You have probably heard about Roșia Montană because of its gold. Gold has been valued since ancient times, when it was easier to find because it lay closer to the surface. Over time, with constant exploitation, efforts to find and process it became harder. But when gold veins are visible on the surface, extraction is easy. Back in the old days, in the period of the Romans and earlier, the gold veins were visible to the naked eye when looking at rock formations or veins. This meant that you could dig for gold via the surface or surface excavations.Gold could also be found in the rivers   around the Roșia Montană area. By following the path of gold in the river valleys, people discovered gold deposits.. The waters of the streams and rivers also contained other things.  One example is pyrite, a compound of iron. It is  frequently found and when dissolved by water, it gives it a reddish hue.The name of the Roșia Valley and the locality of Roșia Montană derive their name from the red color of the water and the eruptive rocks in the area. In Romanian Rosia Montana means red mountain.

Its inhabitants were skilled miners, some of the best gold prospectors. They knew all  the secrets of how to find gold veins. Miners quickly recognized if a vein contained gold by the color of the rock. If the rock was whiter, more purplish, that is, lighter in color, gold could be found more quickly; if the rock was darker, blacker, the chances were lower. After identifying potential gold-bearing areas in this way, miners used the mortar and pestle ("mojerul") , a pick and  a chisel to follow the vein into the rock or below the surface.

The beginnings of surface or alluvial gold exploitation can be dated back to the Bronze Age, when in the Transylvania area, the Agatarshi were mentioned by Herodotus, described as bearers of gold ornaments. Certainly, similar exploitation of gold continued in the Dacian era, followed by the Romans who, after the conquest of Dacia, approached the deposits with revolutionary and very efficient methods for that time. They opened underground exploitation networks made up of tunnels that stretch over long distances. The underground mining networks of the ancient Alburnus Maior site, the latin name for Rosia Montana, are complemented on the surface by a remarkable ancient landscape that was shaped by miners. According to the archaeological excavations, in Roman times, the surface housed necropolises, funerary areas, sacred spaces, cult buildings, public buildings, or "habitat" areas.

An important testimony of ancient mining activity is represented by  wax tablets that were discovered between 1786-1855 in several  galleries here at  Roșia Montană. They are wooden writing tablets that were coated with wax, used in ancient times for writing. They offer detailed information about the daily life and socio-legal organization of ancient miners. These tablets date from the period 131-167 AD and contain texts of Roman civil law regarding sales contracts, leases, loans with interest and the functioning of mining associations, called collegia.

During the Habsburg Empire, in the 18th century, Rosia Montana and Transylvania witnessed a truly industrial revolution. 1733 marks the inception of the construction of the artificial lakes system and hydro-technical arrangements. These were a game changer to gold mining making it much easier to extract gold. Rosia Montana flourished alongside the vast global socio-economic transformations of the Industrial Revolution. Some of the artificial lakes are still here as testimony of the olden but golden days. They have blended into the natural landscape of the village.

The aftermath of the First World War and the transition of state control over mining from the Austro-Hungarian administration to the Romanian State in 1918 led to economic and social imbalances in Roșia Montană. To address this, the Romanian State heavily intervened to revitalize the mining industry until 1948, focusing on re-technologization. The nationalization of mines in 1948 led to the establishment of the Roșia Montană Mining Enterprise, marking a shift towards industrial mining exclusively managed by the state. This period saw the loss of key mining infrastructure, such as stamp mills and water channeling canals, as the focus shifted to surface exploitation, notably in the Cetate massif from 1970 onwards. Despite plans for modernization and expansion during the Ceaușescu regime in the 1980s, mining continued with little regard for economic efficiency or environmental and cultural heritage preservation, perpetuating a pattern of destruction.

Currently, you can still see some buildings with a rich architecture that will speak to you of the fascinating past of our village. Many of them have seen better days, while others proudly rise again in the midst of restoration or are already restored. You probably wonder, like all visitors, why this discrepancy? Well, the gold from Roșia Montană creates excitement even today and will certainly generate it in the future. In 1995, a foreign investor appeared in the area, intending to turn the village into a very large cyanide-based surface mine. This project divided the locals into 2 camps, those who wanted the mine and those who did not. Thus began widespread street protests that brought Roșia Montană to national and international attention. Approximately 80% of the buildings and properties in the village were purchased by this investor, their fate became uncertain, and many of them entered a process of degradation; despite many of them being protected monuments.

An important moment in the recent history of our locality is the date of July 27, 2021, when Roșia Montană entered the list of protected objectives of the UNESCO world heritage.

You have listen the starting point and Miners life of the Rosia Montana UNESCO Tour.

The UNESCO tour of Rosia Montana is a project implemented by the non-governmental organization ‘Rosia Montana in Patrimoniul Mondial’. The audio-tour is co-financed by Romania’s Administration for National Cultural Funds. We based our story telling on local anecdotes and the works listed on the bibliography on our website. We encourage you to follow the trail that we prepared for you via our website. This will ensure that you discover all objects and their stories of Rosia Montana. Have a pleasant journey and ‘drum bun’ as we say here.