Ocna de Fier (, ) is a commune in

Caraș-Severin County Caraș-Severin () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia. The majority of its territory lies within the historical region of Banat, with a few northeastern villages considered part of Transylvania. The county seat is Reșița ...

, in the

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

region of southwestern

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 ...

. It is composed of a single village, Ocna de Fier.

History

Along with the

Dognecea Dognecea () is a commune in Caraș-Severin County, in the Banat region of Romania, with a population of 2,009 people. It is composed of two villages, Calina (''Kalina'') and Dognecea. The commune is located in the northwestern part of the county ...

area, Ocna de Fier is among the few settlements in the world that supported almost continuous

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

for some 4000 years. Archaeological evidence shows that mining in the area dates back to the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

(1900–1700 BC). The main ore exploited in those times was native

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

from the oxidation zone of the deposit. Later on,

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

s brought about a gradual switch from copper to iron mining. Mining was an activity of the

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

ns, the ancient inhabitants of present-day Romania. After the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

conquest in 106, mining was expanded in the Roman province of

. At Berzovis (present day Berzovia, ten kilometres northwest of Ocna de Fier) a Roman

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

school, Schola fabrorum, was established, showing the keen interest the Romans had in metal extraction. At Cracul cu Aur (Romanian for "Golden Tributary"), north of Ocna de Fier, old Roman

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

mining galleries can still be seen. They look like the much better preserved ones at Rosia Montana ("Verespatak"), in the Apuseni Mountains. The Constantin Gruescu Iron Aesthetic Mineralogy Museum is located in Ocna de Fier.
Museum Information

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocna De Fier Communes in Caraș-Severin County Localities in Romanian Banat Mining communities in Romania