In recent years, the Mud Volcanoes have become a frequented tourist destination and probably the most famous geological monument in Romania. The strange scenery of the cracked clay, the various colors of the “lava” emerged from the clay, transformed the place into a natural studio for photographic essays, decoration for SF film productions, fashion editorials and advertising clips.
The mud volcanoes create a strange lunar landscape, due to the absence of vegetation around the cones. Vegetation is scarce because the soil is very salty, an environmental condition in which few plants can survive. The mud volcanoes brings to the surface low amounts of hydrocarbons and salt, as well as fragments of sedimentary rocks and fossil organisms.
The elders have only scary stories about the place to tell. They say the dry cracked soil would be the skin of a dragon hidden deep down in the Earth’s guts. From time to time, through the boiling muddy craters, it spits out dirty cursed blood. In ancient times the dragon came to this quiet area and started to burn all around him, leaving the people who lived there with almost nothing. Everyone was terrified about the dragon, but one brave young peasant who decided to face the monster. Riding on a white horse armed with an arrow bow he set out in search of the dragon. After a long battle the peasant managed to cut one of the seven heads.
The Dragon got scared and hid under the ground where it is said that he still lives today. And the place remained dry having little holes in the ground from place to place, holes through which the injured dragon spits its blood.
