Over 100 tree mold caves which are unique in Romania and a rarity in Europe have been discovered in recent years and some of them will be opened for tourism in the coming period. The caves are located on the valley of the Superior Mures river, in the Topliţa – Deda gorges.

The so – called lava caves were formed 5.3 million years ago when the Calimani - Gurghiu volcano was active, and when its lava flew out on the forest, trapping trees. In time, because of water erosion, the trees decomposed and were washed away from the volcanic rock, leaving behind the so called lava mold caves or tree mold caves. These caves are usually not big, and out of the 100 which were found in Romania, only 16 could actually be named caves because of their larger size, the rest being smaller only lava casts.

Specialists are currently working on setting up the first such cave for the public, located between Răstoliţa and Lunca Bradului in Mures county, which has a two meter wide entry, and which can be entered for about 50 meters. An opening date has not been given. In Europe, such caves have only been discovered in Romania and Slovakia.

Such caves are usually not very large, but they can get to considerable sizes as groups of fallen logs were covered by lava, or when large animals, such as elephants or rhinoceros were trapped in the hot lava. Such caves are known to exist in Washington (USA), near Ape Cave, and most notably in Japan in the Yoshida-tanai area.

The famous tree mold cave located in Japan, Yoshida Tainai (in picture) was made by the eruption of the Mount Fuji more than 1000 years ago. Several trees lay on top of each other and formed a complicated tree mold. Yoshida Tainai and more than 60 tree molds in this area are considered a natural monument in Japan. The inside of the main cave of Yoshida lava tree molds is not open to the public.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Yoshida Tree Mold website)