Valcea County
Romania's spa capital built on Neolithic-to-Roman salt mining with country's largest underground mine
The Dacian Burs tribe knew about the salt before Rome came—Ocnele Mari, the oldest town in Valcea County, sits atop deposits worked since the Neolithic. When Roman legions arrived, salt became currency; 'white gold' floated down the Olt River on rafts to supply the Empire. Today's Ocnele Mari salt mine is Romania's largest: 20,000 square meters of underground space 225 meters deep, featuring the country's biggest subterranean church, a museum, sports facilities, and therapeutic aerosols treating respiratory conditions. But Valcea isn't just salt—it's Romania's spa capital, with Govora, Olanesti, and Calimanesti-Caciulata drawing visitors to mineral waters since the Habsburg era. Dragsani produces wine while chemical factories operate at Govora, the county balancing extraction, therapy, and fermentation.