Detunatele is a site of

columnar jointing Columnar jointing is a geological structure where sets of intersecting closely spaced fractures, referred to as Joint (geology), joints, result in the formation of a regular array of polygonal Prism (geometry), prisms, or columns. Columnar join ...

Alba County Alba County () is a county (județ) of Romania located in the historic region of Transylvania. Its capital is Alba Iulia, a city with a population of 63,536. Name "Alba", meaning "white" in Latin and Romanian, is derived from the name of the ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. ''Detunatele'' means lightning striken. The

hexagon In geometry, a hexagon (from Greek , , meaning "six", and , , meaning "corner, angle") is a six-sided polygon. The total of the internal angles of any simple (non-self-intersecting) hexagon is 720°. Regular hexagon A regular hexagon is de ...

al columns are made of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

and are tall on two peaks: Detunata Goală and Detunata Flocoasă (Barren Detunata and Shaggy Detunata). The two peaks are located in the

Metaliferi Mountains Metaliferi Mountains (; ), meaning Ore Mountains, are in the Carpathian Mountain Range and are a division of the Apuseni Mountains. Peaks The highest peak is , with an elevation of . The range also includes the '' Detunatele'', a pair of basalt ...

and are a tourist attraction. They are apart. The formations are shaped like humps and there are stories and legends associated with them. They are considered to be two of the most beautiful peaks in the Apuseni Mountains.

References

Columnar basalts Geology of Romania Geography of Alba County Tourist attractions in Alba County {{Alba-geo-stub