Opening Soon: Ice Church on top of highest Romanian Mountains
It is the 12th consecutive year when an ice church is being built at Bâlea Lake, which together with the Ice Hotel are unique touristic attractions in Romania and Southeastern Europe.
Articol de Carmen Vulcan, Sibiu, 05 Ianuarie 2019, 23:50
Construction of the unique Ice Church on top of Făgăraş Mountains, the highest in Romania, has started on Saturday, despite freezing weather. Ice Church is to be located close to famous Ice Hotel at Bâlea Lake (glacier lake - 2,034 meters altitude). Four igloos are also being built, as accommodation for tourists.
RRA Reporter Carmen Vulcan: It is the 12th consecutive year when an ice church is being built at Bâlea Lake, which together with the Ice Hotel are unique touristic attractions in Romania and Southeastern Europe. As in the past, Ice Church will be built after the model of the old Saxon church in the Malancrav village near Sibiu. It will have an altar and an ice crucifix inside, ice banks covered with furs, and the walls will be carved in snowy frozen bas-reliefs with religious themes. Organizers say that a first marriage inside the Ice Church is already scheduled for March 2019, for a couple from the UK.
Bâlea Lake is accessible by car on the Transfăgărășan high-altitude road (an amazing awesome road crossing the Făgăraș Mountains) during the summer, and by cable car from “Bâlea Cascadă” (Bâlea Waterfall) in the rest of the year.
Snow in the Bâlea Lake region is now over 170 centimeters high. There is a high risk of producing avalanches, grade 4 on a scale from 1 to 5. Avalanche alert is valid for the whole area of Făgăraş Mountains at over 1,800 meters altitude.
For this reason, Mountain Rescuers from Sibiu and Argeș Counties recommend that tourists stay near the chalets and the Ice Hotel, and not venture on the slopes.
Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei
