A lake that will make your day brighter and more peaceful in just a moment, but also a place whose mystery is far away from calmness and beautiful moments.
Just when we thought we finally managed to step away from toxic lakes that conceal cruelty and lots of sacrifice amongst people and their houses, and everything they have ever realized in their entire life, we get do discover one more place whose mystery and dark history speak louder than its silence and peace which are visible at first.
It’s called Beliș or Fântânele Lake, often being used both of the names – Beliș-Fântânele Lake, and it represents an artificial water storage from the Gilău Mountains that is being part of Cluj County.
Since the lake is also located on the northern side of the Apuseni Mountains and Transylvania we tend to have bigger expectations since we are used to discovering lots of places in this part of Romania, that are often leaving you speechless.
But while Transylvania hides lots of touristic attractions very powerful when it comes to their uniqueness and formations, we forget that there are also various lakes, caves, waterfalls, and other locations, that get remarked through their dark history, sacrifices made during the Communist period, Government Corruption, and other disasters – showing how far a human being can go, with no limits when it comes to greediness and lack of empathy for the others.
Unfortunately, this is also the story of the Beliș Lake that is far away from a peaceful place where you could go to relax and enjoy a beautiful day of the summer.
Back in 1970-1974, the locals of the Beliș village and people who were living nearby in other five hamlets, were forced to move and leave behind their houses and everything they have built in their entire life due to the disaster that it was yet to turn everything just into memories.
That’s how names such as: Milioan, Pleș, Dădești, Bolojești and Giurcuța de Jos are absent on the map when it comes to discover the surroundings because all those tiny villages are resting nowadays under 100 m depth of water.
Even though the creation of the lake had a pretty good reason at the base, namely, that of a hydropower role and an artificial dam that will protect people from floods and other natural disasters, the old locals of the village are still being struck with terrible memories when during the summer the water level of the lake decreases and from the lustre of the water are being raised the ruins of the old houses where they used to live decades ago.
Unfortunately, the lake is being home for also a Roman Catholic Church called Urmanczy, that is one of the main attractions when the ruins can be visible.
Since close to the lake it’s also a tourist resort that gathers more and more tourists with each passing year, the water sports are not missing.
That’s how lots of people are renting boats and pedalos just to get a little bit closer to the ruins and take a picture of them, or just simply admire the paintings from the church walls, that despite the fact that they are most of the time covered by water, they still resist and present the angels and biblical frescoes that are taking care of the memory of the tiny villages.
Similar to the case with the residents of Geamana village sunken by the toxic chemicals of the copper mine, the 1300 locals of Beliș also had part of fake promises that they will receive other houses and lands just to move a little further from the place that was going to be soon flooded, those that refused to accept the new reality, being forced to see everything they had be destroyed with lack of empathy and lots of cruelty or even die in their own houses.
Even though Beliș Lake hides a history that is definitely not a happy one, people learned that life keeps going on no matter what, and they embraced the past and started a new life, often returning to this place just to go fishing or do a picnic and share different stories to their kids about how their childhood looked like, back then.
The lake is often a preferred area by people who want to spend their holiday in this part of Transylvania, not just because of the uncommon lake they get to discover, but also because Beliș represents a location from where many other tourists attractions and mountain tracks are starting.
Beliș Lake is located on 27 km away from Huedin, 77 km away from Cluj-Napoca and 133 km away from Oradea, and it can be easily accessed with the cars, by following the European road E60 Oradea-Cluj-Brasov, or on the County Road DJ101 from Huedin to Beliș.
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Gabriela Travels 