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| Photo: Oana Chirila boredpanda.com |
Located in the picturesque Romanian region of Banat, a valley of the
Cerna River, between Mehedinti Mountains and Cerna Mountains, Băile Herculane
has a population of about 5,000, swelling with younger crowds during the
tourist season.
Named after the Roman hero Hercules, Aqua
Herculis, the small spa town has a long and storied history. Archeological
digs have revealed that the town had been inhabited since the Paleolithic era. The
Cave of the Thieves (Peștera Hoților) contains evidence from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.
During Roman times, the town
was a leisure center for wealthy citizens. It is said that even the
mythological Hercules had stopped to bathe and rest here. Six Roman statues of
Hercules were unearthed, giving some credence to the legend. In 1874, a bronze
replica of one of the statues was cast and placed in the center of town.
Băile Herculane was captured by
the Ottoman Empire on September 7, 1788, following the battle of Mehadia. One year later, at the end of September 1789,
the Austrians took it back from the Ottoman Turks.
Grandpa spoke highly of the healing properties of the hot springs which
contained sulfur, chlorine, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and other minerals.
From a child’s perspective, I could not understand how water and ionized air
could help the aching bodies of humans racked by arthritis and pain born by repetitive
motions of years of hard labor in factories and in the fields. I understood water saturated with sodium chloride
because the salt in the lake of Slanic kept me buoyant even though I could not
swim.
Westerners patronized Hotel Cerna which was built in 1930. During the
communist regime, many multi-storied, concrete block hotels were built in order
to house the proletariat and retirees whose state-issued vouchers were welcome
in Băile Herculane. A cheap vacation,
mostly subsidized by the state, relaxed and soothed workers’ pain through mud and
sulfur baths, massages, and physical therapy, if necessary.
The voucher waiting list for this spa resort was very long and some
workers’ turn came in the middle of winter, not in August when Europeans preferred
to take vacations. Many times, a husband’s turn would come in winter and his
wife’s in fall or spring. It was always expected that a couple could seldom
spend vacations together on a state-sponsored voucher.
Nine- and twelve-story hotels served the masses while the political
elites had their private villas confiscated by the Bolsheviks from the “evil bourgeoisie.”
After communism fell in 1989, privately owned hotels were built along the Cerna
River, from the train station to the end of the hydro-electrical dam.
Wikipedia photo
Sadly, beautiful buildings dating from the Austro-Hungarian Empire era
are in a pathetic state of disrepair, literally falling apart because the
former owners, from whom the communists confiscated the buildings, are now
owners again, but cannot afford to repair the 19th and early 20th
century buildings which are literally crumbling and oozing decay. Additionally,
some buildings may still be tied up in court since the government ordered them
to be given back to their rightful owners who sometimes could not be found, had
no money to fight in court, or to make repairs once they had won.
Wikipedia photo
Interestingly, during Ceausescu’s communist regime, all historical
buildings were carefully maintained, lawns were beautifully manicured, streets
were clean, and no graffiti could be seen anywhere.
Photo: Oana Chirila
boredpanda.com
Photo: Oana Chirila
boredpanda.com
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