But more than mystery, those legends are also sharing lots of information and history.
So today is about knowledge.
I'm happy that we have the chance to take a special trip together and focus our attention on this place called Sfânta Ana Lake which is being located in Harghita County, really close to the touristic station - Tusnad.
If we return back in time with a little over 40,000 years there was this massive called Puciosu which suffered many volcanic eruptions; later on leading to the formation of a lake - Sfânta Ana Lake.
The lake appeared on the bottom of Ciomatu Mare Crater and it proudly bears the title of the only volcanic lake from Romania.
Being situated on an altitude of 946m, the circular shape of the lake is often likened to a painter's paletter with 620m length and a maximum width of 460m. Although the lake stretches over a surface of almost 20ha, the maximum depth is of 7m which is enough to hide some dreadful stories.
A pretty interesting fact of this place is that you don't need to check the weather before making your way to the Sfânta Ana Lake because all the information is offered by the volcano itself. There are 2 cracks formed into the mountain sharing some emanations which can be easily felt in the air by people - like a pinch, being a sign that a storm is approaching; when you don't feel anything different in the air, there is going to be a sunny and beautiful day.
THE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION
This event that occurs has a scientific explanation which shows that there is a post-volcanic activity very sensitive to any atmospheric change. So when the atmospheric pressure decreases, the sulfur and carbon dioxide are making their way to the surface of the mountain flooding the cracks with a pungent odor - yet the sign that it is going to be a rainy day.
After a few years when the pollen and enhance have been the subject of the palinological studies, it's been proven that the lake appeared first as a peat bog not so deep.
The water level is seriously confronting with big changes in the rainy periods when the lake is in continuous accumulation of pluvial water. This is how about 700-2700 years ago, it's been registered the depth of 12m, almost double of today's deepness.
Another scientific study shows that Sfânta Ana Lake hides about 4m of sediment which keeps the degree of mineralization very low leading to a water purity very close to that of a distilled water. Just about 0,0029ml. The whole phenomenon leads to a wonderful winter landscape when the ice layer gets around 1m thick.
THE LEGENDS
There are also two legends attracting the attention of the tourists which are visiting this place.
The 1st legend presents the love story between two teenagers who were going to get married in that place but the girl, on her name Ana, didn't want to make this step because her mother was forcing her to take in possession the wealth of the boy. This is how in the night of the wedding, the bride ran away to the lake and drowned herself. The locators are saying that not even today the dead body of the young girl haven't been found and that's why the lake bears the name of the girl.
Very close to the lake you can also visit the Sfânta Ana Church which is sanctified by metropolitan every year.
The 2nd legend is a little bit more rough than the first one, bringing the story of two tyrannical brothers. Both of the siblings owned a fortress, thing which made them to become rivals for which of them have the most beautiful carriage worthy for the fortress owned. One of the guys had by far a marvelous carriage and that's how the envy of his brother determined him to come out with something new. So this one took the decision to use 8 of the most beautiful girls instead of horses, to pull the carriage. The poor girls have gone through awful sorrows being humiliated and whipped but what the boy didn't know is that one of the girls, called Ana, was a witch. Ana cursed the barbaric boy who found his death in an earthquake which swallowed both him and his fortress.
Sfânta Ana Lake is also a place where many tourists are camping and spending some relaxing days while breathing the fresh cold air.
I remember when me and my squad camped there the last time - it was in the middle of the summer but we've still woke up on 3°C with the deep fog which have already entered in our tents.
HOW TO GET THERE
To get to the lake you can easily arrive with the car by following the route: Sfantu Gheorghe -> Baile Tusnad -> Miercurea Ciuc and from there you will find numerous indicators which are leading you to the destination. The distance between Baile Tusnad and Sfânta Ana Lake is about 23km but once you arrived to the lake, you will need to pay a tax of 10RON (2.14EURO) for parking.
If you want to avoid the tax and also feel the real adventure, you can opt in for the mountain hike which is pretty demanding, whether you decide to follow the forest road or to shorten the road and go through the forest which is challenging you with a very steepy route.
But as hard as it may be, as great the experience is.
Definitely what I would pick again.
SEE YOU IN THE NEXT TRIP! 🗾
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Harghita
