Scarisoara
glacier and ice cave.
By André Rey Vidal, 4th year ESO.
1165
metres over the sea level, the Scarisoara Glacier is still
standing
there to
be admired.
The giant block of ice is one of the glaciers which
hasn't melted since the Ice Age. Even though it has never
disappeared, its shapes are in continuous change. In the summer, a
few centimetres of the ice layer melts while in the winter, with the
new snow and the freezing temperatures, it grows up into amazing renovated forms.
The
glacier is segmented in two halves: “The Big Hall”, the entrance
as its name indicates, and “The Church” where the stalagmites and
stalactites are. These are the parts allowed to visitors, who have to
walk on a slippery iced wooden walkway on the glacier (as the photograph shows). Cold
temperatures are ensured all year long.
Iced
stalagmites
This
awesome glacier, located in the Western Romanian Carpathian mountain
range, in the Apuseni Natural Park, near Beius, Oradea and Cluj
Napoca, is considered one of the must-see in Romania and one of the
most famous caves in the country. It is the second largest
underground glacier in south-eastern Europe. Here is a little more
information taken from the flier they give out at the entrance:
'The
total length of the cave is 700 m, while its depth reaches 105 m
below surface. The access into cave is situated at the bottom of a 48
m deep, 60 m large shaft, where an imposing portal (17 m large and 24
m high) is opened. This portal gives access to the Great Hall, which
continues with the “Church” the main tourist attraction of the
cave. Two openings, on the left and respectively right sides of the
great Hall, give access to the lower parts of the cave, named the
Great and Little Reservation, mostly free of ice and richly decorated
with calcite speleothemes. The ice block has a volume of about
100.000 m3, a maximum thickness of 22,5 m, and an estimated
radiocarbon age of 3800 years, being worlds second largest ice block
and the oldest one'.
A
huuuge descent down the metal stairs anchored in the rocks,
in the
entrance shaft.
ITS
HISTORY.
The
first written testimony of its existence was given by a document in
which Queen Maria
Theresa authorized a forestry detour in Scarisoara commune to cut
lumber to repair the access stairs to the glacier. But the first
scientific research about
the ice cave was conducted
by Emil Racovita, the founder of bio-speleology and the
founder of the Institute of Speleology in Cluj (the first speleology
institute in the world).
My
personal opinion
It
was a scary descent into the cave, with those wet stairs but really beautiful
views. It wasn’t so cold as we thought but maybe it’s because I
was wearing a big thermal t-shirt. In my opinion, the glacier is
absolutely worth visiting, it’s pretty awesome and a piece of our
ancient history.
See
ya next time!!
FONTS:
Be our guest when you want!
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