Roșia Montană Mining Landscape
Located in the metalliferous zone of the Apuseni Mountains in western Romania, Monte Rosia hosts the most important, extensive and technologically diverse underground Roman gold mining area known from the time of inscriptional records. As Albernus Major, it was the site of large-scale gold mining during the Roman Empire. Over a period of 166 years, starting in 106 AD, the Romans extracted approximately 500 tonnes of gold from the site, developing highly engineered works, tunnels of different types totalling 7 kilometres and multiple waterwheels at four underground high-grade ore sources. Waxed wooden writing tablets provide detailed legal, socio-economic, demographic and linguistic information on Roman mining activities, not only at Albernus Major but also in the wider province of Dacia. The site demonstrates a fusion of imported Roman mining techniques with locally developed ones, unknown elsewhere at such an early date. Mining was also carried out at the site from the Middle Ages to the modern era, albeit on a smaller scale. Late-stage extractive works surround and cross Roman galleries. The entire complex is set in an agro-pastoral landscape and largely reflects the community structure that supported the mines from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.