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Tag: salt mines

  • A tourist in Romania’s salt mines

    A tourist in Romania’s salt mines

    Tourists’ interest in salt mines has been growing in time, and the curative properties of salty air have led to the development of speleotherapy and climatotherapy, treatments that people can benefit from in the underground, in a salt mine. There are salt mines where amusement parks have been built for both children and adults, as well as relaxation areas and museums.



    Daniela Pop, a marketing representative of the National Salt Company (SALROM) presented to us some of the most beautiful salt mines in Romania: “We manage seven salt mines, and five of them are open to tourists. They have access to places which are very beautifully decorated and equipped, they are genuine national treasures. We manage Praid mine in Harghita County, Slanic in Prahova county, which is the closest to Bucharest, Ocnele Mari in Valcea county and Targu Ocna and Cacica in the eastern region of Moldavia. We cover the entire country. Tourists can visit these mines any time during the year, both in summer and in winter, because temperature in the underground is constant.”



    Most salt mines have set up special leisure facilities in the underground, to help people spend a pleasant time there. Here is Daniela Pop with more: ”Unless advised otherwise by a doctor, because there are people suffering from certain diseases who are not allowed to go down into a salt mine, visitors can spend two or three hours in the underground together with their children. In Praid, for instance, we have a beautiful adventure park with a zipline, a playground for children, so entire families can spend time there and breathe clean air, which has never been polluted and is very good for their health. The most popular of our salt mines is Praid, in Harghita county. The place also has a restaurant, a concert area and it hosts lots of events. The region of Sovata-Praid per se is quite beautiful. We intend to bring more services into the salt mine, such as audio books with presentations in several languages.”



    Romania is famous for its salt mines. According to studies conducted recently, in Romania you will find places with the purest air on the planet. Also, Romania is home to the biggest salt mine in Europe, Prahova, which is located 120 km from Bucharest.



    And, although there are similar places across Europe, the Romanian salt mines have a certain characteristic, according to the SALROM marketing representative Daniela Pop: “These are places that you won’t find everywhere in the world. There are salt mines in other countries as well, but they are not so numerous. Romanians are very keen on tradition. They keep the spirit of Christian education alive. In each salt mine from our portfolio we have an altar dedicated to saint Varvara, who is the protector of miners. We have tried to preserve as much as we could from the traditions of Romanian mining. In each salt mine visitors will find leaflets presenting a short history of mining, we want to disseminate information especially among foreign tourists. Most of them come with the purpose of discovering the history of the place, the stories related to salt extraction. I recommend everyone who happens to pass by a salt mine to go down into the mine and spend a few hours in the underground. They will surely feel the benefits of salty air. However, people with health problems should take into account the doctor’s orders.”



    We’ll now be heading to northeastern Romania, in the historical region of Bucovina, to visit the Cacica salt mine. The commune of Cacica is located 18 kms away from the town of Gura Humorului and 40 kms from Suceava where salt deposits were uncovered around 1780. The Cacica salt mine was opened to visitors starting in the 19th century.



    Ioana Croitoru, a tour guide, will make a short presentation of the salt mine next: “The entire salt mine was carved by hand with the help of hammers and chisels by expert miners from Poland and Ukraine. Everything there is made of salt. Cacica means ‘duck’ in Polish. The area was a marshland with lots of wild ducks, hence the name of the salt mine given by the Poles. Experts estimate that Cacica has a salt deposit that will be enough for another 500 years from now. Exploitation of the salt in Cacica started in 1791. The mine has a small Orthodox chapel with several sculptures made in salt. At the depth of 38 meters there is an artificial lake on whose borders one will spot salt crystals. Visitors will also notice at the lake a small boat in which miners used to take their kids and grandchildren for a ride. A ball room was carved at a depth of 41 meters where parties used to be organized. The room bears the name of the salt mine’s first director general, Agripa Popescu. At 75 meters in the underground there used to be a cheese storage area, given that temperature in the underground is constant, standing at 10 degrees C. Now a sports ground is being set up in the salt mine for those who come for treatment, people with asthma or with various respiratory diseases. There is also a playground for kids.”



    We hope we have convinced you to contact your travel agent and book a tour of Romania’s salt mines.

  • Romania’s Salt Mines

    Romania’s Salt Mines

    Romania is one of the largest salt producers in the world, boasting a long tradition in the field of salt exploitation. Salt mines are an increasingly popular tourist attraction, as the curative properties of salty air have led to the emergence of speleotherapy and climate therapy, underground treatment procedures unfolding in caves and salt mines.



    We start our journey in Targu Ocna, Bacau County. The exploitation of salt, in its current form, started in Targu Ocna a long time ago, around 1967. However, tourism took a fresh turn in the region as of 2005. It was the year when the Saint Varvara church was put to good use, says the director of the Targu Ocna Salt mine, Ilie Ion: ”It was rebuilt in 1992, within six months, based on a project developed by the employees of the Targu Ocna Salt Mine. Back then, it was a unique monument in Romania, as well as in the whole of Europe. If tourists want to see it, they should descend 240 meters underground, where our tourism and leisure facilities are operational, on a surface of 13 thousand hectares. We offer perfect conditions for relaxation, to all those who want to stay fit, and we also have courts for mini-football, basketball, lawn tennis and table tennis. Visitors can also undergo treatment for respiratory conditions. A salty water lake and a waterfall successfully complete a breathtakingly beautiful scenery. For children, we laid out playgrounds with cradles, toboggans and rocking chairs. Furthermore, for the little visitors we brought over some arcade machine games and snooker tables, we tried to create some areas for mini-bicycles, and intend to set up an area for skateboarders and roller skaters.”



    The Salt museum is also available to visitors, the director of the Targu Ocna Salt mine, has also said: ”At the museum, we put on show interesting objects, illustrative of the genesis and evolution of salt exploitation and processing. We make available detailed information on its therapeutic values, giving tourists the chance to admire interesting exhibits, which stand proof of the impressive past of salt exploitation in Targu Ocna, with a tradition dating as far back as 1380. Throughout the years, visitors from all continents came over to visit the place. Everybody is deeply impressed with what they see. Very few tourists have had the chance to visit a salt mine before. And we have several such places in Romania, which are of high interest for foreign visitors, who are very emotional when sharing their impressions. I had the chance to talk to some Japanese tourists, for instance. We had a conversation by courtesy of an interpreter, which was unable to render the visitors’ emotions, but I saw the expression on their faces and the sparkle in their eyes.”



    Now we invite you to northern Romania, to the town of Cacica in Suceava county, a place first documented in the 18th century. The Austrian administration opened in Cacica an intensive and effective salt exploitation. The salt was manually carved in block-shaped pieces and the first exploitation chamber was built at a depth of 27 meters. The exploitation per se started around 1817.



    Ioana Croitoriu, guide at Cacica salt mine has more: ”Cacica means ‘duck’ in Polish. There used to be a swamp area here, a habitat for many wild ducks, hence the name given by the Poles. According to experts we have salt reserves here for another 500 years. Exploitation started in 1791. We have a small Orthodox chapel with sculptures in salt and an artificial lake at a depth of 38 meters. Salt crystals are forming around it. There is also a boat on the lake, which was used by the miners to take their children or grandchildren on a ride in their leisure time. We also have a ballroom for balls and parties. It bears the name of Agripa Popescu, who was the first director general. Then there is another level, 75 meter deep, which used to serve as a maturation storeroom for cheese, thanks to its constant temperature of ten degrees. Now there is a sports ground there for those seeking treatment for asthma and other respiratory conditions. There are also play grounds for children.”



    We make our last stopover in Transylvania. Given that some of the old towns and villages here are dating back to the year 1100, Praid is quite a young settlement, first documented around 1564. However, Praid is the largest commune in Harghita County. In spite of the beautiful landscapes here and the quaint settlements, the place is best known for its salt mine, which is actually a genuine underground town. According to the latest data released by the administration of the Praid salt mine, the number of tourists has risen by 35 thousand this year as compared to the same period last year. The daily average of visitors is between 3,000-4,000 people.



    According to Seprodi Zoltan, the director of the salt mine, the underground landscape is impressive: “A bus will take you 1.2 kilometres down into the salt mine, about 100 metres below the surface. From there, tourists are taking the stairs, about 240 flights, to reach an old room, which is the starting point of a 600-meter tunnel network. These tunnels are 20 meters wide and 14 meters tall. These are impressive dimensions. Roughly, 80 percent of the tourists come from Hungary; the rest are from almost all European countries and we’ve even had groups from Asia and America. We talked to them and realized they were quite impressed with the salt mine and with what they see down there. I would like to convey a message to all your listeners that they are welcome here and if they want to be impressed, they should go and visit the salt mine in Praid.”