{"id":18936,"date":"2016-02-22T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-22T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/architizer.wpengine.com\/salt-mine-in-romania\/"},"modified":"2022-05-31T09:29:53","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T13:29:53","slug":"salt-mine-in-romania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/","title":{"rendered":"Another World: Romania\u2019s Secret Theme Park Is Hidden Within a Cavernous Salt Mine"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Romanian Cultural Institute offered British photographer Richard Seymour<\/a> a grant to photograph the country\u2019s capital, Bucharest<\/a>, he first turned his lens to the countryside, believing it to be an important step to understanding the character of the city itself.<\/p>\n

In the midst of his research, Seymour dove 367 feet underground to uncover Salina Turda, a salt mine that was repurposed into a subterranean theme park in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

Featuring everything from a bowling alley, an underground rowing lake and a Ferris Wheel to a mini golf course and ping pong courts, the cathedral-like space is so impressive in scale that its experience can only be hinted at with words and images.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

\u201cThe sounds of the bowling, shouts and laughter echo throughout the whole space. The place is very dark, but for a subterranean space, the air quality is really quite good, it feels quite fresh inside,\u201d says Seymour.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

Seymour\u2019s series of images renders the majesty of millennium-old matter framing the organic setting for an unexpected tourist attraction. \u201cPhotographing this space was a challenge due to its sheer scale,\u201d he explains. \u201cHumans are put into perspective, and the difference between nature and manmade features is blurred.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

After feeding the economies of 13th-century Hungarian kings and Habsburg emperors \u2014 for whom salt was more valuable than gold \u2014 the salt mine served as a cheese storage center and then a bomb shelter during World War II. <\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

Nowadays, the underground and salt-infused environmental conditions of Salina Turda even allow it to house a healing center for people with lung conditions.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

Prints of Richard Seymour\u2019s Salina Turda series are available for purchase directly from the artist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n

For more striking photographs, check out Laurent Kronental\u2019s photographs of Postmodern Paris<\/a>, Zsolt Hlinka\u2019s perfectly symmetrical Budapest portraits<\/a> or Oliver Astrologo\u2019s photo essay of the brutalist Casa Sperimentale<\/a> in Italy.<\/p>\n

Images and quotes from Co.Design<\/a> and CNN Style<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Romanian Cultural Institute offered British photographer Richard Seymour a grant to photograph the country\u2019s capital, Bucharest, he first turned his lens to the countryside, believing it to be an important step to understanding the character of the city itself. In the midst of his research, Seymour dove 367 feet underground to uncover Salina…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"architizer_featured_type":"projects","architizer_featured_image":"1495164","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[19],"architizer_project":[],"architizer_brand":[],"architizer_firm":[],"architizer_product":[],"class_list":["post-18936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-details","category-practice","tag-guide"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAnother World: Romania\u2019s Secret Theme Park Is Hidden Within a Cavernous Salt Mine - Architizer Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Another World: Romania\u2019s Secret Theme Park Is Hidden Within a Cavernous Salt Mine - Architizer Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When the Romanian Cultural Institute offered British photographer Richard Seymour a grant to photograph the country\u2019s capital, Bucharest, he first turned his lens to the countryside, believing it to be an important step to understanding the character of the city itself. In the midst of his research, Seymour dove 367 feet underground to uncover Salina…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Architizer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-22T20:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-31T13:29:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chlo\u0329 Vadot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Architizer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Architizer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chlo\u0329 Vadot\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chlo\u0329 Vadot\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7146570daeffdee04f13950be0624192\"},\"headline\":\"Another World: Romania\u2019s Secret Theme Park Is Hidden Within a Cavernous Salt Mine\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-22T20:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-31T13:29:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/\"},\"wordCount\":358,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Guide\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Details\",\"Practice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/\",\"name\":\"Another World: Romania\u2019s Secret Theme Park Is Hidden Within a Cavernous Salt Mine - Architizer Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-22T20:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-31T13:29:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Another World: Romania\u2019s Secret Theme Park Is Hidden Within a Cavernous Salt Mine\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Journal\",\"description\":\"Inspiration and Tools for Architects\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Architizer\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.architizer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/favicon.df2618023937.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.architizer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/favicon.df2618023937.png\",\"width\":36,\"height\":36,\"caption\":\"Architizer\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Architizer\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Architizer\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/architizer\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/architizer\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/architizer\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/Architizer\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7146570daeffdee04f13950be0624192\",\"name\":\"Chlo\u0329 Vadot\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c30ab33e33a5779f98338b54a8bc17ffecb327656ba7d6458a96f6c6f028c0d5?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.architizer.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Flogo-600x600-1.jpg&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c30ab33e33a5779f98338b54a8bc17ffecb327656ba7d6458a96f6c6f028c0d5?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.architizer.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Flogo-600x600-1.jpg&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Chlo\u0329 Vadot\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/author\/chlo-vadot\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Another World: Romania\u2019s Secret Theme Park Is Hidden Within a Cavernous Salt Mine - Architizer Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Another World: Romania\u2019s Secret Theme Park Is Hidden Within a Cavernous Salt Mine - Architizer Journal","og_description":"When the Romanian Cultural Institute offered British photographer Richard Seymour a grant to photograph the country\u2019s capital, Bucharest, he first turned his lens to the countryside, believing it to be an important step to understanding the character of the city itself. In the midst of his research, Seymour dove 367 feet underground to uncover Salina…","og_url":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/","og_site_name":"Journal","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Architizer\/","article_published_time":"2016-02-22T20:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-31T13:29:53+00:00","author":"Chlo\u0329 Vadot","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Architizer","twitter_site":"@Architizer","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chlo\u0329 Vadot","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/"},"author":{"name":"Chlo\u0329 Vadot","@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7146570daeffdee04f13950be0624192"},"headline":"Another World: Romania\u2019s Secret Theme Park Is Hidden Within a Cavernous Salt Mine","datePublished":"2016-02-22T20:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-31T13:29:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/"},"wordCount":358,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Guide"],"articleSection":["Details","Practice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/","url":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/","name":"Another World: Romania\u2019s Secret Theme Park Is Hidden Within a Cavernous Salt Mine - Architizer Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-22T20:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-31T13:29:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/salt-mine-in-romania\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Another World: Romania\u2019s Secret Theme Park Is Hidden Within a Cavernous Salt Mine"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/","name":"Journal","description":"Inspiration and Tools for Architects","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Architizer","url":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.architizer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/favicon.df2618023937.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.architizer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/favicon.df2618023937.png","width":36,"height":36,"caption":"Architizer"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Architizer\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Architizer","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/architizer\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/architizer\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/architizer\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/Architizer"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7146570daeffdee04f13950be0624192","name":"Chlo\u0329 Vadot","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c30ab33e33a5779f98338b54a8bc17ffecb327656ba7d6458a96f6c6f028c0d5?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.architizer.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Flogo-600x600-1.jpg&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c30ab33e33a5779f98338b54a8bc17ffecb327656ba7d6458a96f6c6f028c0d5?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.architizer.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Flogo-600x600-1.jpg&r=g","caption":"Chlo\u0329 Vadot"},"url":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/author\/chlo-vadot\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18936\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18936"},{"taxonomy":"architizer_project","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/architizer_project?post=18936"},{"taxonomy":"architizer_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/architizer_brand?post=18936"},{"taxonomy":"architizer_firm","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/architizer_firm?post=18936"},{"taxonomy":"architizer_product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/architizer_product?post=18936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}