Slănic salt lakes (Baia Baciului and Baia Verde)

The salt lakes of the town of Slănic, Prahova County, occupy the sites of old salt pits. Salt mining began after 1685, when the spatharios Mihai Cantacuzino bought the Slănic estate: in 1688 a pit was opened on Valea Verde, followed between 1689 and 1691 by the workings at Baia Baciului. Over time the bell-shaped pits collapsed and flooded, and salt-water lakes formed in their place. The town's baths include Baia Baciului, Baia Verde and Baia Roșie. Baia Baciului lies at the edge of the Salt Mountain, on the western side of the town, and was the first place where the area's bathing potential was developed. At the end of the nineteenth century, Baia Verde and Baia Baciului were recorded as state-owned salt and iodine springs. Today Baia Baciului is a bathing complex using salt water and mud, next to the Salt Mountain reserve. The Baia Verde complex, on the left bank of the Slănic stream, comprises three lakes (Baia Verde 1, 2 and 3) formed after 1850 by the collapse of old pits. Salinity exceeds 200 g/l (between 203 and 240 g/l in measurements from 1968 and 1991) and reaches more than 250 g/l in the bottom layer, while at the surface it falls to 80-120 g/l in spring and after rain. In 2008 the measured depths were 40 m, 15 m and 4.5 m. The lakes show heliothermal stratification, with warmer water below the surface: in July 1970, 29°C was measured at the surface and 38.8°C at a depth of 2 m in Baia Verde 1. The lakes contain sapropelic mud, and their water is used for baths for rheumatic, peripheral nervous system, gynaecological and skin conditions. Slănic is linked to Ploiești by county road DJ102. Nearby are the Slănic Salt Mine (Unirea Mine) and the Salt Museum.