Băile Herculane

People have lived in the Cerna valley since the Palaeolithic: the Cave of the Thieves above the town holds layers from the Mousterian, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. The Romans founded Ad Aquas Herculis here, after the legend that the weary Hercules stopped in the valley to bathe and rest, and built baths, temples and statues to Hercules, Aesculapius and Hygieia; visiting aristocrats turned it into a leisure centre, and six statues of Hercules from that time have been found.

In 1736 General Hamilton, the Habsburg governor of the Banat, rebuilt the baths, and over the following decades the military frontier administration raised most of the resort's buildings, including the Neptune and Diana baths, on terraces laid out over the Roman ruins. Austrian and Ottoman troops fought here in 1788, when the Ottomans held the town for a year. A bronze replica of a Roman Hercules was set up in the centre in the 19th century, and the station was built in 1878–86. The first modern hotel opened in 1930, and until the Second World War the resort remained popular with Western Europeans.

Under communism large concrete hotels of eight to twelve storeys were built for mass tourism, and the resort was especially popular with workers and pensioners using state holiday vouchers. After 1989 the old bathhouses suffered from bad management after privatisation and many became derelict; in the late 2010s a group called the Herculane Project began working to stabilise and eventually restore them.

The town's identity is its water. Sixteen natural springs of thermal mineral water rise along about 4 km of the Cerna, and the resort has long offered treatments for rheumatism, arthritis, cardiovascular, neurological and skin conditions — thermal baths, mineral water cures, massage and rehabilitation. Spa guests on treatment stays now share the town with a younger crowd.

The Roman myth is everywhere. Hercules, patron of the springs, stands in bronze in the main square, and the springs and baths carry the names of Hercules, Hygieia, Neptune and Diana. The Habsburg-era buildings of Hercules Square and the casino ensemble are listed historic monuments, and their slow decay and the efforts to save them have become part of the town's story.

Bathing in the open air is a local habit. Along the river, free pools sit in or beside the water, some a different colour from the river and steaming on cold days, and they are popular with local people. Above the town, marked trails lead into the forests and onto the ridges of the national park.

Băile Herculane had about 3,800 people at the 2021 census, down from about 5,000 in 2011; most are Romanian and Orthodox, and the town administers one village, Pecinișca. Hotels, treatment centres and guesthouses, and the services around them, are the town's main business.

The town has three distinct parts. Most residents live in the south, near the railway station, where a supermarket opened in 2021; the middle is taken up by the big communist-era hotels; and the historic centre lies at the northern end. A municipal minibus links them along the single road that follows the river.

Life follows the seasons. Summer brings the busiest months and long walks and swims; near the end of summer, people from the area sell fruit, syrups and pălincă from their car boots at the parking areas below the old centre; and in the cooler months the steaming river pools come into their own.

The cooking is that of the Banat and the Romanian south-west, filling and pork-heavy. Mămăligă, the maize-flour porridge served across Romania, comes with cheese and sour cream; sarmale — minced pork and rice rolled in a fresh or pickled cabbage leaf — are the national dish, made for Easter and Christmas; and tochitură, pork cut into small cubes and cooked slowly in its own fat and juices, is traditionally served with mămăligă and eggs.

The sour soups called ciorbă start many meals, and the grill turns out mici, grilled minced-meat sausages often served with mustard. Brined cheeses such as telemea, and pickled vegetables, appear on most tables, and papanași — fresh-cheese doughnuts topped with sour cream and fruit preserve — are a favourite dessert.

Gardens in the area supply the fruit that villagers sell at the end of summer, along with home-made syrups and pălincă, the strong fruit brandy. Most sit-down meals in the resort are eaten in hotel and guesthouse restaurants along the river, while the old centre has small stands for ice cream and snacks.