Blidaru is the Dacian fortress that makes you rethink what you know about the people Rome conquered. It stands on a steep hill above the village of Costești, in the Orăștie mountains of Transylvania, and its walls are built of precisely cut limestone blocks, laid in the Dacian style called murus dacicus, with timber ties inside to absorb shocks. The builders learned from Greek masonry, and the result is a fortress with strong corner towers and a small square citadel, built on a terrace carved out of the mountain. It was one of the defences guarding Sarmizegetusa Regia, the Dacian capital, a few valleys away, and the group of Dacian fortresses of the Orăștie mountains was listed by UNESCO in 1999.
Getting to the top is a climb. A stone stair of several hundred steps leads up through beech forest from the road, and in summer it is shady and cool. At the top the walls stand taller than a person, the view reaches over wooded ridges, and the silence makes it easy to imagine sentries on the tower. The Romans, under Trajan, fought two wars here in AD 101 to 102 and 105 to 106, and the Dacian king Decebalus took his own life rather than be captured. The Dacian forts were dismantled or burned, but Blidaru survives in good order.
Orăștioara de Sus and Boșorod are small villages with shops and basic services, and you should fill the tank in Orăștie, the nearest real town, before heading up the valley. The road that climbs from the main highway to Costești and on to Grădiștea de Munte is paved, narrow and winding, with farmland, small hamlets and the shape of forested mountains getting closer. Traffic is light, and lorries carrying timber are the main hazard on blind corners.
Come in late spring or early autumn, when the forest is fresh and the air is clear, and avoid the middle of summer weekends, when coaches arrive. Winter brings snow and ice, and the steps can be treacherous. Pack water, because there are no shops at the site, and wear shoes with good grip.