Cacica Salt Mine

Cacica was opened by the Habsburg administration in 1791 and is a much smaller, older-feeling operation than the big show mines further south. There is no lift and no bus: visitors walk down a staircase of nearly two hundred wooden steps into the workings, which sets the tone immediately. At the bottom are galleries cut by hand, a small ballroom hollowed out in the nineteenth century for miners' celebrations, a salt lake reached by another stair, and the chapel of Saint Barbara, carved into the salt in the 1800s and still used for services by the local Polish Catholic community, whose ancestors came here as salt miners from Galicia. The village above retains that Polish connection, with a basilica and a pilgrimage each August. The mine is still worked at deeper levels, so parts are closed to visitors.

What you actually see

• The wooden staircase - the walk down nearly two hundred steps into the mine.
• Saint Barbara's chapel - a chapel carved in salt, still used for services.
• The ballroom - a nineteenth-century hall cut for miners' gatherings.
• The underground lake - a salt pool at a lower level.

When to go

Year-round; the mine holds a steady cool temperature. The August pilgrimage in the village is a significant local event. Tours run at set times and there may be a wait. Winter visits are straightforward since everything of interest is below ground.

Honest expectations

The staircase is the only way in and out and it is steep, which rules the mine out for anyone with mobility or heart problems. It is much smaller than Turda or Slănic and the visit is short. Lighting is dim and the wooden structures show their age. Commentary is usually Romanian only.

Nearby

Gura Humorului and the painted monasteries of Voroneț and Humor are close.