"Rosia Montana – A heavenly place in danger" Judetul Alba by norbert76

Rosia Montana is an ancient mining town in the heart of Alba County, Transylvania, Romania, in approx. 800 meters altitude. Rosia Montana is a meeting place of low valleys, high mastiffs, pure lakes and springs, medieval and roman archeological sites and monuments, and the various cultures which have been hosted by this land for centuries. The beauties of nature and the hospitality of its inhabitants make Rosia Montana a place always to be remembered by its visitor. And now this heavenly place is in danger. The greed and lack of responsibility of a Canadian investor – Rosia Montana Gold Corporation – tries to erase the town and its surroundings from the map of Romania and the world. If the Corporation's plan succeeds, this landscape would be replaced with a toxic lake of cyanide, the mountains would be dempolished, and the town would disappear from the face of Earth.

Rosia Montana – Main Square

Rosia Montana has been inhabited from ancient times. Even the Romans had been mining its mountains for gold. The town itself still reserves its medieval structure, and is full of the memories of several ethnic groups which has lived here. Its heritage contains Romanian, Hungarian and German elements as well. In the cemeteries of Rosia Montana one can meet tombs with Romanian, Hungarian and German carvings as well. In the town there are six religious cults – Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Reformed, Greek Catholic, Unitarian and Baptist – present. Most of the buildings of Rosia Montana are several centuries old. Unfortunately many of them was bought by the Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, which does not pay any serious efforts to preserve their status and quality – these buildings are left to become simply ruins, which is a great loss for everyone who pays respect for culture and the heritage of our ancients.

Rosia Montana – Entrance of a Roman mining tunnel

The hills surrounding Rosia Montana are full of Roman mining tunnels, some of which are just in a few yards distance from the road. By the plan of the Gold Corporation all these would also disappear – four muntains would be turned into a crater of 800 ha's area, full of toxic cyanide solution, which is a severe ecologic danger not for Romania, but for all of Central Europe. The inhabitants of Rosia Montana – along with several NGO-s and activists from all over the world – make serious efforts to defend and protect this land of outstanding natural values and cultural heritage.

• Pros:Beautiful landscapes and towns, hospitality of people
• Cons:Roads are not of quite good quality – drive carefully!
• In a nutshell:An insight to pure nature and ancient heritage