Lake Tarnița is situated around 30 kilometers west of Cluj-Napoca. It was created in 1974 when a dam was built on the River Someșul Cald for the purpose of harnessing electricity. It is 9.7 kilometers long and its depth reaches up to 70 meters. It also provides water for the inhabitants of Cluj-Napoca and many other small towns in the surrounding area.
The lake is surrounded by the Gilău Mountains and the forests covering them descend all the way to the level of the lake, creating spectacular scenery. Many people have cabins, on the edge of the lake, and come here on their vacations or at the weekends. Many of them also have boats or yachts, which they use to sail the lake, because it is shorter than travelling by car. It is a wonderful place for fishing, swimming and sunbathing during the summer.
The deep, dark blue waters that do not allow scrutinizing have inspired many urban legends about monsters inhabiting the bottom of the lake. One of them has it that a descendant of the Loch Ness monster lives in Tarnița. Another: that the lake is teeming with fish three-meter long, which attack the swimmers and the boats. This second legend is motivated by the real stories of the people who drowned in the lake, their bodies never being recovered.
Another spooky and mysterious story is about a lorry that fell into the lake about15 years ago and about the team of scuba divers that was brought to pull out the truck and the lifeless driver. The twist is that when the divers came out of the water, they were so terrified of something they had seen down there that they refused to go back without protective metal cages. Allegedly, what had spooked them so were incredible monsters they had seen in the lake. Those that were not implicated directly in the incident tried to explain this off as an optical illusion created by the shadows on the bottom of the lake or as tricks played by the glass of the helmet, which might have enlarged everything out of proportion.
Scholars also say that these are all urban legends. Most notably among them was a German researcher, Erich von Munchhausen dove to the depths of the lake in 2010 to make investigations. He had also gathered research from the bottom of Loch Ness and was at Tarnița for the purpose of publishing a scientific report on the topic. His opinion was a bit more creative, as he stated that there is a whale living in Tarnița, of a species discovered by him and those that have disappeared are living in her belly and feasting ceaselessly.
But in the end, it is up to each of us to make up our own minds.
Sources:
”Lacul de acumulare Tarnița”, Welcome to Romania, Available at: http://www.welcometoromania.ro/E60_Oradea_Cluj/E60_Oradea_Cluj_Lacul_Tarnita_r.htm, Accessed: 11.06.2015.
”Lacul de acumulare Tarnița (Munții Gilăului, jud. Cluj)”, Tur Activ, Available at: http://www.turactiv.ro/index_alfabetic/index_alfabetic_T_Tarnita_Lac.htm, Accessed: 11.06.2015.
”Legendele Clujului (IV): Monştrii din lacul Tarniţa”, Adevărul, December 30th 2010, Available at: adevarul.ro/locale/cluj-napoca/legendele-clujului-iv-monstrii-lacul-tarnita-1_50aeb2e57c42d5a6639f475b/index.html, Accessed: 11.06.2015.
Andra Mihaela Cimpean
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