explored. Beginning with the sites of the Greek and Roman period to modern wrecks, this area has never been explored in a scientific and comprehensive manner. As a way of approaching the issue, the ethics of the HERAS project is to analyze the archives and old documents in order to determine the probable locations of the archaeological vestiges. For this purpose we use nonintrusive technologies for charting the sites and the archaeological work is performed at the highest standards, using specific databases, archaeological inventories, drawings, mapping, photographing, filming and photogrammetric analysis,” Mircea Popa concluded. AGERPRES

Photo credit (c): NONA JALBA / AGERPRES ARCHIVES

The Island, a real oasis of green, with a tourist complex, is the favourite place of those who want to break free from the seaside hustle for at least a few hours.

According to the researches carried out on the Island, the oldest settlements in the area date back to the Thraco-Getae and Getae Dacian times, with Dacian, Getae and Schythian populations and Greek colonies having lived here over time.

A series of legends weaved in time around the island that nature created thousands of years ago, one of them saying it is the legendary place where poet Publius Ovidius Naso was exiled by Emperor Augustus and where he supposedly wrote the Tristia and the Epistulae ex Ponto works.

In the past centuries, the Island was inhabited by fishermen, but also by farmers who took advantage of its fertile soil.

After its tourist potential was identified, Ovidiu Island was turned into a relaxation spot for tourists, which it remained until present.

Tourists can reach the Island by boat or barge, which run daily between 10,00 and 24,00, depending on the demands, from a special pontoon in Mamaia resort. The cost of a round-trip ticket is 25 lei for adults and 20 lei for children between 10 and 14 years, by 5 lei more than in 2013.

Photo credit (c): NONA JALBA / AGERPRES ARCHIVES

In full summer season, hundreds of tickets are sold, the trip from Mamaia resort to Ovidiu Island taking approximately 20 minutes. It provides a relaxation time for tourists who can enjoy the beauty of the water and the seagull flight and also see the urban settlements on the shores of the lake, consisting of hundreds of constructions coming into view in an increasing number both in Mamaia — Constanta area, but also in that of Ovidiu and Navodari localities.

Once you arrive on the Island, you seem to have woken up in a new world. There is a green area inviting you to meditation, as the Island covers about 26,000 square metres, with approximately half the space set up for tourist purposes by a private investor, with accommodation and restaurant facilities.

The restaurant counting about 400 seats, with terraces mainly made of reed, decorated in a rustic style with floral arrangements, which can host around 150 persons, mainly serves fish dishes, at affordable prices, depending on the menu, with wine tastings from the local vineyards.

The accommodation spaces consist of ten summer houses with porches and can take up to 20 people, providing all comforts. According to the reception desk personnel, the accommodation in a summer house costs 150 lei per night. All summer houses are fully booked by tourists who made reservations with a long time in advance.

‘All summer houses are booked, from May 1 through September. Tourists sleep on the Island and usually spend their day time in Mamaia resort,’ a reception clerk said, mentioning that the guests accommodated in the green oasis benefit from one free round-trip from the Island to Mamaia resort. For several trips during one day, tourists must pay 25 lei per adult per trip.

Ovidiu Island also hosts a playground, a small zoo, with peacocks with alluring feathers, pheasants, quails and swans attracting mainly the children, a pontoon for fishermen, but also a sunbathing area equipped with sunbeds. The Island has narrow alleys winding amid a multitude of trees — some fruit trees, multicolour flowers, haystacks and other decorative elements such as rustic carts, everything in harmony with the whisper of artesian wells and the song of birds. AGERPRES