The rock figures from Bucegi

Most travelers who come to Bucegi Mountains (120 km North to Bucharest) have heard about the Romanian Sphinx, a strange configuration of rock high on the mountain. Tourists are drawn to its human appearance: proportionate face, distinct lips, cheeks and large eyes beneath a wide forehead. The sight is a thrilling image for the imagination. It is believed the Sphinx, which stands 2,216 meters high, is a representation of the supreme divinity of an ancient people, the Pelasgi, who were a pre-Indo-European tribe who lived near the Aegean Sea, until the Greek tribes' migration up to Eland, Small Asia and Egypt.


"The enormously colossal figure in the Dacian Carpathians transmits a sovereign expression of dignity and an immensity of power that could not possibly represent anyone else but the great, national god of the Pelasgian tribes, whom has been granted all the most imposing heights of the mountains", said historian N. Densuşianu.

Many historians believe the Egyptian Sphinx in Gizeh is a copy of the Sphinx on the Bucegi Plateau because of its resemblance to Zeus. In support of this hypothesis, a resemblance has been acknowledged between the Bucegi Sphinx and a sculpture of Zeus, which was discovered in Italy and now is preserved at the Vatican. This bust presents Zeus's traits in a barbarous, severe figure, characteristic of the Thracians. Also the fact that both sphinxes measure the same height is curious, as is the fact that all Egyptian deities have human bodies and animal heads, except for the Great Egyptian Sphinx, which has a lion's body and a human head.

Near the Romanian Sphinx on the Bucegi Platform, there also stands a group os stones known as Babele (Old Women). The rocks look like giant mushrooms. The three formations are each 3.5 meters high and the diameters of the pedestals vary between 2 and 4 meters. Two of the caps are square, but the top on the third is elliptical. To maintain their connection with the sphinx, they were nicknamed The Cyclopean Altars from the Caraiman, and are devoted to Earth and sky, to sun and moon, and to Mars, the god of war and of agriculture.


Their presence has produced many legends and theories. According to some researchers, the rocks were molded by water and wind and permanently maintained by the process of freezing and thawing. The alternation between grit stone and limestone in the platform also must be taken into account. Yet, researchers cannot deny human involvement in shaping the more or less regular forms; scientific proof cannot thoroughly explain these phenomena. For this reason, the legends continue and the rock formations have been connected with the supernatural.