The single place in Europe where anybody can get to see natural crystals discovered by mistake in a mine of bauxite, which is a hidden gem that is not as known as it deserves but where the various shapes of the transparent gems offered by nature are going to leave you speechless.
It starts like a normal journey with a road that will lead to a new place we have no idea about but to whom we are ready to let ourselves be surprised and our heart conquered, and that's exactly what happened when we got to visit the cave with the crystals from Farcu Mine.
In my previous post when we enjoyed a walk into the wilderness of Padurea Craiului Mountains, I mentioned that if you keep going further than the first 5 km of the Lazuri Gorges you will, eventually, reach different touristic attractions.
One of them was also the Farcu Mine which represents a real treasure into the heart of the mountains that way too little people heard about it or actually got to visit it.
Farcu Mine is located in the village called Rosia from Bihor County, on just 2,5 km away from Lazuri Gorges which means just 5 minutes of driving the car.
It's true that the mine is pretty hidden by the tourists' eyes even if it's located next to the road and you wouldn't really guess what a tiny house hides and that it represents the actual entrance underground, but there are still quite a few road signs that are leading you here. For I don't know what reason, people still tend to miss this whenever they get the chance to travel on this part of the country.
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We even got to meet the guardian of the underground treasure that welcomed us from the first moment we parked the car on the street and led us in front of the doors which were soon going to be opened and leave us speechless.
The cave with natural crystals was first discovered back in 1987 when there were lots of mining operations going on and which surprised everyone when the crystals were found, being considered a real treasure for the country because of the huge diversification of the crystals' shapes and the cave's speleothems.
Unfortunately, the whole joy and discovery didn't last for too long due to the very poor people of the village who were working on the mine and which started deteriorating countless times the treasure that nature offered to each one of us, breaking the crystals and stealing them to be exchanged for money.
The good part is that the center with protected areas from Romania was noticed in 2012 and together with other partners started investing more in the restoration of the mine so that it becomes easier to be visited by tourists, while it represents the single place from Europe with natural crystals open to the general public, and the 2nd one from the world, while there is just one more such cave with natural crystals located in South Africa.
Of course, there are more mines with crystals and caves in the world, but they are not opened to the general public and so we have just 2 in the whole world that has been specially arranged for the tourists, including stairs, lighting system and barriers.
The Farcu Mine used to measure just 251m length before the crystals were discovered, but now its length is obviously bigger from which only 700m are available to the tourists, that will get through numerous rooms and galleries with different formations of crystals, but also a tiny museum with the authentic equipment used by miners in the 19th century.
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One of the things that will bring you some real goosebumps it's the 100m long gallery which was completely dug by the water that flooded the mine during some of the mining operations and which shaped the walls entirely.
The place not only that has taken many lives at that time but it also remained part of the cave's history, to whom the access is forbidden in these days, but which also contributed on breaking the stone walls and discover the inedited formations of the crystals which make the mine so important and unique in the world.
The cave that was discovered by chance in a former bauxite mine is located on a very poor village which brought nothing else to it but just vandalism in percents of 60-70% which affected very badly its potential for the whole area and county itself.
Happily, even though that a big part of the crystals were stolen to be sold for little money, there are still lots of crystals that are conquering thousands of tourists with each passing year, being able to discover a few crystals that are up to 2m height which are basically known as "Macaroni" Stalactites.
The crystals, not just that are made of different calcite forms which turns the beautiful gems into transparent ones, but they also create different shapes that are often interpreted as representing dragonflies, Virgin Mary, or even Santa Claus, each one of them bringing luck in tourists lives.
Anyway, what makes the cave so unique in front of the others, it's that this kind of underground beauties with precious gems are usually open only to speleologists, but this one was also thinking to the unique experience tourists can have while exploring natural crystals, and that made it possible for everyone who wants to explore Farcu Mine be able to do it without any kind of speleological training.
Of course, you will still be assisted by a guide along the whole journey while you are going to receive a helmet that will protect you from getting injured in the sharp rocks. There is needed a group of minimum 5 persons but no more than 10 to get inside of the mine but the waiting period is usually no longer than 30 minutes.
Visiting schedule:
- Monday & Tuesday: 11 AM - 2 PM;
- Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: 11 AM - 4 PM;
- Saturday & Sunday: 11 AM - 5 PM.
Entrance taxes and other fees:
- Adult's Ticket (15+ years old): 25RON/5.16EUR;
- Children's Ticket (5-14 years old): 15RON/3.10EUR;
- Kid's Ticket (younger than 5 years old): FREE;
- 2x Adults + 1x Kid Bundle: 50RON/10.33EUR;
- 2x Adults + 2x Kid Bundle: 65RON/13.42EUR;
- 1x Adults + 2x Kid Bundle: 40RON/8.26EUR;
There are no fees for recording videos or taking pictures unless you are a professional and you will have to pay 100RON/20.66EUR per day (Photography) and 450RON/92.95EUR per hour (Videography).
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The last part of the underground exploration represents a natural balcony that offers you a great view over one of the richest gallery of natural crystals, where it can also be found those in the shape of dragonflies mentioned earlier.
The calcareous rocks very specific for the Padurea Craiului Mountains which are covering 50% of the whole surface are contributing too, bringing a personal touch at the same time with unicity to the Farcu Mine that represents the most important and beautiful cave from Romania.
The most often met landforms of the area are the gorges with high and vertical stone walls, and sinkholes, which are forming together the karst from the outside known as exokarst, while the underground landforms are called endokarst.
For the thrill-seeking ones, Farcu Mine is also available to embrace some speleologists who are in their infancy, who are able to practice speleology with a licensed guide in this place, or even just training if necessary.
Though, since most of the people who are visiting the mine nowadays are not speleologists, this information might seem a little bit too much while we can just get to see some unique formations in the world that will remain for sure memorable in our hearts, and a great experience that we could repeat over and over again and still don't get bored of the treasures nature offered to us.
But the adventure doesn't stop here because if there are some tourists with strong nerves, they can always try a 270m long zipline that is passing over a great gulf fixed.
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To reach Farcu Cave you need to get on the country road that was recently refurbished, which stars from the center of the Rosia village and then follow on the left a 5km long serpentine path on the way to Poniţa which will bring you right next to the mine.
- if you come from Oradea (78 km distance): follow Beius - Remetea - Cabesti - Rosia;
- if you come from Cluj-Napoca (134 km distance): follow Bratca - Damis - Rosia.
SEE YOU IN THE NEXT TRIP! 🗾
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