Sacarâmb - Elements of Monograph

Almost 100 books and leaflets (monographers) describing the village of Sacaramb have been written throughout time. The included data have differed - more or less, because of the quality and quantity of the knowledge - according to the documentation and historical period when they have been written. The authors of the books come from different European countries and they have generally written by order. We consider as most revealing data, those written by local or Romanian authors. A few general data about the locality are to be found in several complementary sources - and we shall quote certain excerpts. 

1. Location. An admirable monograph, written in 1932, by Prof. Ernest Armeanca, says that: “Sacarâmb is situated in Hunedoara County, on the right side of Mures River, as you travel from Deva to the Northern region of Romania. It lies in the mountain chain Setras, from Metal Mountains, in Apuseni Mounts. The town of Deva is situated at 24 km distance. Considering the meridian of Ferro Island, the village is situated at 230 01' 45" longitude and 45° 57' 45" latitude. Those who travel from Deva to the North shall easily discover the village of Sacaramb, hidden up in the mountains - a gathering of small white houses and three churches (one of them is in ruins, since it was stricken by lightening in 1970, a.n.). The scenery is a real bas-relief, placed on a fairytale blue background. 
According to I. Steinhausz (1904), the altitude is of 750 m from the seabed. Sacaramb lies in an open basin, heading towards West. The location is very picturesque and vies with the most famous regions in the world, according to travellers wondered by the geologic fame of these places. All those who, facing the difficulties of the road and the climbing, arrive to Sacaramb, shall be charmed by the splendid view. Downwards, the meandering silvery waters of the Mures river, the villages in the valley and Deva - the capital of the county. The town is perfectly illuminated by night and the landscape is wonderful, like in Venice (Italy). In the background, there lies the massive chain of Retezat Mount and facing north, the irregular slopes of "Moti Country" ("Tara Motilor") seen from the Gurguiata top (1,058 m). The atmosphere is filled with memories from the historical past - difficult and tragic moments of national struggle” [Armeanca, 1932: page 7-8].

Pictures from Sacarâmb 

Sacarâmb in 1803 – Pen drawing by Czeller Dezideriu

A section of the "Berarie" neighbourhood. In the foreground: the Greek Catholic Church, built in 1753, with the spinning altar and the organ, which was the second one built in the world – nowadays is deteriorated. 

The Silver Forest - trees reaching up for the sky

 

Inside the Silver Forest

Sacaramb 2005

An inside of the Roman-Catholic church in Sacaramb where Gh.Iovu performs his concerts every year

Ignorance replaced the spiritual tower (right side)

Coranda – the remains of the mountain after gold mining extraction

 

2. Places, people, mining tradition. Such a wonderful natural location was appropriate for the development of the locality - it is famous all over the world for its golden ore (of pure quality, called sacarâmbita). The monograph, written by Pavel Mogosan (1994-2002), presents complex data about the evolution of the locality and the mining tradition: “Sacarâmb belongs to the commune of Certejul de Sus, from Hunedoara County. The altitude from the Black Sea bed is somewhere between 600 and 1,000 m. It lies on the Setras mountain chain, in the Southeast side of the Metal Mountains.   The first miners settled here in 1746. In documents from the 12th century, Sacaramb was considered „OPPIDUM MONTANISTICUM" (mountain town) and the town hall was called «STANDHAUS" (City House). In 1858, there were 2,384 inhabitants. Most of the people living here were Romanians. But there were brought up colonists (mostly specialists in mining) from Italy, Carintia, Bohemia, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Dalmatia, etc. 
Sacarâmb is still divided into certain areas, called: POIANA (Glade), CRAM, COASTA SARACA (Poor Slope), BERARIE (Brewery), BORNSTIOLNÂ, ERNSTIOLNA, BAIA NOUA (New Mine), MOGOSENI, FLORENI, MÂRZESTI or CODRU (Forest). Before 1746, forests and grasslands, belonging to the closest village, called Nojag, covered the land. 
About 1720-1746, the inhabitants of Nojag took home „SHINING STONES" (ore). They crushed the stones into metal mortars, washed them into the "SAITROC" and obtained a concentrated ore, which they called „BOGATA". Since they went on carrying stones, they used to say „HAI SA-CARAM" ("Let us carry") and created the name „SA-CARÂMB". The name is still used by the inhabitants of these places.  The first official name was „CALVARIBERG" - given by the office-clerks of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, after the name of the hill Calvaria, where the ore was discovered. The origin of the name of „NAGYÁG" is not known. Perhaps the source is the closest village Nojag - „NOZSAK" (in Hungarian) or „NAGY-AG-IENSIS" (in Latin). The officials of Sacarâmb (in 1795) demanded, by the voice of Count Bethlen, to change the name into „ARANYBÁNYA", „NAGY-ARANY-ÁG" or „BÁNYA-NAGYÁG", in order to make the difference between Sacarâmb and Nojag (where the servants lived). The petition was not approved.  
Between 17th and 18th centuries, the inhabitants of Sacarâmb were: 
a) Officials - „DOMNIIOFICIALIS" - engineers and priests. 
b) Sub-officials - „HOCMANII" - sub-engineers (technicians) and primary-school teachers. 
c) Prime-miners - „OBER-HAUERII" - simple technicians. 
d) Miners - „HAUERIJ" - mine workers. 
e) Miners - „LEHR-HAUERII" - mine assistants. 
f) Apprentices - „SAUBE-JUNGERH" - children over 12 years. 
g) Particulars, working on the surface - traders, pub-owners, small handicraftsmen, etc. 

In the 18th century, in the location of nowadays Sacaramb, in the place called „SÂNCUIUS", the archaeologist Roska Marton found a grotto filled with bronze tools. In 1860, Roman gold coins and a bronze chain were discovered in a pot, at the feet of the hill called Setras. In 1746, the Empress Mary Theresa established several prizes of 1-4 ducats, for anyone who would discover a golden coal vein or open a new mine. A. Stutz describes a crude gallery that existed here, before 1746 (probably used by guzari from Nojag to carry shining stones). 
Travel descriptions, written by Ignatie Born, the son of the mines owner from Certej - Ludovic Born, contained a statement: "THE VALLACHIAN, CALLED ARMENIAN IOHN (ORMINDEAN IOAN) IS THE FIRST ONE TO TELL MY FATHER WHAT HE HAD DISCOVERED". Perhaps, after they were unable to use such crude means/tools like „BORTE", "guzari" from Nojag wanted to open an official mine where, themselves, would be the miners. Therefore, Ormindean loan from Nojag announced Ludovic Born, the owner of the mines from Certej, about the state of the crude workings, bringing him several samples ("stufe"). Born went to the place and decided to begin the official workings. The samples were sent to Sibiu for Chemical analysis. The first owners of the mines from Sacarâmb were: Ludovic Born from Certej, Captain Pietzker Paul de Wildeburg from Vienna and Captain De Teigel (who became an outlaw), who was sentenced to death because he sold his shares to the Turks. The deposits of Sacarâmb contain approx. 100 ores, that were discovered for "THE FIRST TIME IN THE WORLD": "sacarâmbit", "silvanit", "scorodit", "phyrophillite", "rhodonite", "stibium-conit" and "valentinit".

 

 

 

Main mines (galleries) from Sacarâmb were: 

    Sacarâmb is also known in international literature, not due of its famous gold ores, but due to the existence of „METALLUM PROBLEMATICUM" or „AURUM PARADOXUM", also known as „SACARÂMBIT". Baron Born (mining specialist) sent samples (stufe) of ore to F.S. Muller, Chemistry engineer in Sibiu. The latter supposed (1783-1785) that the difficulty of segregating gold from " SACARÂMB" resides in the fact that it was combined with an unknown metal. Thus, the German scientist Heinrich Klaproth discovered „TELUR", for the first time, after searching the samples sent from Sacarâmb, in 1789. Between 1852-1944, Sacarâmb was visited by important personalities (mining specialists) from Germany, Hungary, Austria, Cehia and Slovakia, England, Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey, Brazil, Japan and U.S.A. Their signatures can be seen in the "GOLDEN BOOK" from The Mining Museum in Certej. For crushing the ore, in Sacaramb existed (on the spring Nojag) many "PESTLE STAMPS” that worked with the help of waterpower. Such a high quality of the pestle stamps made them to be considered "UNIQUE IN THE COUNTRY". The water flow of the spring of Nojag was kept by the help of two accumulating lakes, called: Taul vechi (Old Lake) and Taul nou (New Lake).

    The crushed ore was sorted out and transported by carts pulled by oxen, on a special road, paved with boulders, up to Certej, where it was processed further on.

Section of the road paved with boulders. The transversal irregularities are the result of the massive transportation of wood, in heavy trucks. The road is no longer used for transport.

    The craftsman, Munteanu Urs, from Sacarâmb, invented in 1797 a pestle stamp powered by water and another device for sorting out the ore. Therefore, the efficiency increased to 237%. He was paid with only 7 ducats (official coin), by the officials. The Vallachian people not taken into consideration by the officials and treated as "SERVANTS".  In 1934, when the processing plant was inaugurated in Certej, as well as the cableway Certej-Sâcarâmb, the water installations were abandoned. Once the cable way was inaugurated between 1934-1935, the waste dump began to be used. The inhabitants of Sacaramb enjoyed all modern techniques, but they were not satisfied with the road to Certej, which was abandoned. Thus, vehicles could difficultly travel; the slopes were inclined because of the tracks made by the carts pulled by oxen, during the 17th century. 
    The cable way had 67 wooden stands. Between the end stations (terminus) there was a difference of 449 m. Thus, the entire installation was very efficient, because it worked according to the principle of gravitation. The highest stands had 26 m and the biggest distance between the stands (across valleys) was of 362 m. It transported 370, 000 kg/day, approx. 400 carts (pulled by oxen)/day. During the first years, the extraction was made with grills and hammers. The method was used even after 1940, when the pneumatic perforation of mine holes (as well as wet perforation) began. In the beginning, illumination was made with lamps - „stearturi" - with grease and wicks and later on, with carbide cap lamps. Nowadays (1994), the illumination is made with battery lamps. The transportation through the main galleries was made with horse-pulled carts. In order to pull out the ore from the shaft pits they used small wagons pulled by horses, as well. After a certain time, the horses grew blind. 

Besides the underground workings, all the „BAIESII" ("MINERS") used to work in agriculture, cattle breeding in their own households/small farms. This secondary job made them participate to contests - the most beautiful house, the most beautiful cattle, etc.  In 1928, the quantity of extracted ore grew up to 101 kg of gold, but Sacarâmb still has many „COAL VEINS" that expect to be discovered or used.

 

HISTORY OF SACARAMB

  • Cultural activities held in the former "Professional School of Mining" (the first school in South-Eastern Europe, where students and scientists from all over the world came to study).

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    Sacarâmb – August 15th, 1900 – Religious procession that descends to the park and stops art every crossing - triptych (sculptured crucifixes made of andesite stone)