Rosia Montana azi. O promisiune generatiilor viitoare – Rosia Montana Today. A promise to future generations

CUVANT INAINTE

Silvia Pintea, arhitect, presedinte Asociatia Heritage pentru UNESCO

Prin realizarea acestei lucrari ne-am propus sa readucem in atentia opiniei publice subiectul Rosia Montana, care a starnit controverse in societatea romaneasca inca din 1997 odata cu primele explorari aurifere, controverse si dispute care nu si-au gasit o solutionare nici in prezent.

In tot acest timp s-au desfasurat nenumarate campanii pentru stoparea proiectului minier al RMGC de exploatare aurifera la suprafata si extractia aurului prin cianurare. Proiectul a fost oprit in anul 2013, ca urmare a actiunilor de protest, petitiilor si declaratiilor comune ale ONG-urilor din tara si strainatate, care au atras atentia asupra pericolului de contaminare cu cianuri a solului si subsolului si de distrugere a vestigiilor arheologice si a galeriilor miniere antice de la Rosia Montana.

In anul 2013 organizatia Europa Nostra a evaluat peisajul minier de la Rosia Montana si l-a inclus in lista celor mai periclitate 7 situri din Europa.

Odata cu depunerea dosarului pentru inscrierea Rosiei Montane in patrimoniul mondial UNESCO in ianuarie 2017 si, cu atat mai mult, dupa mai 2018, cand ICOMOS a inclus Rosia Montana in lista indicativa-preliminara UNESCO, am sperat ca aceasta stare de lucruri tensionata, care a fragmentat comunitatea locala si societatea romaneasca, s-a apropiat de sfarsit si ca Rosia Montana isi va castiga locul pe care il merita de drept in patrimoniul cultural mondial.

Insa nu a fost sa fie asa.

In iunie 2018 guvernul Romaniei a solicitat reprezentantilor UNESCO sa amane decizia referitoare la includerea sitului minier Rosia Montana pe Lista Patrimoniului Mondial, ca urmare a faptului ca acesta face obiectul unui arbitraj international solicitat de grupul canadian Gabriel Resources, care cere statului roman despagubiri de peste patru miliarde de dolari pentru blocarea proiectului de exploatare aurifera.

Rosia Montana, aceasta asezare miniera cu o existenta milenara, situata in pitoreasca zona a Tarii Motilor, a fost atestata documentar pentru prima data sub numele latin de Alburnus Maior, pe o tablita cerata ce dateaza din 6 februarie 131.

Acest sit unic, asezare de o exceptionala importanta istorica si culturala, gazduieste monumente de mare valoare nationala si universala, vestigii arheologice si monumente de arhitectura, galerii miniere cu o lungime de peste 00 km, din perioada antica pana in cea moderna, cel mai extins si cel mai bine conservat sistem de galerii miniere de epoca romana, cladiri monument istoric, biserici de diferite culte, specii protejate de fauna si flora, toate acestea in peisajul mirific al Muntilor Apuseni.

Rosia Montana reprezinta pentru generatiile viitoare o pagina de o inestimabila valoare a istoriei poporului roman si marturie a identitatii nationale.

Multumim colaboratorilor nostri care au participat la realizarea acestui album si speram ca lucrarea de fata sa constientizeze publicul larg asupra importantei conservarii patrimoniului cultural, natural si arheologic de la Rosia Montana, care poate astfel sa devina, alaturi de celelalte zone din Romania inscrise in patrimoniul UNESCO (Delta Dunarii, Cetatile fortificate din Transilvania, Bisericile din Bucovina), un important pol de atractie turistica.

FOREWORD

Silvia Pintea, Architect, President Heritage Association for UNESCO

We have compiled this album in order to draw the public opinion’s attention once again to Rosia Montana, a topic that has generated controversies in the Romanian society since 1997, when the first exploration operations took place, and yet no solution has been found, not even to this day.

Countless campaigns for stopping RMGC’s project of surface mining and gold cyanidation have taken place ever since. The project was brought to a halt in 2013, as a result of all the protests, petitions, and joint declarations of NGOs both in Romania and beyond, which had drawn the public’s attention towards the danger of contaminating the soil and subsoil with cyanides as well as the destruction of the archaeological remnants and the ancient mining galleries in Rosia Montana.

In 2013 the mining landscape of Rosia Montana was assessed by the organization Europa Nostra and was included on the list of the 7 Most Endangered sites in Europe.

We had hoped, since January 2017, when the nomination file for the inclusion of Rosia Montana on the UNESCO World Heritage list was submitted, even more so after ICOMOS included Rosia Montana in the UNESCO preliminary list was submitted, that this would be the end to the debate that splintered the local community as well as the Romanian society, and that Rosia Montana would earn its rightful place in the world cultural heritage.

However, none of that came to be.

In June 2018 the Romanian government requested that the UNESCO representatives’ decision regarding the inclusion of Rosia Montana on the World Heritage list be postponed, because the site is involved in an international arbitrage started by the Canadian group Gabriel Resources which demanded over four billion dollars’ worth of compensation after the gold mining project
ceased.

Rosia Montana, this thousand-year-old mining settlement, located in the picturesque area of the Land of the Moti, was mentioned for the first time on a wax tablet1 dated February 6th 131, with the Latin name Alburnus Maior.

This unique site, this place of exceptional cultural and historical importance, is the home of monuments of great national and global value, archaeological remnants and architectural monuments, mining galleries over 100 km long, from antiquity to the modern era, the largest and the well-preserved system of Roman-era mining galleries, monument buildings, churches of various denominations, protected species of flora and fauna, all of these in the wondrous landscape of the Apuseni Mountains.

Rosia Montana is a priceless piece of the history of the Romanian people and historical evidence to our national identity for future generations.

We thank our collaborators who have taken part in the making of this album and we hope that our work will increase public awareness on the importance of preserving the cultural, natural and archaeological heritage of Rosia Montana, and that one day it will join the other Romanian UNESCO sites (the Danube Delta, the fortified citadels in Transylvania, the churches in Bucovina), and become an important touristic attraction.

CUPRINS | SUMMARY

Cuvant inainte | Foreword 7

Silvia Pintea
Arhitect, presedinte Asociatia Heritage pentru UNESCO

Silvia Pintea
Architect, President Heritage Association for UNESCO

Pachamama Romania la Rosia Montana – Locul de renastere a constiintei ecologice in Romania | Pachamama Romania at Rosia Montana – The place of Revival of Ecological Consciousness in Romania 9

Alexandra Postelnicu, psiholog, presedinte Asociatia Pachamama Romania

Alexandra Postelnicu, Psychologist, President Pachamama Romania Association

Tara Motilor – O structura identitara unica | The Land of the Moti – A Unique Identity Structure 19

Ioana Bogdan Cataniciu
Prof. dr., arheolog

Ioana Bogdan Cataniciu
Prof. Ph.D., Archaeologist

Proiectul minier Rosia Montana – Controverse tehnice sau cianurile intre uz si abuz | The Rosia Montana Mining Project – Technical Controversy or Cyanides on the Edge of Use and Abuse 27

Stefan Marincea
Dr. inginer

Stefan Marincea
D. Eng.

Biodiversitatea in Muntii Apuseni | Biodiversity in the Apuseni Mountains 35

Ovidiu Bojor
Dr. farmacist, Academia Romana de Stiinte Medicale

Ovidiu Bojor
Pharm.D., Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences

Despre Rosia Montana – Interviuri si editoriale publicate in revista Formula As | About Rosia Montana – Interviews and editorials published in Formula AS magazine 37

Ion Longin Popescu
Ziarist

Ion Longin Popescu
Journalist

Rosia Montana, o lupta care schimba Romania | Rosia Montana, a struggle that changes Romania 49

Mihai Gotiu
Ziarist

Mihai Gotiu
Journalist

Despre turism la Rosia Montana. Povestiri culese de la localnici si prieteni ai Rosiei | On tourism at Rosia Montana. Stories collected from locals and friends of Rosia 55

Daniel Diaconu

Tica Darie si Rosia Montana | Tica Darie and Rosia Montana 61

Larisa Cherechianu

Cromatica Rosiei Montane, o perspectiva antropologica | The Colours of Rosia Montana, an Anthropological Perspective 64

Marius Rusescu

Anexa 1 | Appendix 1 67

Anexa 2 | Appendix 2 69

Fotografii din Rosia Montana | Photos from Rosia Montana 71

Epilog | Epilogue 173