Salina Turda
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Salina Turda (Hungarian: Tordai sóbánya) is a salt mine in the Durgău-Valea Sărată area of Turda, the second largest city in Cluj County, northwest Romania. Opened for tourists in 1992, the Salina Turda mine was visited by about 618,000 Romanian and foreign tourists in 2017.
Salina Turda was ranked in 2013 by Business Insider as among the "25 hidden gems around the world that are worth the trek".
Salt was first extracted here during the antiquity. The mine continuously produced table salt from the Middle Ages, the mine being first mentioned in 1075, to the early–20th century (1932).[1]
The first document that speaks explicitly about the existence of a salt mine in Turda dates from 1 May 1271, being issued by the Hungarian chancellery. Documents preserved from the 13th and 14th centuries that refer to the Turda salt mines mention that salines were arranged in the Băile Sărate microdepression and on the southeastern slope of the Valea Sărată. Operating rooms were placed at the sites of current salt lakes from the areas mentioned above. In the 17th century the first salt mining works began on the north-western slope of Valea Valea Sărată, as evidenced by shafts in the dome of the Terezia room. Shortly after, the Sfântul Anton mine was opened, where mining activity continued until the first half of the 20th century.[2]
RenovationThe Turda salt mine was renovated, and it reopened its doors in 2010 after a €5,888,000 investment.[3]
Since 1992, Salina Turda has been a halotherapy center and a popular tourist attraction.[4] In 2008 the salt mine was modernized and improved under the program PHARE 2005 ESC large regional/local infrastructure, worth six million euros.[5] It was reopened for tourism in January 2010.[6]
