The Romanian village where a toxic lake was formed

Once a beautiful village in the mountains, now there is a lonely church tower and several houses flooded with toxic waters full of cyanides and other harmful chemicals. Such a sad, but at the same time majestic sight opens in the Romanian county of Alba. Local residents were forced to leave these places several decades ago, and the picture that opens here clearly demonstrates how progress and industry do not spare the traditions and feelings of people.

Copper mining in the mines of Rosia Poieni in the Western Romanian mountains of Alba county has become a real curse for the inhabitants of two villages located at the foot of the mountains where the mines are located. Their suffering began in 1977, when Nicolae Ceausescu decided to profitably use the huge copper deposit found in these mountains.

The government forced the residents of the neighboring village of Jamana to move out of their homes and forget about the old way of life in order to make room for the release of toxic waste from the mines.

About 400 families were evacuated, and an artificial lake appeared on the site of their village, which became a kind of catchment into which water contaminated with waste flowed.

The water in the lake is very toxic, it is full of cyanide and other chemicals.

Over time, the lake swallowed up the once beautiful village. The church tower and a few houses are all that remains of it.