Gold has been mined at Roșia Montană, in the Apuseni mountains of western Romania, for over two thousand years. The Romans, who called the place Alburnus Maior, dug an extensive network of galleries into the mountains to extract the gold, and some of these galleries survive, along with wax tablets found in the mines, recording contracts and daily life. In 2021, after years of controversy, the mining landscape of Roșia Montană was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The controversy was over a plan by a Canadian company to create a huge open-pit gold mine using cyanide, which would have destroyed much of the village and the Roman galleries. The plan sparked the largest protests in Romania since the fall of communism, in 2013, and was eventually abandoned. The village itself, with its old houses and churches, reflects a long history of mining, and the landscape around is marked by tailings ponds, old mining works and lakes created to provide water for the mills.
The riding in the Apuseni mountains is among the best in Romania. The roads wind through valleys and over passes, with forests, meadows and villages, and the views are wide and beautiful. The road from Abrud to Câmpeni and on to the Arieș valley is scenic, and the roads into the heart of the Apuseni, towards the Scărișoara ice cave and the Padiș plateau, are wild and often rough. Surfaces vary greatly, from good asphalt to broken roads and gravel. The climate in the mountains is cool and wet, and snow can close roads in winter.
Roșia Montană is a village with basic services, and Abrud, six kilometres away, is a small town with fuel and shops. Câmpeni, the main town of the area, has more services. The Detunata, a basalt hill near Abrud with columns of volcanic rock, is a striking natural monument. The local food is hearty mountain cuisine, and the Apuseni are known for their wooden crafts. Visiting the Roman galleries, deep inside the mountain, gives a sense of the scale and the hardship of ancient mining.