These mysterious stones in Romania called ‘trovants’ grow, move and even breed. After every heavy rain shower, they absorb the rain’s minerals, which then mix with the chemicals already present in the rock, creating a reaction and pressure inside – ultimately making the stone grow and multiply.
The world is full of mysteries and when we think we know the place well, a new one comes up. There are many unexplained geographical mysteries everywhere but scientists try their best to unravel them. This time it is about the rocks which keep growing in Romania.
Costesti is a small town in Romania that is home to these mysterious manifestations called trovants. These are bulging rocks that have organic-looking shapes and you can see strange cement-like material oozing. These stones grow and vary a lot in size.
Some can fit in your palm and some can be as big as 4.5 metres tall. There are 100s of known trovants which are sprawled across at least 20 sites through Romania. Many came up when the sand around them quarried away.
The growing stones of Romania, Trovants, aren’t just unique because of their ability to multiply. These rocks are composed mainly of a hard stone core, and the rest is made up of sand, which forms around the core as its shell.
Trovants can only be made by highly-porous sand accumulations and sandstone deposits that are cemented by waters rich in calcium carbonate. The name “Trovant” (trovanti) was made and introduced by the naturalist Gh. M. Murgoci in his work “The Tertiary in Oltenia.”
