Coama Pietrar means stone crest, and the name is accurate in a modest way: a stony ridge among pastures and woodland in the hills of northern Transylvania. The site, listed as Dabaceni Coama Pietrar 2, is one of the numbered installations of the Roman frontier of Dacia Porolissensis, and the 2 suggests there is a neighbour.
What is worth thinking about is why the frontier was here. Beyond the line of towers lay territory not under Roman rule, inhabited by peoples the Romans called free Dacians and Carpi, and the frontier was a place of trade as well as defence. At Porolissum, the big fort and town on the Mes ridge, there was a customs station where goods crossing the line were taxed, and soldiers on the towers were part of a system that managed movement, not only fighting. The frontier was a filter. The system was added to the World Heritage list in 2024.
The country around is gentle upland. Pastures, hay meadows, patches of oak and beech woodland, and small villages tucked into folds in the hills. The village of Rus is the closest on the map, and larger towns are some distance away, with Copalnic-Manastur the nearest one over five thousand. Plan your fuel at a bigger town, and do not expect much in the villages. The roads can be rough, narrow and sometimes steep, with rain turning clay surfaces slick, and the signage is not always clear, so a good map or offline navigation helps.
At haymaking time the air smells sweet, and in autumn the woods are full of mushroom pickers. Weather is changeable, and thunderstorms in summer can be violent. Spring is a delight, with fruit blossom in the orchards.
If you stop in a village, a shop will sell you fresh bread, cheese and cold drinks, and people are generally curious and friendly. A few words of Romanian go a long way, and so does a smile. The hills are quiet and there is little traffic, which is its own reward.