mythological hero Hercules on the Cerna Valley

1. LIVIA STELA ARDELEAN

2.  The evidence/ testimony of the legend is to be
found on a votive slate in the custody of a museum
in Viena and in the manuscript of a letter
containing the detailed description of the area, sent
to Emperor Franz Iosef by a messenger.
 On coming across the thermal springs and the
settlement around them, the Romans gave them
the name of Hercules’ sacred springs and the
settlement got its name of Herculesbad later,
following a decree of the Austrian Emperor, thus
becoming part of the toponymy of European
settlements for good.

3. Before he could find a way of
getting his ship above the
waterfall/cataract, Hercules
would have gone up the Cerna
river and would have reached
Herculane, where he met
Corcoaia, an old woman who
lived in the area of The
Coroninii Plateau.

4.  Seeing that he was exhausted, she would have
told him to dip into the water of a spring which
was further downhill so as to recover a bit. Then
she also said that her two sons would dip into the
water of the springs after they had finished their
work in the field and that, afterwards they felt
refreshed. She added that the local people would
do the same when they were ill or when their
animals either had some disease or were bitten by
venomous snakes and that, on coming out of the
water, their animals were completely healed.
 .

5.  The old woman told Hercules about a dragon
which came and bathed here in the valley and,
when it would take off and shake its wings, drops
of water would fall from the sky like a curtain of
rain forming a waterfall in the mountain, called
“Vânturătoarea Waterfalls”.
 In the very same spot, Hercules is said to have met
a villager who, learning that he was Hercules,
asked for his help in order to kill a dragon whose
den was near the springs of Cerna and who caused
a lot of damage. Hercules listened to his request
and set out on his search for the dragon.

6.  Hercules decides to kill the dragon and lies in
wait while using a girl from the village as bait.
The moment the dragon came to take the girl
tied to a pole, Hercules blocked his way and
struck him hard with a club, but this bounces
back from the scales of the dragon and hits the
mountain cutting off half of its top. This is how
The Cut-Off Mountain got its name.

7. As the gorge was narrow,
the Dragon got stuck while
Hercules went round the
mountain and cut off its
way. It is said that in that
very narrow place in the
gorge, Hercules propped
himself against the wall so
hard in order to give the
final blow that his leg went
deep into the rock leaving a
footprint which we can see
even today.

8.  In pain and almost dying the Dragon tossed so hard
that he managed to slip out of the gorge and took
refuge in his den. The traces of the battle remained in
the Dragon’s place: the mountain split into two, the
round hollows in the walls of the rock and the vertical
crevice left by the club, through which one can catch a
glimpse of a patch of sky. Hercules followed the
Dragon and gave him the final blow thus killing him
while his blood gushed forth, giving birth to the
springs “Izbucul Cernei”. The Dragon gave his last
breath on a mountain top, in a place known today as
“The Steam Cave”.

9.  In the northern part of Herculane Spa, the
oldest resort in Romania, attested since Roman
times, stands the statue of Hercules, the
legendary hero to whom this blessed place was
dedicated.
 In 1847 the statue of Hercules, donated by
Prince heir Carol, is set up on the red marble
fountain in the centre of the spa

12.  http://out4awalk.com/aventura-in-valea-cernei-pe
 Baile Herculane, DESTINATII TURISTICE,
ROMANIA
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=5rpWI1xu9O0