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Tourism : The Praid salt mine - relaxation and healing from inside the earth
120 meters underground, in a decommissioned gallery of the Praid salt mine, nearly six thousand people are taking care of their health or enjoying relaxing moments. To reach the Praid salt mine treatment area, a tourist landmark in Romania, you have to take the bus for 1,250 meters, to an area where a world of fantasy opens up to visitors.
The light reflected off the walls of salt and the visitors' discrete voices create the feeling of an intimate space where everybody knows and respects everyone. Many of those who descend underground need the salty air to treat their respiratory illnesses, while others choose to seek tranquillity in an unconventional space.
One of the Praid mine guides tells us that the gallery currently open to the public was inaugurated in 1980, one year after salt mining was decommissioned there. The salt mine had been visited since 1965, but that was the gallery that closed and reopened to host the current treatment area.
'The gallery is 20 metres wide in some points and 12 and 18 metres high. In summertime, there are up to six thousand tourists per day. The treatment area is open throughout the year, with the New Year's Eve our only day off,' explains the guide.
Head of the Praid mine tourism services Laszlo Donath says the facilities offered to patients and tourists for relaxation have multiplied in recent years. In an area of the gallery, there is a special adventure park, perfectly secure, where older children and adults can walk down trails of varying difficulty. A little further, voices of children can be heard burning up their energy in an inflatable playground, while others use the swings or watch a movie. The 3D cinema hall there is a hit with the kids and the adults alike. As children get bored quickly, a workshop was created for them where they can paint or make various figures out of plasticine.
People can also do sports underground, as there are ping pong tables available and they can also attend gymnastics classes provided by a coach, which are highly beneficial to patients as this way they can inhale more salty air. There is wireless access to the Internet, while those who want to drink tea or have a snack can go to a café and a restaurant. A wine gallery was also opened here some year ago, where about 500 varieties from 36 Romanian vineyards are on display. Wine and traditional foods are tasted in the wine gallery, and the place is also available for wedding and baptism parties.
'We have very many customers in summer; in winter, it is a little bit harder, but we are not complaining. We have reached 500 varieties of wine from around the country for which tastings can be held, but also offer a la carte traditional menus: cas curd, sausage and lard. We can organise wedding and baptism parties here for 150 guests, and if the number is larger we can expand to the restaurant, for up to one thousand guests,' says head of the Wine Gallery, Murvai Istvan.
The mine also has an ecumenical chapel, where Christian Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant church services are held, and also a small museum presenting the history of the salt mine.
Documents made available by the mine management reveal that the museum was established by miners and technical staff of the Praid salt mine, with works designed and conducted by photographer Istvan Plajas. Displayed in the museum are tools and work items going back to the 18th century, which were used in salt mining, as well as glimpses of the mine in pictures and display boards.
On the exit route from the treatment area, at Horizon 60, there is the Joseph Mine Panorama, where visitors can see how underground salt mining used to be done.
'The available speleotherapy and climatotherpay treatments include mine air inhalation, which is very useful in respiratory diseases (asthma, bronchitis and allergies). Medical statistics of the local expert, Dr. Fazekas Emese, indicate that in the case of those who return for treatment three to four times and react positively, the occurrences and intensity of asthma attacks diminish, while the body's resistance increases,' reads the literature made available by the mine.
Salt mining goes back to Roman times
The beginnings of the Praid mine's history date back to Roman times. Written documents mention four open pits in the shape of amphitheatres, as well as bricks with the inscription 'LVM' (Legio V Macedonia). Underground mining of salt began in 1762, when, under the leadership of Austrian engineer Frendl Aladar, the Joseph Mine opened in the south-west part of the Salt Hill. Mined salt would be wrapped in oxhide and pulled to the surface by horse-drawn pulleys. Open pit mining is mentioned also in 1765, when it was used at the same time with underground mining. Systematic mining developed in 1787, when the Praid salt mine became the property of the Vienna Treasury, according to mine documents.
New mines have opened ever since and mining techniques have improved substantially. Salt is now mined from nearly 400 m deep, five levels below the treatment area, and exported to the four corners of Romania and also Europe.
Specialists say the Praid salt deposits make up one of Europe's most massive halite deposits. The salt body is slightly elliptical in shape, 1.2 km and 1.4 km in diameters, 2,700 m deep, providing salt reserves for several hundred years.
The commune of Praid also hosts the Salt Mountain, a geological reserve included in Romania's protected areas of national interest that covers about 60 hectares, home to extremely rare plants, some unique in Romania.
Praid welcoming tourists to the largest saltwater lido in Romania
Praid also boasts the largest saltwater lido in Romania, which opened in the summer of 2014, on an investment of 1.5 million euros, using exclusively funds of the National Salt Corporation.
The compounds of the lido cover 5,200 square metres, of which 1,942 square metres is the pool area. There are two pools for children, between 60 cm and 1.20 m deep, followed by a transition zone under a footbridge, one meter deep, and then the adult pool begins, where water is between 1.20 and 1.60 m deep. The mine management claims that this is the largest saltwater lido in Romania where salinity is high - 220 milligrams per litre of water - recommended for the treatment of rheumatic disorders.
Inside the lido area, there are 300 deck chairs, a self-service restaurant, two outdoor bars, and a pool bar. The lido can accommodate 520 bathers.
The lido is open daily, 10:00 to 20:00, while Thursdays and Saturdays there are also evening hours, 21:00 to 23:00. One ticket for adults costs RON 25 for one full day, while one ticket for children is RON 15, also for a full day.
According to representatives of the salt mine, the lido has been an unexpected hit and it is taken by storm when weather permits. Treatment and relaxation offerings have turned Praid into an area with a booming agri-tourism.
Ildiko Laszlo, a representatives of a Praid travel agency, says there are hundreds of guesthouses operating in the zone which only problem is a very short summer season. However, Romanian and foreigners come to Praid in summer and winter alike seeking healing or visiting an area that offers various possibilities for relaxation. (Source: AGERPRES.ro)