Let's travel together #291 - Gresiile de pe Stânca Dracului (The Devil's Rock)

Both nature and our beloved country, Romania, surprised us in many forms during our trips. There is literally no trip we have taken where we limited ourselves to seeing just what we had noted in our planner as there was always something popping up when we least expected it.

Whether we talk about lakes, mysterious caves, nameless beautiful waterfalls, or simply observing something while driving and looking out the window, they all made us set our main journey on pause and check them out too.

One of the situations that can fit in the last category mentioned, is also The Devil's Rock locally known as Gresiile de pe Stânca Dracului, which we first noticed when we were driving on a completely different destination. However, while we were going to follow the same road back home, we postponed this moment when we'll return from our initial journey.

The stone popped up, again, when we least expected it, after some road curves followed, an empty road, a silent town, and a bad mood caused by the grumpy weather. However, the main thing that caught our attention was the informative panel placed near the rock, but even if it wasn't there, most likely I'd still notice the stone since I'm a nerd when it comes to rock formations especially if they have an uncommon shape.

I was actually the single one dropping off the car to check it out and find its story while my parents and sister called themselves satisfied just to observe it from the place where the car was parked, but even like that, I am still very happy that I explored it even if was a quick and short meet.

The unusual shape of the rock was born from a local legend that presents this one both by words but also by two symbols: one representing the devil and one the rooster.
You might wonder what these two have in common, which stirred a big question mark for me as well.
It seems like the valley where the town is located, namely Valea Almașului, represents a place offered by God to the locals thousands of years ago. Being a town with fairly poor people, these became greedy and began extending their homeplaces over the other towns surrounding it, by claiming them illegally.
Obviously, this action led to fights between the locals of the whole region, trying to ruin each other's places but also taking revenge on God's will by throwing the bell tower of the town's church into a fountain which later was picked up by the devil himself who used it as a chandelier in his house.
But as there is no good connection between the devil and parts of religion, he got annoyed by the constant noise made by the bell and ended up breaking it using a boulder.

Seeing all these things, God made all the roosters in the town start singing when the day was only at the beginning, and while the devil is vulnerable during the daylight, he got scared and dropped the stone on the ground, right at the entrance to Hida town.

Along with the legend that brought the name to the stone, it's obvious that things look pretty real judging by the placement and all the little details that make a connection between the story and the stone.

But beyond that, there are also some interesting aspects of the structure of the stone that are rather similar to a mushroom than a rooster or a devil. This one seems like the part from the top is entirely composed of sandstone that is mainly used for floor tiles, while the rest of it is made out of conglomerates which result from a different kind of stone.

All these details in one way or another create a unique effect on the rock, making it become a symbol of the town, as well as a protected natural area since 2000 after people came to the conclusion that offers an outstanding geological and landscaper effect on this part of Romania.

Sadly, there's not much to do or see around this place, but if you feel like spending a bit longer or want to take a closer picture than across the street, there are some stairs leading to the top of the rock or the famous valley where you can enjoy some moments in silence or doing a picnic if the weather is in your favour.

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As mentioned before, The Devil's Rock is located on the side of the main road of Hida, Cluj county named Str. Stadionului, which is very close to the national road DN1G that makes the connection between Sânmihaiu Almașului and Chendrea. You can reach it only by car since the town is fairly tiny and there are no other options for now.

Other articles from my Romania Tour 2023:

• The Blue Lagoon of Cluj (Laguna Albastră)
• Ciucaș Waterfall... or beer? (Cascada Ciucaș)
• The Sequoia Tree from Romania
• Șapte culori ale Pământului (The 7 Colors of the Earth, Romania)
• Lacul Tarzan (Tarzan Lake of Romania)
• Gresiile de pe Stânca Dracului (The Devil's Rock)

more coming soon...

^{Gabriela Travels is the FOUNDER of "Festival Mania" who started this community from the passion of attending various festivals and with the purpose of encouraging more people to explore festivals all around the world and share their experiences. At the same time, Gabriela is an independent Graphic Design Freelancer since 2019 completing over 600+ orders in this time and collaborating with various businesses and people from all over the globe. Additionally, Gabriela has her own corner on the internet since 2017 where she writes various articles for her blog, the most popular being the travel ones (260+ articles written on this field), but also abording other topics as well, like game reviews, movie and series reviews, photography posts, cooking recipes and more, boosting the total number of articles written to 550+ blog posts. Gabriela is also a gamer since she was 11 years old and gaming remains one of her biggest passions along with traveling, editing, cooking, and doing various sports activities.}

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