Salina Slănic offers visitors a unique insight into the underground world of Europe’s largest salt mine. Experience rooms the size of an entire church, explore salt sculptures and enjoy the healing air that is almost completely free of pollution.
About 100 kilometers from Bucharest, the former Salina Slănic salt mine is located at a depth of about 208 meters. It is considered the largest salt mine in Europe, covering almost 80,000 square meters.
It was in 1686 that Mihail Cantacuzino bought the land around the mine for the purpose of mining salt. According to older documents, there were smaller mines in the area before that. Cantacuzino opened a number of other smaller mines in the area, which he donated to the Colțea Monastery in Bucharest in 1713
Two levels
The mine was then divided into two levels. The first level, called Mihai, was opened in 1912 and consists of 6 trapezoidal rooms with a ceiling width of 12 meters, a floor width of 37 meters, a height of 66 meters and a wall inclination angle of 60 degrees.
The second level, called Unirea, is located below the Mihai level and is separated by a floor 40 meters thick. The mine consists of 14 trapezoidal chambers, often called “salt palaces”, with openings of 10 meters to the ceiling. The Unirea level was mined from 1943 to 1970.
The Mihai level was closed when Unirea was opened. About 2.9 million cubic meters of salt were extracted from the mine over the years.
Since its closure, the mine has instead become an attractive tourist destination in the country. With minibuses, you can explore all the mystique of the salt mine in about two hours. The mine is often described as very beautiful, with layers of older salt forming both the floor and the roof. Salt and water form natural works of art in the mine that look like something out of a fantasy world. Some of the chambers in the mine are so large that they could hold a church or a soccer field.
One of the rooms, called the Genesis Hall, also contains salt busts of the Roman Emperor Trajan and the Dacian Kings Decebalus and Burebista, historical figures who played an important cultural role in ancient Romania. There are also other salt sculptures in the mine.
The mine also offers more modern activities such as bowling, billiards, tennis and even regular playgrounds for children. It is also used as an archive and for important documents.
Healing air
According to tests by the National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Energy, the air in the mine is so clean that there is almost no radiation or air pollution. The temperature is constantly around 13 degrees Celsius and the humidity is around 60%. People with various lung problems usually travel to the salt mine, and several have reported that it has actually helped in various ways. It is also reported that it is possible to book two-week treatments where people with lung problems can go down and spend two weeks in the clean air of the mine.
Even many healthy people go there to breathe the clean air for its health benefits, as clean air is becoming increasingly scarce in the world.
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New research suggests that Vikings hunted walrus far north in Arctic North America, much further than previously thought.This suggests that the Vikings encountered indigenous peoples long before Columbus “discovered” North America.
During the Viking Age, demand for walrus tusks was high in Europe. The Vikings played a major role in the trade of walrus ivory and it is known that walruses were hunted in Iceland and around Greenland.
This article was originally published on November 9, 2024.
In a new study, published in Science Advances, researchers from Lund University and the University of Copenhagen, among others, have examined several ivory finds using DNA. The researchers used a so-called genetic “fingerprint” to reconstruct exactly where the walrus trade items came from.
– We extracted ancient DNA from walruses collected in a variety of locations in the North Atlantic Arctic.With this information in place, we were then able to match the genetic profiles of walrus items traded by Greenland Norwegians to Europe back to very specific Arctic hunting grounds, said Morten Tange Olsen, associate professor at the Globe Institute in Copenhagen in a press release.
“Remote hunting grounds”
The findings show that between 950 and 1250, the Vikings hunted walrus much further up around the North American Arctic than previously thought. The ivory tested comes from stocks in the sea between Greenland and Canada, and possibly from the interior of the Canadian Arctic. The results surprised the researchers, as it was previously thought that the Vikings hunted around their settlements in southwest Greenland.
– What really surprised us was that much of the walrus ivory exported back to Europe came from very remote hunting grounds deep in the High Arctic, that is, north of where the tundra ends, says Peter Jordan, professor of archaeology at Lund University.
Sailing that far required great seafaring skills, so researchers wondered if it was possible that the Vikings may have had this type of seafaring knowledge. To find answers, they used reconstructed sailing routes, and the researchers also made experimental voyages in traditional clinker-built Norwegian boats. According to the researchers, the Vikings had sufficient resources and knowledge to make these voyages.
Encountering indigenous people centuries before Columbus
At this time, the hunting grounds of the High Arctic were inhabited by the so-called Thule Inuit and possibly other Arctic indigenous peoples. They also hunted walrus. The study strengthens the theory that the Vikings had contact with North American peoples centuries before Christopher Columbus “discovered” North America.
– We will never know exactly, but on a more human level, these encounters in the vast and frightening landscapes should have aroused both curiosity and fascination, says Jordan:
– We need to do much more research to understand these interactions and motivations, especially from an indigenous perspective as well as a more “Eurocentric” Nordic perspective.
It should be noted that encounters – and conflicts – between Norse and North American Indians or Inuit are already mentioned in the old Icelandic sagas, although it is not always easy to determine the veracity of the stories.
In recent years, hardly any other political leader has been highlighted by the media and political establishment and praised so unanimously as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky –who in the current narrative has come to characterize the epitome of a modern patriotic folk hero.
Who is he and why is he so immensely popular with the Western power elite?
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Western establishment media have effectively acted as megaphones for Volodymyr Zelensky’s statements and pronouncements to a global audience.
Among the wave of photographs of Ukraine’s president, images of him in military garb have become among the most iconic – with the narrative that this is a leader who personally stands up for the Ukrainian people against Russia, who cares about his soldiers and who is not afraid to face the enemy.
The article was originally published in The Nordic Times on February 8, 2025.
Born in 1978 to a Jewish family in Kryvoj Rog, Ukraine, the father was a scientist and professor of computer engineering and the mother was an engineer. Volodymyr Zelensky’s grandfather Simon was also an infantryman and later a colonel in the Red Army.
The Ukrainian President himself says that his Jewish family, like most in the Soviet Union, was not particularly religious, but that he got his “moral compass” from the Jewish tradition and that one of the traits he says he has inherited is that he does not tolerate any lies.
Volodymyr Zelensky graduated from the Kiev National Economic University in 2002 with a law degree but has never worked as a lawyer, choosing instead to focus on a career as a comedian and actor, including with the production team Kvartal 95, which has produced and starred in a wide range of TV programs, shows and films since the mid-90s. These have included the group’s homoerotic portrayal of the traditional Cossacks, an East Slavic ethnic group with strong ties to both Ukraine and Russia that have become symbolic in both countries of national history and spirit.
From TV president to real life
In 2015 – four years before Zelensky became president in real life – he starred for three seasons in the TV series “Servant of the People”, in which he plays a history teacher who, by chance, becomes president of Ukraine with the mission of fighting oligarchs and corruption. During the war in Ukraine, a large number of TV channels around the world – including Sweden’s SVT – bought the series.
In March 2018, members of Zelensky’s production team Kvartal 95 announced the registration of a political party called “Servants of the People” – the same party name under which Zelensky’s character came to power in the TV series. On December 31, Zelenskyj also announced on live television that he is running for president with the hope of defeating incumbent Petro Poroshenko.
At the same time, many have pointed out that it was not Zelensky’s own idea to run for office, but that his political career was driven by the Jewish-Ukrainian multi-billionaire and former governor Ihor Kolomojskyj, who wanted to remove the incumbent president Petro Poroshenko. This was partly because he wanted to nationalize PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest bank – which is also owned by Kolomojskyj.
According to academic analyst Andrew Joyce, Kolomojskyj used his extensive assets and media companies to create “Servant of the People” with the aim of creating a TV series so close to reality that viewers would associate Zelensky as a person and not just his character as the one to fight the widespread corruption in Ukraine – and thus make him the favorite to win the election.
And so it was, Zelensky won the presidential election after an almost entirely virtual campaign and without a detailed ideological platform. Ihor Kolomoyskyi was also rewarded for his efforts when the newly elected president cancelled the nationalization of the big bank and returned it to the notorious oligarch, who has also been accused of financing the far-right Azov Battalion.
Photo: manhai/CC BY 2.0
Criminal oligarchs
Ukrainian media have also reported how Zelensky and his partners may have received up to $40 million from various offshore companies linked to Kolomojskyj.
One consequence of the oligarch’s shady dealings coming to light is that he and his family are no longer allowed to enter the United States, as Kolomojskyj is believed to be involved in widespread fraud and money laundering. However, the links do not appear to have had any major consequences for Zelensky and the president has consistently denied that he is or has been involved in any illegalities, despite repeated accusations.
Viktor Pinchuck, another Jewish oligarch and Ukraine’s second richest man who also aims to liberalize Ukraine and bring the country closer to NATO, the US and the EU, has, according to analysts, put a lot of energy into trying to influence Zelensky and his policies.
Zelensky also has good relations with other oligarchs, such as the Russian-Jewish Roman Abramovich, against whom the West has wanted to impose a series of sanctions because of the war, with Zelensky appealing to US President Joe Biden to stop sanctions against Abramovich.
The fact that Zelensky is praised by US and EU leaders is not difficult to understand in light of the foreign policy he advocates. Among other things, the president wants Ukraine to distance itself from Russia and join the EU and NATO – memberships he says the Ukrainian people have shown they support. An application for EU membership was also submitted in February 2022.
At the same time, the president has shown more totalitarian tendencies – not least in connection with the war in Ukraine, when he suddenly decided to ban large parts of the political opposition in the country, using the country’s martial law.
Earlier in March, 11 Ukrainian political parties were banned on the grounds that they were linked to Russia. These included the Opposition Bloc, the largest opposition party in the Ukrainian parliament and by far the most popular party among the Russian minority in the country. Several Ukrainian media channels with alleged links to Russia were banned at the same time.
Disappointed with Israel
Zelensky’s relationship with Israel appears to be somewhat complex. The president has previously declared that Israel and the Jewish people are “a unique people” and that “the Jews managed to build a country, to elevate it, without anything except people and brains”. He has also praised Israel’s military capabilities and ability to fight its enemies and external threats.
At the same time, he is highly critical of not receiving the support he wants from Israel during the war and is upset that Israel will not share its missile systems with Ukraine.
– Ukraine made the choice to save Jews 80 years ago.Now it’s Israel’s turn to make its choice…Everybody knows that your missile systems are the best…and that you can really help save our people, save the lives of Ukrainians, of Ukrainian Jews.
The Ukrainian president has also expressed anger that Israel has not yet chosen to impose strong enough sanctions on Russia or put pressure on Russian companies, saying that what is happening now in Ukraine is comparable to the Holocaust during the Second World War – and that Israel thus has a moral obligation to intervene.
– Our people are now wandering the world, searching for a place, just as you once wandered, he said in his address to the Knesset.
Zelensky has also attended the infamous globalist think tank World Economic Forum‘s Davos meeting and also the EU Parliament where he has argued that Ukraine should become the obvious “leader” of Eastern and Central Europe. The EU leadership’s support for Zelensky was also evident after his speech to the EU Parliament when he was greeted with a standing ovation.
It is clear that the tributes to Zelensky paradoxically emphasized the national patriotic struggle in a way that is unique in the dominant narrative of the mainstream media over the past 20 years. How the saga of the West’s new folk hero ends remains to be seen.
On Wednesday, it was officially confirmed that acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve will take the helm of the upcoming James Bond film – “Bond 26”. The news has quickly created a stir in the film world and among Bond fans globally, who are now looking forward to a new era for the iconic spy series.
Denis Villeneuve, known for his visually striking and narratively deep films such as Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and Dune, is considered an unexpected but exciting choice for the Bond franchise.
His style, often characterized by a combination of grand aesthetics and complex character studies, is expected to bring a new dimension to the British agent.
Villeneuve has previously demonstrated his ability to create intense and engaging films, raising hopes that Bond 26 will be both a critical and commercial success.
So surreal to finally have traction on Bond 26 after all this time. With Denis Villeneuve now at the helm, you can bet we’re in for incredible, big screen, 007 spectacle!#JamesBond ⚪️⚪️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/txfyupaInx
The producers have been searching for a director who can move the series forward while maintaining its classic core. With Denis Villeneuve at the helm, one can expect a balance between tradition and innovation.
In an official statement, Villeneuve says that he is honored to work with one of cinema history’s most beloved characters and looks forward to exploring new stories within the Bond universe.
– Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007. I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since Dr. No with Sean Connery. I’m a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he’s sacred territory. I intend to honor the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come. This is a massive responsibility, but also, incredibly exciting for me and a huge honor. Amy, David, and I are absolutely thrilled to bring him back to the screen. Thank you to Amazon MGM Studios for their trust.
Villeneuve. Denis Villeneuve.
The new Bond captain is one of the most striking Bond hires. BLADE RUNNER 2049 alone is a masterful testament to an ability & aptitude at taking a movie treasure and running with it stylishly, artistically, & brilliantly. #DenisVilleneuve#JamesBondpic.twitter.com/skQZksLARp
— MARK O’CONNELL – Writer, Author, Bond fan (@Mark0Connell) June 26, 2025
Who will get the role?
Details about the plot and cast are not yet officially confirmed, but there is broad agreement that Daniel Craig will not return as 007.
Instead, several names are circulating as potential successors, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Henry Cavill, and Theo James among the top favorites.
Taylor-Johnson has received particular attention after signing an ambassador deal with Omega (the iconic watch brand long associated with Bond), which many interpret as a strong indication that he is being considered for the role.
Discussions about the new Bond actor are still ongoing, with the choice expected to be announced closer to the start of production.
With Villeneuve as director, Bond 26 could become one of the most visually impressive and narratively ambitious films in the series. How this new interpretation will be received remains to be seen, but expectations are high.
The Bond universe is facing an exciting future, and with this confirmation, it’s clear that the franchise continues to evolve and reinvent itself – something both old and new fans can celebrate.
The Nordic region's largest music festival, Sweden Rock, was held this year in Norje, Sölvesborg. Naturally, The Nordic Times culture reporter Mikael Rasmussen was on site to experience the battling stage performances, dramaturgy, and poetic presence that could have been lifted straight from a fairytale world.
More of everything sums up this year’s edition of Sweden Rock Festival. Lots of media, tons of photographers, huge crowds, merch, partner companies, Viking and medieval demonstrations of strength in the form of lifting logs in a way that would have been right at home at any Viking market. The audience was treated to high-octane stage art, dramaturgy, and poetic presence drawn from the worlds of film and theater.
Above all, this year’s festival delivered fantastic performances. One of the strongest in terms of musical quality, showmanship, songs, vocals, and overall balance was the band that I saw, heard, and lyrically contemplated at Palladium in Stockholm in 1995. Back then, they were promoting their album Helpyourselfish with its characteristic compositions… Now, 30 years later, better than ever, the Danish band D-A-D, with band members Jesper Binzer on vocals and guitar, his brother Jacob Binzer on guitar and vocals, the ever-charismatic Stig Pedersen on bass and vocals, and Laust Sonne on drums, serve up cool songs such as Sleeping My Day Away, Bad Craziness, Rim Of Hell and more. With a new art CD release in the form of Speed Of Darkness, they are maintaining their brand with good self-esteem and confidence. The rock icons hold it all together with the common thread of recognizability from their successful sound, their unique vocals, beautiful stage clothes, stage presence, charisma, and tight, fat drum and bass lines, to which the audience responded with raised hands and singing along in unison to the famous rock songs.
“Aim to be the best in the world”
Artist Razz also had a chat with guitarist Oskar Lindroos and bassist Jonathan Thyberg from the band Bloodstain, a band that aims to be the biggest in the world. At first, they described their goal as reaching the biggest stage, Festival Stage, at Sweden Rock, but after a while they realized that they had already achieved that goal.
– Yeah, we might as well aim to be the best in the world, said Oskar and Jonathan.
They also shared that the band name Bloodstain came about when one of the band members’ fingers started bleeding from playing the strings too hard, and it became so meaningful and symbolic that everyone in the band felt a blood bond.
They describe how the songs are created together in the rehearsal room and how the choice of metal was also made in a truly democratic spirit. All the members of the band have different backgrounds and there is a strong foundation of blues, rock, and metal that contains many of its scales. When asked if harmonica fits into their sound, the answer is obvious.
– Hell yes, said Oskar with a twinkle in his eye.
Time flies and the interview with Oskar and Jonathan is over before we know it. Jessica Lindroos, one of the band’s co-managers, enters our interview room and we realize that it’s time to wrap up, hoping to see and hear more from Bloodstains in the future.
A glorious mix of bands
Many visitors praise the Sweden Rock management for managing to put together a festival with so many incredible bands to enjoy, be charmed by, sometimes be frightened by, and repeatedly be completely enthralled by. One of the many great rock bands was definitely The Mercury Riots with their captivating artistry and song catalog. King Diamond was a fascinating experience with his characteristic wonderful falsetto vocals and dynamic theatrical and dramatic performance. A liberating Swedish act that affected the entire Pistonhead tent was Knogjärn with its stage language, light and color play, lyrics, and music that is impossible to resist, which can inspire any coward to start daring to take control of their situation.
Yes, it is definitely memorable to have had the privilege of experiencing these highly skilled bands, some of whom are in their 70s and 80s, such as the Scorpions, who are celebrating their 60th anniversary. These are memories for life that reach all the senses and touch the heartstrings, gilding and adding a golden edge to the lives of all who appreciate these experiences. It was particularly impressive when the band Meshuggah delivered an unparalleled light show in the middle of the night. Soen treated the audience to a musical fire show with a poetic and tasteful performance. Slipknot conjured up all kinds of creatures and had the audience almost speaking, or rather singing, in tongues based on call and response. The bombastic hard rock storytellers of the Swedish hard rock band Sabaton closed the entire festival session – a piece of theatrical drama with props including a tank, Carolingian costumes, gas masks, flamethrowers, and a crescendo of fireworks that made it feel like the entire Sweden Rockauditorium was celebrating New Year’s Eve.
Many bands at the festival also expressed their gratitude and thoughts to all those who worked at the festival site, including Cruzified Barbara, whose singer Mia Karlsson expressed her sympathy for all the children affected in Gaza.
Impressive organization
In the lead-up to Sweden Rock, many column inches were written, including about SVT’s documentary on Sweden Rock and its general, Ingolf Persson, who has shown skepticism toward many journalists – and even toward the memoir book about Sweden Rock and its journey up to the 30-year anniversary released in 2023. Ingolf views it primarily as a fairytale book and holds a distinctly different view of Sweden Rock’s soul than the one presented there
Many campers arrive in style, declaring that camping is half the fun. Visit Blekinge has also described using Sweden Rock as a tool to attract new residents. The festival has been described by some media as pompous and maximal. One person even said, “actually kind of rock’n’roll”…
It’s safe to say that the festival brings together many different people, target groups, and age ranges — and can best be summed up with joy, love, interest, and above all, gratitude. When all is said and done, we got to see and hear as many as 93 bands across five stages with a mixed repertoire – an impressive feat of organization considering the incredible logistics of artist and band transitions, coordinating and accrediting journalists, photographers, audience hosts, security personnel, guards, stage workers, electricians, and more
As the festival neared its end, most realized they had been bitten by the dangerous animals and bands that had graced Sweden Rock — from the viper Huggorm to Scorpions, whose nerve toxins sometimes manifested as ear-shattering, cheeky, and visibly paralyzing death spasms. We’re already looking forward to getting stung again at Sweden Rock Festival 2026.
