Editing Băile Herculane (section)

==The modern spa==
In modern times, the spa town has been visited for its supposedly natural healing properties: [[hot spring]]s with sulfur, chlorine, sodium, calcium, magnesium and other minerals, as well as negatively ionized air. Before [[World War II]], when the first modern hotel was built (i.e. H Cerna, 1930) it remained a popular destination with [[Western Europe]]ans.<ref>The fashionable crowds of the era are described at pp. 210-211 in ''Between the Water and the Woods'', by Patrick Leigh Fermor (Penguin Books, 1987, {{ISBN|9780140094305}}).</ref> During the [[Communist Romania|Communist era]], mass [[tourism]] facilities were built, such as the 8- to 12-storied concrete hotels Roman, Hercules A, Hercules B, Afrodita, Minerva, Diana, UGSR, etc. which dominate the skyline. It was visited by all kinds of people but was especially popular with employees and [[retirees]], who would spend their state-allotted vacation vouchers there, hoping to improve their health. Today, they share the town with a younger crowd. New privately owned [[Pension (lodging)|pensions]] and hotels appeared after 1989, along the Cerna/Tiena river banks, spread from the train station to the end of the hydroelectrical dam. Some of the Austro-Hungarian era buildings have become derelict, including many of the baths, because of bad management after privatization.<ref name="digi2016-11-11">[https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/justitie/retineri-in-dosarul-devalizarii-bailor-herculane-prejudiciul-123-de-milioane-de-lei-610368 Rețineri în dosarul devalizării Băilor Herculane. "Prejudiciul: 123 de milioane de lei"], ''Digi24'', retrieved on 13 June 2019 {{in lang|ro}}</ref> In the late 2010s, an [[NGO]] called the Herculane Project was established to stabilise the buildings and eventually restore them.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55827510 "Romania's young history fans battle to save imperial spa resort"] by Stephen McGrath, [[BBC News]], 1 February 2021</ref>