The kings of Dacia put their holy places and their fortresses on the tops of mountains, and the best of them lie in the Orăștie Mountains of Hunedoara county, where six fortresses were built in the first century BC and first century AD to defend the heart of the kingdom. Costești is the entry point. The fortress of Costești-Cetățuie, on a steep hill above the valley of the Orăștioara, and its neighbour Blidaru, stood on limestone ridges with thick walls of carefully dressed stone, murus dacicus, a technique that combined stone facing with timber lacing. The Dacians fought Rome in two wars, in AD 101-102 and 105-106, under their king Decebalus, and the Romans eventually took and destroyed the fortresses, stripping the hills of their defences. UNESCO listed the group in 1999.
Beyond them, high on a mountain terrace at around 1,200 metres, lies Sarmizegetusa Regia, the Dacian capital, with its circular sanctuary of stone columns and a large stone altar. Seen from the approach road, the forest, the open clearing and the stone discs of the sanctuary make an uncanny sight, almost like a cousin of Stonehenge. The Romans built a new town for veterans, Colonia Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, far to the south-west, and it later became the Roman capital of the province.
The ride is a good one. From Orăștie, a small town below the mountains, the road climbs south through the valley, passing the village of Costești and its fortress, and continues into the mountains to the capital. The surface is generally paved but can be narrow and patchy, with potholes, and the last part is steep and winding through beech and spruce forest. In wet weather or in winter it can be slippery, and fog in the mountains makes it hard to see. The best months are May to October. Expect cattle, sheep and woodcutters' trucks on the road.
Fuel is in Orăștie and the towns along the main road, but not in the mountains, so fill up before you go. The villages of Boșorod and Orăștioara de Sus have shops, and some local houses offer rooms and home cooking, including polenta with cheese and sour cream, and smoked meats. The ride list also mentions Germisara, the Roman spa at Geoagiu-Băi, where thermal springs still bubble out of the hillside.
Walk up to the fortress early, before the day trippers arrive, and listen to the wind in the stones.