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Most cellars in a village: Salacea village sets world record

Mar 29, 2020
Most cellars in a village: Salacea village sets world record
Sălacea, Bihor County, Romania--The village of Salacea, Bihor county, Romania, a town with 970 houses, there are over 1000 cellars located on the  'cellar street' and other six streets; the locality sets the world record for the  most cellars in a village, according to the World Record Academy.

Most of the cellars were built in the last century, and the oldest one dates from 1803. The door of these cellars is a very beautiful and creative element, we could say even unique, out of the 970 doors, there is no one at thus, each one being realized in a = different mode.

Sălacea is a commune in Bihor County, northwestern Romania with a population of 3,036. It is composed of two villages, Otomani and Sălacea.

Photos: Socacu Marcel / bihorinimagini.ro

Most cellars in a village: Salacea village sets world record
The locals started to build their cellars in the hills and not near houses in the eighteenth century. The settlement being near the Ierului Valley, so in a marshy area, the cellars near the houses were filled with water and made of mold.
Most cellars in a village: Salacea village sets world record
"The groundwater is very high. If we dig a meter below the houses, the cellars are filled with water. Thus, in Salacea it has become a tradition and even a pride to have your cellar in the hills. Many of these constructions were resistant, as evidence one excavated in 1812 still exists. Today, at 970 houses, there are over 1,000 cellars, spread over seven streets created, plus others, scattered on inhabited streets, with houses," says Horvath Bela, the Mayor of Salacea, according to the eBihoreanul.ro

Between 1200 and until about 1800, Salacea had a city status, was developed and produced its own variety of wine, called Bakator, which in Austro-Hungarian time also reached the table of the emperor from Vienna. ”

Annually, on the first weekend of August, during the Salacea Commune Days, an 'Open Cellar Evening' is organized, when visitors can taste the wines from the area along with traditional dishes.

In Salacea, the general objective is that “The village with 1,000 cellars” will be a true tourist attraction of Bihor. The next step is to create an adventure park and renovate the bridge with four holes.

The tourists arriving in the village in organized groups are welcomed by locals, which also has for sale local wines, according to the eBihoreanul.ro
Most cellars in a village: Salacea village sets world record
The more than 1,000 cellars of the villagers are also sheltering wine barrels and food. Digged in the hill and then covered with a thick layer of soil, the cellars have a constant temperature of 10-12 degrees, ideal for storing wine, as well as a noble mold.
The GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for the largest wine cellar was set by the cellars at Paarl of the Koöperatiewe Wijnbouwers Vereniging, known as KWV, in Cape Province, in the center of the wine-growing district of South Africa, cover an area of 22 ha (54 acres) and have a capacity of 121 million litres (27 million gal). 

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS also recognized the world record for the Largest wine cellar by number of bottles, set by the cellars of the Milestii Mici wine-making plant in Moldova, which contain over 1.5 million bottles of wine. The bottles are stored in 55 km (34 miles) of underground galleries excavated in lime mining operations.
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