Area 2.95 km² | ||
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Location Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania Website www.hoiabaciuforest.com | ||
The Hoia Forest (Romanian: Pădurea Hoia; Hungarian: Hója-erdő) is a forest situated to the west of the city of Cluj-Napoca, near the open-air section of the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania. The forest is used as a common recreation destination. In recent years a biking park has been added to the forest, along with areas for other sports such as paintball, airsoft and archery. It has a reputation for paranormal phenomena.
Contents
Map of Hoia Forest, Romania
Geography
The forest covers an area of about 3 square kilometers. Its southern border begins on a ridge which runs east-west. It does not contain the steep southern slope of the hill, which rises from the Someșul Mic River. To the north, the forest ends on a smoother slope, which meets the Nadăș River.
The eastern end of the forest is bordered by the Tăietura Turcului, an artificial valley that divides the hill from north to south and contains a traffic road. The west end of the forest reaches the northeastern slope of the Dealul Melcilor, nearby the Mujai Forest, which extends further westward. The Bongar valley runs along the south end of this side, which contains a downy oak grove unique to the southern steppe. Part of the northeastern end of the forest is bordered by Valea Lungă (Long Valley), which passes through Eocene limestone and forms Cheile Baciului, a valley with asymmetric slopes. A small natural lake is located upstream from Cheile Baciului, at the border of the forest. There are several springs with potable water at the north edge of the forest, in Valea Lungă.
Archaeological discoveries
The oldest Neolithic settlement in Romania (believed to have been established around 6500 BCE) belonging to the Starčevo–Kőrös–Criş culture was discovered at the north of Valea Lungă. Tombs and houses from this settlement were uncovered between 1960 and 1994.
Paranormal phenomena
The Hoia Forest is famous worldwide for its alleged frequent and varied paranormal phenomena. On August 18, 1968, a military technician from Cluj named Emil Barnea captured a famous photograph of a UFO over the forest's Poiana Rotundă (The Round Meadow).
Beginning in 1960, Alexandru Sift, a professor of biology, has studied the phenomena of light and magnetism which occur in the forest. This study yielded a rich archive of photographs of the phenomena, which was lost several days after Sift's death in 1993.
The few remaining photographs were published in 1995 in the book Fenomenele de la Pădure Hoia-Baciu by Adrian Pătruț, professor of chemistry at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca and a friend of Sift. Pătruț continued Sift's research, and claims that the strange phenomena have a scientific basis which has yet to be sufficiently understood. The reputation for paranormal phenomena has brought about many urban legends in Cluj, and contributes to its popularity as a tourist attraction. With so little evidence, skeptics say these are just stories for entertainment.