Cacica: Salt Mine, Pilgrimage Centre and Marked Trails

In Cacica, the visitor route in the Salina Cacica salt mine includes a small museum. The small museum is located in the headframe building. An ecumenical chapel is part of the same visitor route. The route also includes the Dwarfs' Gallery. A salt lake is another of its components. A dance hall and a machinery museum are also part of the route. Access to Salina Cacica is via a wooden staircase with 192 steps. The Catholic Chapel of Sf Varvara is located 21 metres underground in the Cacica salt mine. It was built in 1806.

Pilgrimage Centre and History

The Minor Basilica of Cacica was built between 1903 and 1904. It was consecrated on 16 October 1904. In 2000, Pope John Paul II elevated the Cacica sanctuary to a Minor Basilica. The Minor Basilica in Cacica is a Catholic pilgrimage centre. Services are held there in Romanian. They are also held in Polish, German and Hungarian. The Lourdes Grotto in Cacica was built in 1936. It is a replica of the Grotto of Lourdes. The pilgrimages to Cacica for the Feast of the Assumption have been held for more than 100 years. The first pilgrimage took place in 1905. The site's religious history therefore includes both the church building and the Lourdes Grotto, as well as a pilgrimage tradition documented over a long period.

The Geto-Dacian coin hoard discovered in Cacica comprises 485 silver coins and coin fragments. The coins are silver imitations of Macedonian tetradrachms. They date from the 3rd to the 2nd century BC. The find adds a significantly older chapter to the more recent history of the pilgrimage site.

Marked Trails

From Cacica, the “Mănăstirea Humorului” route is marked with a yellow triangle. The trail runs for approximately 6.5 km to “La Monument”. Uphill, it takes approximately 2 hours. Downhill, the duration is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes. The “Cetatea de piatră” route is marked with a blue triangle. It runs for approximately 7 km to the ridge of the Obcina Cacica. Separate times for the ascent and descent are also recorded for the route to “La Monument”.

Nature

The “Cetatea de piatră” viewpoint is an erosion remnant. Its form is sandstone-like. From there, the view extends over Cacica and the Suceava Plateau. The rare orchid Cypripedium calceolus occurs in Cacica in the “Livada Salinei” area. Locally, the orchid is known as “Papucul Doamnei”. The Ecobiblioteca in Cacica is designated as a tourism information centre.

Those preparing a stay in Cacica can shortlist a holiday apartment as an accommodation option and base further travel planning on it; the specific decision remains subject to the travellers' personal preferences, travel period and individual priorities, without presupposing any particular accommodation.

Further Destinations

Other places to discover include Poiana Negrii, Vatra Dornei, Podu Coșnei, Cârlibaba, Fălticeni, Căsoi, Frumosu and Dărmăneşti.

To the overarching travel overview: Suceava.