THE RUPESTRIAN PLACES OF ALUNIŞU – POSSIBLE TOURISMGEOMORPHOLOGICAL SITES

¹ Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, 400006, Cluj-Napoca, Romania,
e-mails: irimus@geografie.ubbcluj.ro; dnirimia@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT. – The Rupestrian Places of Alunişu – Possible Tourism Geomorphological Sites. The existence of sandstones on very large areas in this region, corroborated with the fact that it appears in daylight in many places, has allowed man to make it profitable. The Kliwa sandstones specific to this area have been used in two different ways: firstly in a traditional manner, where the rock is used as a construction material and secondly, shaping it in situ. The friability of the sandstone deposits and the moderate compaction degree has enabled man to mould it even in a rudimentary manner specific to the Paleolithic or the Neolithic era. During the Middle Ages, on the background of the religious and political strains, a rather religious use of these places is recorded, also sustained by the climate and the morphology of the region. The low erosion rate, the isolation and a very difficult access have allowed great preservation in time and their turning into historical sites of great value. The anthropogenic factor completes, by its presence and by the activities deployed in the perimeter of this archeological site, the matrix of interactions between the physical and the environment made human in this way; man has changed the structure and the function of some of these religious places (churches and others) from the sandstone deposits, and this fact enabled us to identify the evolution of this site by geomorphological criteria, a process simultaneous with the historical research. Due to the anthropogenic influence and the natural one, these geosites have gained a scientific, social, cultural, economic and tourism value as well as other additional values, which have turned them into geomorphosites.

Keywords: geomorphosite, the Kliwa tile, geomorphological characteristics, amenities, religion.

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