Jidova is a quiet edge of Câmpulung with an unusually grand past. On a low rise at the town's edge, in the foothills of the Southern Carpathians, the Romans built a fort, Jidava, in the early second century AD, as part of a line of defences, the Limes Transalutanus, which ran along the edge of the mountains to protect the province of Dacia from the peoples to the east. The fort was of earth and later stone, with a garrison of auxiliary soldiers, and it covered a rectangular platform that archaeologists have traced and partly excavated. The ride list calls the site Jidova 2, a reference to a second archaeological area, and the remains are modest, with stone foundations in the grass.
Câmpulung itself has a good claim to be the first capital of Wallachia. Local tradition holds that the legendary prince Radu Negru, Black Rudolph, descended from Transylvania here in the thirteenth century and founded the principality, and the town has an old church, the Negru Vodă monastery, said to be his. Whatever the truth of the legend, the town was an early seat of power in the region, and it remained a significant place on the route between Wallachia and Transylvania.
That route is the reason a rider comes. From Câmpulung, the road climbs northwest through Rucăr to the Bran Pass, a mountain gap that links Wallachia with the Braşov region, with views of the Piatra Craiului ridge and fine bends through beech and spruce forest. Traffic can be heavy with lorries, especially in summer, and the surface is mixed, but the scenery is memorable. In spring, the meadows are dotted with flowers and the hills are green, while in autumn, the beeches turn gold and orange. Winter brings snow and ice, so check conditions. Fog and rain can come quickly in the mountains.
Câmpulung has a population of around thirty thousand, so fuel, supermarkets and restaurants are plentiful, and the smaller places nearby, such as Schitu-Goleşti and Godeni, are quieter. A good stop is a restaurant for ciorbă de burtă, a tripe soup, and papanași, a doughnut with sour cream and jam.
Remember that the fort lies on private and farm land in places, so ask before crossing fields.