Snail’s Hill Geological Reserve

The Snail’s Hill is a geological reserve that spans an area of ​​8 hectares at Corund/Korond. It is considered the largest aragonite occurrence in Romania, receiving a national protected status since 1980.

The study of the aragonite in the area date from the 18th to 19th centuries. János Bányai (1938) argues that precipitation processes formed the carbonate deposits from saline, carbonated solutions with low temperature.

The water spring from Snail’s Hill is in the form of a natural, active spring. The water appears at the base of the carbonate deposits or through the cracks of the rocks, bubbling smelly gas. The freshly depositing material is aragonite and calcite.

Knop Vencel, the teacher of Czech origin invited to take courses at the Zlatna Industrial School of Stone Sculpture and Grinding, began de exploitation of aragonite in 1909. The teacher moved to Corund and established the Aragonite Polishing Factory. The peak of exploitation and processing of aragonite in Corund is placed between 1931-1939. As a result of these mining activities, the diverse forms of natural deposits were harmed, but nowadays a wald through the rocks gives a unique opportunity to discover the beauty of aragonites and banded calcites. 
You can visit the reserve on your own on a nicely maintained visitor path. If you need more professional guiding, please call the phone number to book your visit.
You can buy simple visiting ticket, or you can opt for a combined ticket, which contains the entrance fee for the Salty bath UNICUM, lying on the foothill of the rocks. 

Text and photo sources: https://www.korpa.ro/, http://www.greenharghita.ro/