High on a limestone outcrop above the village of Bănița, in the hills of south-western Transylvania, stand the ruins of a Dacian fortress. Bănița is one of the six Dacian fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains listed by UNESCO in 1999, part of the defensive system built around the capital of the Dacian kingdom, Sarmizegetusa Regia, in the first century BC and the first century AD. The kingdom's last great ruler, Decebalus, held out against Rome in two hard wars before Trajan's legions finally conquered Dacia in 106, an event recorded in stone on Trajan's Column in Rome.
The site is a short, steep hike up from the road, and the reward is a view over the rolling hills toward the Jiu valley and the high ridges of the Retezat and Parâng mountains. Only the foundations and parts of the walls remain, but standing on the rock, with the wind in the grass, you get a sense of why it was chosen: it controls the pass between the Hațeg country to the north and the Jiu valley to the south.
That pass is the road you are on. The DN66 crosses from Petroșani over the Merișor pass to Hațeg and Simeria, climbing through forest with good, flowing curves and fine views. Traffic is usually moderate, though heavy trucks use the route, and the surface is generally decent. The Hațeg country to the north is a lovely landscape of villages, castles and churches; the Hațeg Geopark is known for the fossils of dwarf dinosaurs found there, and the ruined Roman city of Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, the capital of Roman Dacia, lies nearby.
The area is also the gateway to some of Romania's best riding. South of Petroșani, the road through the Jiu Gorge winds through a narrow canyon toward Târgu Jiu, and to the east, the Transalpina, one of the highest roads in the country, crosses the Parâng mountains. Both are wonderful and best in summer and early autumn; the Transalpina is closed in winter.
Petrila, around twelve kilometres away, and Petroșani have fuel, shops and restaurants; the village of Bănița itself is small. In the area, eat a bowl of ciorbă, the sour soup that comes in endless varieties, and polenta with cheese and sour cream, mămăligă cu brânză și smântână, the comfort food of the Romanian countryside.