Today I went to visit the salt mine just to the east of Turda. Expecting to see a mine with few tunnels, I was completely spellbound and amazed by the size of the mine. Going down a long stairway you arrive in a very long passageway which used to have rails to move the salt out of the mine. Then you go down more stairs to the top of the main chamber – and then completely spellbound and dumbstruck by the sheer size and scale of it. The width of a football field and the length of two more football fields, it’s the height that amazes you – at least fifteen storeys high. It’s colossal. Narrow at the top, the chamber broadens out at the bottom. Its even got a ‘big-wheel’ at the bottom.
But, when you think that is amazing, you get shocked again when you get to the end as there is another chamber..! This one is a bottle shaped chamber that is even deeper than the main chamber. About 90m wide and 150m high, its base is flooded and there is even a small island with row boats which you can row around this chamber. Utterly amazing.
As well as the huge rectangular chamber there are actually three bottle shaped chambers, which were all interconnected. There was also a large mechanical hoist that was powered by horses to bring the salt up from the chambers to the rail trucks. Apparently, the horses didn’t have a long life here. After a few months the horses would go blind due the hoist chamber being barely lit, and walking around in a circle to power the hoist took its toll. Mining ceased in 1934 as it was more readily available from other sources, but when the mining first started here in 1610 salt was a precious commodity, and salt from this mine was exported throughout Europe and Asia.
When I arrived I just thought ’Yeah, it’s just going to be a few tunnels and some pickaxes’ but the car park was quite full and there was alot of people around. It seemed like a busy place, but when I got in – which cost about £8 – I was completely blown away by the size and depth of these mines. It’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.
