Buzău Land UNESCO Global Geopark, Romania

With some 40,000 inhabitants living in its villages and hamlets, the Geopark rises from an altitude of just 120 metres at its southern border to over 1,360 metres in the north, a difference of over 1,200 metres. 

Located at the intersection of three main biogeographic regions (steppe, continental and alpine), the Geopark is host to over 77 distinct habitats, some of which are directly influenced by local geological features such as salt, petroleum and mud volcanoes.

Given the richness of its habitats and the fact that over 39% of Buzău Land is covered by forests and 22% by wild grasslands, the Geopark is one of the most untouched areas in Romania, and hosts a wide variety of mammal, bird, amphibian and snake species.

The main geological highlights of Buzău Land are due to the peculiar tectonic context of the area. The Geopark is located at the collision point of three continental plates, giving rise to a plethora of rare and spectacular geological phenomena, which include:

These are located across four sites, each one of which is different. Some of the volcanoes produce mud flows while others generate small, harmless explosions.

These natural fires, which can be found in two places in Buzău Land, are also related to an escape of gas from the rocks. However, in contrast to the mud volcano phenomena, the gas is “dry”: it does not pass through underground water, and it burns at the surface.

These vast deposits, of over 14 million years old, often emerge between the area’s green hills. The salt karst features include some of the longest and deepest salt caves in the world, amphitheatres, salt stalactites, salt canyons and freshwater lakes formed in salt sinkholes.

A keen eye can spot spectacular erosional features in these deposits of petrified ash. Produced by prehistoric eruptions from the Carpathians that took place over 13 million years ago, the ashes were brought here by the wind, when the whole area was covered by seas.

Buzău Land is home to the largest amber deposit in the Carpathian Mountains. Around 25 million years old, the deposit is particularly famous for its endemic, deep-red species of amber called rumanite. Mining of this organic gemstone took place early in the 20^th century.

Visitors to the Geopark can walk through 40 million years of exposed geology, the past 12 million uninterrupted, along the Salt River Valley, where the continuous transition from deep sea to shallow sea, littoral, delta, lake and fossil-rich terrestrial environment is visible.

In times gone by, when people had no explanation for the geological phenomena occurring here, they crafted stories to explain them. Mud volcanoes, for example, erupt the blood of a wounded seven-headed dragon hiding underground.

Mud boilers, on the other hand, are traps laid by ogres to catch cattle. They are waiting underneath these burbling ponds of mud, hoping that an unaware animal might slip inside. It actually does happen, from time to time.

The eternal flames are spirits which protect the local villagers from whoever wants to cause them harm. It is said that they came to life hundreds of years ago, to ward off intruders who were set on stealing and pillaging.