Lacul Tăul Mare (Roșia Montană)

Tăul Mare is an artificial lake at an altitude of about 930 m, near the source of the Roșia valley, above the village of Roșia Montană, Alba County. It is the largest of the ponds created here for mining; the Roșia Montană area has more than a hundred ponds, lakes and weirs, including Tăul Brazi, Tăul Anghel, Tăul Țarina and Tăul Cornei. The ponds were built because the streams carried too little water to drive the stamp mills (șteampuri), water mills that crushed the ore so that the gold could be separated; when water ran short, the sluice of a pond was opened. Tăul Mare was built in 1908 and got its name because its surface is larger than that of the other lakes. Local press reports give an area of about 4 hectares and an initial volume of about 270,000 m³; the lake is fed by three springs. Today the lake belongs to the Roșia Montană town hall and is used as a fish pond. In October 2022 a crack in the dam led to the preventive evacuation of residents downstream and to the water level being lowered by almost 5 m. The ponds are part of the Roșia Montană Mining Landscape, inscribed in 2021 on the UNESCO World Heritage List and, in the same year, on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The legend of the founding of Roșia says that gold was first found here by a woman named Cotroanța, who was grazing her goats on Cârnic hill and found a shining lump; one of the old galleries near Tăul Mare bears her name. The legend of the founding of Roșia says that gold was first found here by a woman named Cotroanța, who was grazing her goats on Cârnic hill and found a shining lump; one of the old galleries near Tăul Mare bears her name.