Protecting

CULTURE IN ROSIA MONTANA

The Golden Way also leeds to Rosia Montana culural heritage. We invite you to linger in Rosia Montana, enjoy the natural environment and the traces of an intriguing and sometimes unexpected past.

Historical monuments from ancient times and archeological sites unveil the various traditions, folklore and myths of the people that lived in Rosia Montana - Romans, Hungarians, Germans, Austrians) and shaped the local community.

Rosia Montana is the oldest documented mining settlement in Romania being famous all over the world due to the 50 waxed plates that formed the basis of the Roman and modern law system. Even today Rosia Montana`s secrets remain undiscovered, the arheological findings such us Roman mining tools (ex. stairs) and the sacred mausoleum originate from very few archeological sites. The pre-roman (Dacian) and Roman mining galleries from Carnic, Vaidoaia, Cetate and Orlea await for centuries to have their stories revealed to the world. At present, just the ones from Orlea can be visited at the Mining Museum.

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Community

The historical monuments range also includes the community churches. The oldest church in the area is the Ortodox church built in 1941. Only 30 years later will become a Greco-Catholic parish gaining its historical fame due to the local priest Simeon Balint, who was also an active participant and hero during the 1848 Revolution. 100 years later the tower-church became ortodox again, being the symbol of Rosia Montana multiethnical community. Moreover, the second oldest church is the Unitarian one (1796) and the also the Reformed (Protestant) (1800) and Roman-Catholic (1866) churches date from the 19th century. The Roman-Catholic church shelters the most valuable religious exhibits in the area, the Virgin Mary's Icon, that have a necklace made of black pearls, offered as a gift by the Austrian Queen Maria-Theresa.

The old square (Piata veche) of Rosia Montana is included on the list of the most interesting national monuments and sights. Here one can easily find memorial houses of important people that lived in the region, such as Simion Balint, Iulia Faliciu, but also monuments built in the honour of great people (George Gritta).