The Hateg Country Dinosaurs Geopark is located in the central part of Romania ,in a very fertile region ,surrounded by mountains from all directions. The Geopark covers an area of102.392 hathat include a town (the town of Hateg with 13000 inhabitants ) and 10 communes ,the total population of the Geopark area is about 39000 people. Besides the very picturesque landscapes with numerous glacial lakes on the top of the mountains ,at more than 2000 m high, deep gorges ,caves, alpine forests, meadows , orchards and crops) the region hosts remains of the human history from Paleolithic to Roman Antiquity and from the Middle-Age to the Modern time.

Impressive are the ruins of the ancient capital of the Daciaprovince of the Roman Empire at Sarmizegetusa Ulpia Traiana ,the numerous medieval churches and fortresses , as well as the remains of the more recent castles and no biliary mansions.

The region isworld-wide known for its "dwarf dinosaurs" from the end of Cretaceous, 65 millionsyears ago and this special paleontologic heritage has inspired the name of our Geopark. Almost adozen of dinosaur species, both herbivorous and carnivorous were described from the region, based on skeletal remains found in fossil fluvial and lake deposits. Dinosaur eggs and hatchlings were also discovered in the same deposits , as well as many non-dinosaur species, all the classes of vertebrates ,from fishes to mammals being represented in the fossil faunal assemblage. Very spectacular in this assemblageis a huge pterosaur (flying reptile ), that was named Hatzegopteryx ,from the name of the region and the town; this enormous creature, one of the largest flying animal who ever lived ,if not the largest one, had a wing –span of 12 m.

Another geologic event that is well documented in the Geopark are the volcanic rocks-tuffs ,lavas and volcanic bombs that mark the volcanic eruptions that took place in the region during the dinosaurs existence .

All the natural, historical and cultural sites from the Hateg region, so abundant here and significant, not only for the restricted area of the Geopark, but for the entire Romania , are integrated within the management plan of the Geopark . This plans as main strategic points the conservation and arrangements of the sites in order to allow tourist visits and their use for ecological and scientific education . The development of a modern tourism in the regions only one major objective of the Hateg Geopark , for which the development of infrastructures ( agro-tourist pensions ,roads and information-points ) and the creation of new tourist attractions in the region, are envisaged. Among the new attractions , the creation an open-space museum of dinosaurs to include the life-size reconstruction of the species from the Hateg region is the most important.

Contact
Hateg Country Dinosaurs Geopark
5 Horea Str.,
Hateg,
Hunedoara County,
ROMANIA
Email: Dan Grigorescu dangrig@geo.edu.ro
          Alexandru Andrassanu aalex@geo.edu.ro
http://www.geoparc.ro