Photo credit: (c) Constantin DUMA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

We start off for Geoagiu-Bai coming from Orastie after exiting highway A1. From the Geoagiu train stop, the route stretches to the town of Geoagiu, a tidy settlement where good-looking houses line up the road. At the edge of the town, the road goes up to Geoagiu-Bai, filled with serpentines and hairpin turns, all converging to a clearing at the entrance to the resort.

Everything shines with cleanliness and the road signs lead us, via a one-way road, to the entrance to the Dacian-Roman baths, a compound of four thermal water pools.

‘Legend has it that 2,000 years ago Dacians knew the healing powers of the thermal springs of Geoagiu-Bai. There is no clear evidence of that, but what is certainly known is the fact that Romans, after they conquered Dacia, came to Geoagiu in search for a magic spring. They found it and left it to the care of protective deities Diana and the nymphs. Then they adopted the old name of the place, Germisara,’ says Ph.D. Cristina Mitar, an archaeologist specialising in the Roman Era at the Museum of Dacian and Roman Civilistaion (MCDR) of Deva.

For a long time, nothing was known of Geoagiu-Bai, and only in the 15th century was the restoration of the baths by Isabela, wife of Hungary’s King Sigismund Zapolya, mentioned as an Italian mercenary named Geovan Andrea Gromo, the commander of the prince’s guards, recorded that some pleasant baths, which the king would often use, were built there.

Later on, German pastor Conrad Iacob Hiltebrandt of Stein, visited the baths in 1656-1658, noting in his diary that the water would come down from a hill to a valley and was suitably warm. He also noted the presence of a large rectangular area where water would go up almost to the neck level and where swimming was possible.

Photo credit: (c) Sorin BLADA / AGERPRES PHOTO

Only in 1987 was the Germisara archaeological site rediscovered and searched according to the scientific standards, following the start of physical planning works at the Geoagiu-Bai resort. ‘The research led to marvellous finds. As many as 600 coins have been unearthed, some gold votive plaques, a statue of goddess Diana and four inscribed altars. With only one exception, all the items are in the collection of the Museum of Dacian and Roman Civilisation of Deva,’ says Mitar.

Photo credit: (c) Sorin BLADA / AGERPRES PHOTO

Since we mentioned the gold votive plaques, we can add that those found at Geoagiu Bai are special. Of all the nearly 100 votive plaques so far discovered worldwide, only 14 are made of gold and half of them were found at Germisara.

‘The seven plaques made of 22-k gold reflect the claims that the three deities: Diana — the goddess of forests and wildlife; Hygeia — the goddess of medicine, and the Nymphs, the thermal water healers, would expect the dedicators to heed to: a precious material on which the deity and the dedication had to be inscribed,’ explains the MCDR specialist.

Photo credit: (c) Mihaela PANA / AGERPRES PHOTO

She also reveals that Germisara was the venue of a thermal compound that is very similar to the modern concept of a spa resort where personalities of the Dacia province would come for treatment. The benches in the bathrooms and a tunnel dug along the lake to steer the thermal water to the bath chambers are still visible today.

Photo credit: (c) Mihai Dragos GEORGESCU / AGERPRES PHOTO

Today, Geoagiu-Bai is an all-year-round health resort, with a business peak in the summertime, when the Dacian-Roman bath compound, the favourite place of tourists because of the latest changes, is open. The pools inside the compound are fed with thermal water and built to meet the demands of a highly demanding public.

There are many accommodation possibilities, including 4-star hotels and even room rentals. The locals are very friendly and most of them work in tourism, at least in summertime.

‘The resort is vital to the local community,’ says Geoagiu Mayor Ioan Valean, who argues that the economic development of the area has to be buttressed by two pillars: tourism and traditional farming.

‘The resort can accommodate 1,300 tourists per series. We provide complex and full-range services to tourists as well as the treatment they need to improve their health. The resort is located in a wonderful leisure area and we do our best to make sure our guests have a good time and will want to return,’ the mayor adds.

Photo credit: (c) Constantin DUMA / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

The wish of the local administration and of the companies dealing with tourist services in Geoagiu-Bai is the extension of the tourist season. Even if the resort is visited by more than 30,000 tourists in summertime, the number could increase if there were indoors thermal pools. Some hotels and boarding houses provide such service already, but there are plans to extend the project to a larger scale.

‘We are deploying all efforts to cover one or two pools in the thermal lido, which would extend the holiday season to ten months a year, which would benefit everybody — tourists, locals, business operators and the local public administration,’ adds Valean.

There would be more to be said about this part of Romania that deserves being included among our holiday destinations. Geoagiu-Bai is a family-friendly place that is also friendly to young people and the elderly. It is the place where people get back to their feet and also a venue for relaxation and fun. We should also add that Geoagiu-Bai could be a base camp for trips to the nearby Corvins’ Castle of Hunedoara, the Dacian bastions of the Orastie Mountains, the bastion of Deva and the Prislop Monastery. If your time here is short, you should put the Clocota waterfall on your short list, as it is only one quarter of an hour by foot from the resort, along with the Romanesque Chapel of Geoagiu, the Aurel Vlaicu Museum in the homonymous village, and the Mada Gorge. They are all worth it! AGERPRES