
Volunteers battling to save Romania's cultural treasures
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But after decades of neglect, a group of young architects is working to restore the picturesque Romanian resort that once attracted emperors.
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'Someone once said that if you drink water from the spring from Herculane, you never leave,' said 31-year-old architect Oana Chirila.
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Her group's restoration efforts here are just one of several recent civil society initiatives launched to protect some of Romania's historic monuments.
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An estimated 800 of them are in an advanced state of decay or in danger of crumbling altogether. Some of those are already considered to represent a danger to the public.
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The neglect is the result of Romania's chaotic transition from Communism to democracy, which was marked by opaque privatizations, often resulting in interminable legal battles and investigations by anti-corruption prosecutors.
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Imperial history
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Built in 1886, the Neptune Imperial Baths attracted illustrious clients in its heyday, with its warm sulphur treatments.
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They included Austria's Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth, popularly known as Sisi. Franz Joseph described the town as Europe's 'most beautiful spa resort'.
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Now the baths are closed, their interior walls covered in graffiti, rubble on the floor and rain leaking in.
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Despite the decay, tourists still frequently stop to marvel at and photograph the long, rusty facade, some trying to peek inside through the broken windows.
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For the moment, Chirila and her team of volunteers are confined to doing conservation work on the baths' outer structure.
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They could not restore the building until legal disputes between the authorities and the private owners are solved, she explained, adding: 'There's always this fear that it might collapse.'
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'Most of the historical monuments are in their current state –- meaning constant decay –- because they are legally blocked,' preventing any use of public or European funds for their restoration.
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For the moment then, along one side of the riverbank, people take dips in three basins with sulphur water — dubbed 'little bathtubs' by Chirila.
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