Baile Figa, a European investment in tourism

Baile Figa, located three km away from the town of Beclean, have already taken shape, through their sports grounds, pools, mud treatment complex, alleys and parking places. The investment amounts to 1.5 million euros, coming from EU funds, and work should finish by July 15, Beclean mayor Nicolae Moldovan said.

Baile Figa, Baile Cojocna and Ocna Dej won 4 million euros by means of a PHARE project on increasing the balneary potential of the salt lakes in the north-western region and expect to attract new investors interested in opening holiday boarding houses, or even hotels, in the area. The Beclean Town Hall owns a plot of land larger than 17 ha were such investments could be made, and the local administration decided the area would be leased only, not sold.

The salt lakes at Baile Figa have curative, highly concentrated chlorosodic waters and their salt mud heals diseases of the peripheral nervous system, the limbs and the gynaecological system.

Another attraction of Baile Figa is its archaeological site discovered in 2007, unique in south-eastern Europe. Researchers of the Bistrita-Nasaud County's Museum, the National Museum of the Eastern Carpathians based in the town of Sf Gheorghe and of the British Exeter University dug out the site unveiling a whole building, surrounded by fences made of hazelnut wood, walls made of beams but also many wooden artifacts such as a Celtic handle, a trough, a palette, all very well preserved thanks to the salt. Lab investigations made abroad revealed the items date back to 1000 and 500 BC, namely the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age. They also discovered many red or black ceramic shards specific of that age.