Built in murus dacicus style, the six Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains (), in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, were created in the 1st centuries BC and AD as protection against

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

conquest, and played an important role during the Roman-Dacian wars. Their extensive and well-preserved remains present a picture of a vigorous and innovative ancient civilization. Today,

treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions le ...

-hunters sometimes search the area, as

lacks legislation in this domain. The six fortresses -

Sarmizegetusa Regia Sarmizegetusa Regia, also Sarmisegetusa, Sarmisegethusa, Sarmisegethuza, Ζαρμιζεγεθούσα (''Zarmizegethoúsa'') or Ζερμιζεγεθούση (''Zermizegethoúsē''), was the capital and the most important military, religious and ...

, Costeşti-Cetăţuie, Costeşti-Blidaru, Piatra Roşie,

Bănița Bănița ( hu, Banica, german: Bansdorf) is a commune in Hunedoara County Hunedoara County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva. The county is part of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euror ...

and Căpâlna - that formed the defensive system of

Decebalus Decebalus (), sometimes referred to as Diurpaneus, was the last Dacian king. He is famous for fighting three wars, with varying success, against the Roman Empire under two emperors. After raiding south across the Danube, he defeated a Roman invas ...

were designated as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

in 1999. All the sites are in

Hunedoara County Hunedoara County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva. The county is part of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion. Name In Hungarian, it is known as , in German as , and in Slovak a ...

, except for Căpâlna, which is in Alba County.

Sarmizegetusa Regia

The town of Sarmizegetusa Regia was the capital and major fortress of the

Dacian kingdom Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It t ...

, probably built in the mid first century BCE. It consisted of perimeter walls and fortifications, a sacred precinct, and a settlement area primarily for nobles and supporting servants. It was located at the top of a 1200-meter hill with excellent visibility of the surrounding lands. The sacred precinct was on the east side of the town, with a prominent plaza and circular shrines. There were two settlement areas one on the east side and a larger one on the west. In addition to dwellings they included workshops, storage buildings, and agricultural processing areas. Notable for the time is a distribution system for drinking water that used ceramic pipes.

Costești-Cetățuie

Costești-Blidaru

Piatra Roșie

Piatra Roșie, which means ''Red Rock'', was a Dacian hill fort two days march to the west from Costești-Cetățuie, at Luncani in Boşorod municipality. It was built in two phases. In the first phase a long (102 m) rectangular main citadel was built at the height of land with watch towers on each end and two outlying watch towers. Later the larger area inside the watch towers was enclosed with walls.MacKendrick, Paul Lachlan (1975) ''The Dacian Stones Speak'' University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
pages 58–60
It appears that the hilltop was flattened in the process in order to produce a usable space.Oltean, Ioana Adina (2007) ''Dacia: landscape, colonisation and romanisation'' Psychology Press, London
page 95

Gallery

Image:Cetatea Costesti.JPG, Dacian fortress of ''

Costești Costești () is a town in Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hunga ...

'' Image:Cetatea Blidaru2.JPG, Fortress of '' Blidaru'' Image:Cetatea Blidaru.JPG, Fortress of ''Blidaru'' Image:Sarmizegetusa Regia.JPG, Sanctuaries at ''

'' Image:Sanctuarele de andezit.JPG,

Andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predo ...

sanctuaries, ''Sarmizegetusa Regia'' File:Sarmizegetusa_Regia_-_Sanctuarul_mare_circular._(Zona_sacra).jpg, Sarmizegetusa Regia ''the great circular sanctuary (sacred area)'' Image:Sanctuarul mare de calcar.JPG, Large

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

, ''Sarmizegetusa Regia'' Image:Sanctuarul mic de calcar.JPG, Small limestone sanctuary, ''Sarmizegetusa Regia'' Image:Solar disc.JPG, Solar disc, ''Sarmizegetusa Regia'' Image:Murus Dacicus.JPG, Murus dacicus, ''Sarmizegetusa Regia'' Image:Paved Dacian road.JPG, Paved Dacian road, ''Sarmizegetusa Regia'' File:Griphon UMBO Shield IMG 7433.JPG, Dacian artifact from Piatra Roșie site. It is still a subject of debate if it is an umbo shield or a gate decoration.

Notes

External links

Regional portal with locations and information related to the six Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains

Virtual 3D reconstruction of the Dacian fortresses
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dacian Fortresses Of The Orastie Mountains Archaeological sites in Romania World Heritage Sites in Romania Dacian fortresses in Hunedoara County Dacian fortresses in Alba County Buildings and structures in Hunedoara County Buildings and structures in Alba County Ancient history of Transylvania