Cave and karst systems of Romania / Пещеры и карстовые системы Румынии

Limestones make up 4400 km2 (1.8%) of Romania’s surface, which apparently is not much but they still host all known types of karst landscape and more than 12,000 caves showing a variety of genetic and morphological features. There are active caves traversed by tumultuous rivers, caves at higher levels with quiet chambers and large detrital deposits, and walls that witness the various phases of riverbed deepening. At higher elevations are hydrologically dry cavities in which the water percolating from surface has generated spectacular speleothems that create the magnificent underground landscape that makes the caves famous. Caves are developed in the three mountain chains, namely the East and South Carpathians, Apuseni Mountains, as well as close to the Black Sea in the southeastern part of the country, known as Dobrogea. With respect to their geological age, some of the limestones are Paleozoic, but the vast majority belong to the Mesozoic, most notably the Jurassic and Upper Cretaceous. They are part of the Alpine fold belts (Upper Cretaceous) and few are constituent of the Neozoic formations (especially Miocene).

In almost all limestones, natural cavities exist across the altitude scale from the sea level to over 1500 m in elevation. Caves are generally easily accessible, which explains why since ancient times they have been known by the inhabitants of these places, as evidenced by some documents of great value to show that the Romanian caving can boast a venerable past. Here are some examples:

Prehistoric/Neolithic artifacts, such as tools, pottery, and even skeleton remains, were found in many caves. Extraordinary are, for example, foot imprints discovered in hardened moonmilk or the invaluable cave paintings, dating back to more than 30,000 years, depicting animals (mammoth, horses, reindeers) and humans (possibly shamans). Another example of early use of caves was passed on through toponymy. For example, Peștera Zmeilor (Dragon Cave), which is famous for its skeletal remains of cave bears, was considered by locals as the resting place of fairy beings from the past. A valuable testimony is that of Pythagoras, who mentions that the Dacians (Romanian’s ancestors) were immortal, since their King Zalmoxis who was apparently considered dead after a battle had in fact retreated into a cave and emerged after 10 years alive. <...>