I report here another golden day (literally) in the back-blocks of Transylvania. Our journey took us through some blighted locations of the kind that dot the landscape = usually relics of the communist era. We saw, for example, a large, but no longer used tall chimney penetrating the landscape and some derelict production facilities.
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But then we arrived at Rosia Montana - a mining community also home to unemployed miners - seen here with their families enjoying a festival.
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Our focus, however, lay in the old upper village that was the target of a campaign to draw in tourists as an alternative economic base. The assets, as we shall see, were great, but only in the early stages of development.
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The main attraction was a former gold mine and this really had potential as I recall the world heritage mining exhibits at Camborne in Cornwall where the industrial revolution started. The site is littered with old mining equipment. Make it work again and the public would welcome it.
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The piece de resistance was the mine itself, with its narrow passages, running water (shown here), and roofs flecked with particles of gold.
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And, at the centre, were these steps to an upper level - nothing much to look at BUT ... carved by miners in Roman times 2000 years ago. This one of the major sources of gold in the empire! And I was standing where people were running past during that age.
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Outside, the exhibits included tomb-stones, stamping equipment, and former mine-shafts.
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Then it was off to see a mining museum in nearby Brad. But the scenery en route was engaging in the later afternoon sunlight:
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A typical hay stack - we saw thousands of these in out travel. As the winters are harsh, the local livestock has to be housed indoors.
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More haystacks and one of the hundreds of horse-drawn wagons we saw. A lot of the farming is small scale and low income, so I suppose horses make sense as a means of transport, albeit slow.
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And so to the interesting museum with its many gold exhibits:
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Nice, eh?
AS
But then we arrived at Rosia Montana - a mining community also home to unemployed miners - seen here with their families enjoying a festival.
Our focus, however, lay in the old upper village that was the target of a campaign to draw in tourists as an alternative economic base. The assets, as we shall see, were great, but only in the early stages of development.
The main attraction was a former gold mine and this really had potential as I recall the world heritage mining exhibits at Camborne in Cornwall where the industrial revolution started. The site is littered with old mining equipment. Make it work again and the public would welcome it.
The piece de resistance was the mine itself, with its narrow passages, running water (shown here), and roofs flecked with particles of gold.
And, at the centre, were these steps to an upper level - nothing much to look at BUT ... carved by miners in Roman times 2000 years ago. This one of the major sources of gold in the empire! And I was standing where people were running past during that age.
Outside, the exhibits included tomb-stones, stamping equipment, and former mine-shafts.
Then it was off to see a mining museum in nearby Brad. But the scenery en route was engaging in the later afternoon sunlight:
A typical hay stack - we saw thousands of these in out travel. As the winters are harsh, the local livestock has to be housed indoors.
More haystacks and one of the hundreds of horse-drawn wagons we saw. A lot of the farming is small scale and low income, so I suppose horses make sense as a means of transport, albeit slow.
And so to the interesting museum with its many gold exhibits:
AS
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