The natural wonders from Ponoarele

A mixture of colors and shapes, all made without human intervention. Here, the nature seems to have played away from the bustle of big cities. The tourists who reach to Ponoarele Reservation, are passing, literally, over the most important objective: "God's Bridge", a building which has the sole craftsman - the natural phenomena.

God's Bridge is located in the center of the village, it is a giant stone archway. Over the arch is situated the highway Baia de Arama - Drobeta Turnu Severin, crossing the Pragului Valley. It was formed by the collapse of the upper wall of the cave, imposing in the landscape, through massiveness: 30 m long, 13 m high, 22 m wide and 9 m opening.

From the God's Bridge, a road quite narrow and slightly steep, easily leads us up to the hill. After 500 meters of climbing, shown in all their splendor the Zaton lake and the two fields of ditches, Cleopatra and Aphrodite.

The topography of this place, the caves and the isolated corners of the forest have made the locals to invent all sorts of stories and legends, with battles between good and evil that left behind caves and strangely shaped stones. Stories passed down from generation to generation, combined with the beauty of nature, could attract tourists from all over the country, but the area is still too little known to the general public.

Around this beauty of nature there are several biblical legends, the most famous of them says that in the Ponoarele cave beneath the current bridge, once lived, the Devil. God had compassion for the people of Ponoarele, because they could not pass the Pragului Valley and banished the devil, which was sheltered in the cave of the bridge. The devil escaped when the cave ceiling collapsed and God made the bridge for humans. The devil came out to the lake Zătonul Mare, scratches with the claws the cliffs of the Cave Hill. There, he sat down on a stone which bears his name now (Devil's Rock).

Sideways from the bridge are two lakes, Zătonul Mare (the big lake) and Zătonul Mic (the small lake).

Equally spectacular and mysterious is the lake Zătonul Mare, also called "The Ghost Lake" because it comes and goes. The lake has an area of two kilometers when it's full of water and a depth of up to 20 meters. Zătonul Mare is the largest karstic lake from Romania.

In times of drought, Zătonul Mare dries up, the water going down into a cave in the groundwater, from where it appears on the surface of Ponoare village when it rains profusely.

In autumn, when the waters come back, after the rains start, on the mirror of the lake, the mallard ducks are coming.

About Zătonul Mic is said to be a bottomless lake, because no diver failed to achieve it. It is actually an extension of Bulba Cave.

The stormy water which proceed out of the two karst lakes, mixed with soil is red due to the soil inside the cave, which after a while, when it starts to dry up, they change color in blue. The color change of the earth is very strange, but it seems to be due to the existing chemical elements that probably oxidize in contact with the air.

Also God has blessed this area with the most beautiful and largest forest of lilac in the country. This beautiful forest of lilac is celebrated each spring. The Lilac Forest covers an area of 20 hectares, located at an altitude of 500 meters and is the only place in the country, preserved, thanks to the mild climate, with Mediterranean influences. A part of this forest, about 10 hectares, is a forest reserve. The forest can be admired in the fullness of its beauty, especially at the beginning of May, when it becomes a real carpet of lilac and ash parquet flowers, with a wonderful and tempting perfume.

If you are visiting Romania or you schedule a visit in our country, you should not miss this wonderful place.Less