Nature as an architect in Romania

As a traveler, I always add some of the most famous architectural highlights to my to-do list when visiting a new place. There is one architect that is always on my list - nature. In this story, I am gladly sharing with you a few places in Romania, where nature was the best architect. It is a fact that in Romania a lot of nature is untouched by the human hand, which makes me be in love with my amazing country.

The Living Fire from Lopătari

First on the list is the Living Fire located in the Buzău County in* the Lopătari region, and more specifically on a slope outside the Terca village**. This unique natural phenomenon is only found in a couple of places on earth. The natural gas comes up through the earth’s crust and then ignites spontaneously. The flames are between 50 – 100 cm in height during the day, and they even go up to 150 cm during the night. To reach this place, I recommend you to find a local guide from the village*. The road is very treacherous, and there is no pavement, so getting there by car is difficult, but the landscape is breath-taking.

The Horses’ Waterfall

The second place where nature teaches us about the architecture is located in the Maramureș County, in the Rodnei Mountains National Park close to the Borșa Ski Resort. The Horses’ Canyon contains Romania’s tallest waterfall - the Horses’ Waterfall, with a height of 90 meters. The landscape here is amazing, and if one loves rock-climbing, this place is heaven on earth. There are another nine waterfalls after the Horses’ Waterfall, and one can climb them all. They range between 5 and 50 meters in height, and the total height difference is about 240 meters. Keep in mind when you start the ascent, the altitude is already at 1500 meters above the sea level. To get to the Horses’ Waterfall, you can take the ski lift from the Borșa Resort and then continue over a forest road for about 1 hour. 

Muddy Volcanoes

The third and last place on the list is also located in the Buzău County, 12 km from the town Berca. As its name states, the Muddy Volcanoes are small active volcanoes, but they don’t erupt lava because they are not that deep. Instead, they erupt a mud brought to the surface by the seismic movements of the earth’s crust and by the gas eruptions. This natural phenomenon is unique in Europe, and I definitely recommend a visit, as the landscape is very strange. I always feel like I’m on Mars or the Moon.

Romania is a very beautiful country with many breath-taking landscapes where nature is untouched by the human hand. There are places in Romania where nature acts as an architect and creates unique forms that have taken centuries to form. We can learn a lot from nature, and these places are a testament to its genius.